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Easy BLT Salad Recipe – delicious creamy, rich, delicious salad loaded with mayo, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, and crunchy croutons!
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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
Bacon Lettice and Tomato Salad
This super simple salad is a tasty spin of a traditional BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich – and our B.L.A.T. Chicken Thigh Salad Recipe – that is designed to be simple, quick, and incredibly delicious.
It is perfect to serve at picnics and cookouts, and goes great with Grilled Pork Tenderloin, grilled ribs, baked beans, grilled corn, million dollar dip, bloody mary oysters, chopped Italian salad, or a cool tea and tonic drink! For an easy main also try my simple baked ham and cheese croissants that are always a favorite.
For the best bacon to use in this recipe, be sure to check out my crunchy baked bacon recipe!
We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.
How To Keep Salad From Wilting
Salads are one of our favorite things to serve at parties and events – especially cookouts – but when using mayonnaise based dressings like we are in this BLT salad, you need to be careful to keep it at the right temperature to keep it fresh, crunchy, and delicious – as well as safe to eat.
- Assemble salad up to a day before serving, without dressing. I’ll often keep all the different salad components in separate bags (or jars) until serving to make sure tomatoes don’t make the bacon and croutons soggy, for the best results.
- Dressing can also be made up to a day before serving – but store in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. (We like keeping it in a mason jar.)
- Dress salad and toss to coat as you serve the salad.
- If you’re serving salad outdoors in the sun or extreme heat, I like to use two large bowls, or a bowl placed into a tray. Fill the larger bowl or tray on the bottom with ice, and then nestle a serving bowl inside to place the salad in. This will help keep salad from wilting, and keep mayo from going off in the heat! (Bonus – if you get a big tray, you can keep other items like fruit or cheese also chilled this way at a big potluck or picnic!)
- Use or discard any leftover salad after a few hours – it will go soggy and the bacon and croutons will get mushy.
- If you don’t think you will eat the whole recipe in one serving, save half the salad and dressing for later, and simply dress it when you’re ready to eat!
Creamy BLT Salad Dressing
This BLT salad gets a lot of its hearty, creamy flavor from our super simple but crazy delicious mayo dressing.
Whip this dressing up by adding all ingredients to a bowl and whisking together until combined – I like to store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to four days.
- ? cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
What Tomatoes To Use For BLT Salad
For a BLT sandwich, it’s traditional to use a big, juicy beefsteak tomato – but for our BLT salad, we’re using cherry or grape tomatoes.
Cherry or grape tomatoes are smaller and easier to eat, don’t require chopping (though you can slice them in half, as we did, if you’d like) – but offer a brighter, more tart, and sweeter flavor that stand out more in a salad.
What Bacon To Use For BLT Salad
For salad, we prefer a thick-cut, crispy, crunchy, well-rendered bacon that has been cooked to golden brown.
Your bacon can be just cooked (let it cool slightly so it crumbles easily), or refrigerated from an earlier meal, depending on your preference.
Some people like big chunks of bacon in a BLT, and some like finer diced bacon crumbles – chop or crumble your bacon according to your preference.
We recommend using our recipe and tips for How To Bake Bacon to get a perfect salty, crunchy bacon that is perfect to crumble into a BLT salad – or on a BLT sandwich!
Other Easy Salads You’ll Love
If you love this BLT salad, be sure to check out some of our other favorite delicious, easy salads- perfect for summer picnics, BBQs, and potlucks – like our pineapple jalapeño salad, :
You can find our entire salad recipe archives here.
Other Delicious Bacon Recipes
If you make a big batch of our baked bacon for this BLT salad and you’re looking for other tasty recipes full of bacon goodness, check out some of our favorites below:
You can find the rest of our recipes with bacon here.
Recipe FAQs
This salad should be enjoyed within an hour or two of adding the dressing.
This salad can be prepared in advance, but don’t add the dressing until just before serving.
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Easy BLT Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large head romaine lettuce
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked
- Sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
- Texas Toast croutons
Dressing:
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Instructions
- Chop the lettuce and rinse and spin in a salad spinner. Place lettuce in a large bowl and set aside.
- Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the bowl.
- Chop the bacon and add it to the bowl with the cheese.
Dressing:
- Whisk together all ingredients and pour over the salad and toss to combine.
- Top with croutons and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My husband liked this so well, he requested a repeat. That is rare for my easily-pleased guy.