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Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Blue Cheese Dressing and Wedge Salad

A steakhouse-style blue cheese dressing built on a generous six ounces of real blue cheese, served over cold iceberg wedges with the classic toppings.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 6 ounces blue cheese Roquefort or Gorgonzola, coarsely crumbled and divided
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup mayonnaise Duke's preferred
  • 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
  • 1 medium clove garlic grated
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 to 2 heads iceberg lettuce quartered through the core
  • 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chives chopped

Method
 

  1. Whisk the sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk together until smooth.
  2. Stir in the grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, Tabasco and Worcestershire.
  3. Fold in most of the coarsely crumbled blue cheese, reserving some for topping. Do not over-process - you want a creamy base with chunks.
  4. Chill the dressing for at least an hour to let the flavors come together.
  5. Quarter the cold iceberg right through the core so the wedges hold together, keeping it refrigerated until the last possible moment.
  6. Spoon the dressing over each wedge and top with the reserved blue cheese, bacon, cherry tomatoes, red onion and chives.

Notes

Six ounces of blue cheese is generous - commercial dressings use far less and lean on blue cheese powder. Roquefort is French, Gorgonzola is Italian and milder, Stilton is British and crumbly; all work but shift the profile noticeably. Avoid pre-crumbled shelf-stable blue cheese, which is drier and milder than crumbling a wedge yourself. Low-fat dairy thins the texture and mutes the flavor. Duke's mayo has less sugar and more tang, closer to the steakhouse profile. Use cultured buttermilk for the acidity. Use only the yellow lemon zest - the white pith turns bitter. Nutmeg is a stealth ingredient that adds big depth and is easy to overdo. Cut the wedges through the core, not around it, and do not cut them far ahead or they weep and brown.