Dolly Parton's Garden Salad Recipe With Miracle Madness Dressing (7 Ingredients, 10 Minutes) by Donna John

Dolly Parton is now flying and singing with the angels. The country music legend passed away peacefully in Nashville on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80 "after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer,” her publicist said. While the world mourns and remembers Dolly, we can keep her spirit alive by not only carrying on all the good things she was involved in like her Imagination Library, but also preparing and enjoying her family's favorite recipes.

After learning about Dolly's passing, I started flipping through her cooking, which she wrote with her sister Rachel Parton George, Good Lookin' Cookin': A Year of Meals. The dinner menu that night would be Dolly's family favorite meatloaf recipe and her garden salad with miracle madness dressing.

"I've always loved the taste of Miracle Whip, and this is a salad I've made for years," writes Dolly in the cookbook. "When Rachel and different family members come by, they always ask me to make my special salad. The little bit of sugar is kind of my special ingredient. It's no secret now, though – all of our secrets are coming out in this book!"

To make Dolly's special salad recipe you will need the following simple, gluten-free ingredients: Miracle Whip, lemon juice, granulated sugar, salt, black pepper, iceberg lettuce and a garden-fresh tomato (read about the health benefits of tomatoes). I only had green leaf lettuce and cherry tomatoes, but the salad was sweet, simple and the perfect southern side dish with the moist meatloaf.

Cooking Tip From Dolly: "We use a lettuce spinner to dry the iceberg lettuce – it works so well!"

Serve Dolly's salad as a side dish with your favorite dinners. If you'd like, add other ingredients to the salad like sliced red onion, chopped hard-boiled egg or croutons. I'm sure Dolly would not mind at all.

Cuisine: American / Southern
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup Miracle Whip
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped

Here's how to make it: 

1. Put the Miracle Whip, lemon juice, granulated sugar, salt and black pepper into a small bowl. (Fresh lemon juice is always best. In a pinch, you could use bottled lemon juice.)
   
2. Stir well to combine.
   
3. Put the lettuce into a large salad bowl.
   
4. Pour the dressing over the lettuce and toss. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (Dolly used iceberg lettuce, but I only had green leaf lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is sturdier and holds up to dressing better than green leaf and other lettuce varieties. If not using iceberg lettuce, I suggest dressing the salad right before serving.)
   
5. Before serving, stir in the chopped tomatoes. (I used cherry tomatoes.)
   
6. Keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge.
   

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