This BLT Salad brings the delicious flavors of the classic sandwich to your new favorite salad! Tossed in creamy garlic dressing for the win!
This simple salad has all the makings of a classic BLT – Bacon, romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, and a creamy and flavorful mayo-based dressing – don’t forget the cheese, chives, and texas toast croutons! If you want an additional salad to offer at your next party along with this recipe you can grab a traditional 7 Layer Salad to put on the table too. Your family and friends will be in awe of the beautiful and colorful salad options and you will have quick and easy options to fill them up.
Why We Love BLT Salad
I love a simple BLT sandwich in the summer. You doesn’t crave fresh tomatoes, lettuce and bacon with just the right amount of mayo?
But sometimes I just want to put together a nice salad instead of getting out the toaster and making the sandwich. Enter the BLT salad. I can usually find everything I need already in my kitchen. BONUS: This salad is ready to go in under 10 minutes if you have leftover bacon. I heard that’s a thing for some people. 🤷♀️
The dressing on this BLT salad recipe is creamy and rich with sour cream, mayo, and buttermilk. There’s also a hint of garlic and black pepper to complement the flavors of the veggies and bacon too. Pile on the croutons (AKA the BLT bread) and you’re ready to go!
Ingredients
Lettuce: Use romaine lettuce to get a strong and hearty base for your salad.
Tomatoes: sweet cherry tomatoes complement the sharp cheese and salty bacon.
Bacon: thick-cut bacon is my favorite for this salad. If you want the easiest way to make bacon use this Air Fryer Bacon recipe.
Cheese: I use sharp cheddar cubes to give full flavor and bite to this salad.
Croutons: I like to use the Texas Toast Garlic Butter croutons for this salad. That being said, you can use your favorite type of croutons or make homemade croutons.
BLT Salad Dressing
Mayonnaise: A classic salad dressing base ingredient. Please don’t use Miracle Whip, your dressing won’t taste the same.
Sour Cream: This will thicken up your dressing and add a nice tang. Plain Greek yogurt is also a substitute if you don’t have sour cream in the fridge.
Garlic Powder: Garlic adds a little bit of rich flavor to this dressing.
Buttermilk: Continuing the creamy and slightly tangy dressing flavors. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute regular milk or even heavy cream.
Variations
- If you don’t have bacon around to cook but you do have bacon pieces as you find on a salad bar those will work in a pinch.
- You can use a garlic salad dressing if you don’t have time to make this dressing, but I would highly recommend this recipe.
- You can use shredded sharp cheddar cheese in place of cubed. Use freshly shredded cheese, not the pre-shredded stuff, for the best flavor.
- Add some avocado or use avocado ranch dreassing to make an avocado BLT salad. I always add avocado to my BLT sandwich.
How to Make a BLT Salad
PREP the vegetables by chopping the lettuce and slicing the tomatoes and then putting them into a serving bowl.
CHOP the bacon into tiny pieces so you get a little in every bite, and add it to the bowl along with the cheese cubes.
WHISK the dressing ingredients together until nice and smooth.
POUR the dressing over the salad and toss to coat everything. Top with croutons and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- This salad tastes best with the dressing tossed with the salad as opposed to drizzling it over the top. This helps give the full flavor of a classic BLT sandwich.
- This salad can be prepared in advance, but don’t add the dressing or croutons until you’re ready to serve it.
- This salad should be enjoyed within an hour or two of adding the dressing.
What kind of lettuce goes on a BLT?
Iceberg is usually used in a BLT sandwich. However, I wanted to make this salad heartier, and Romaine holds up well when tossing with dressing. Especially if your salad is being served buffet style for a big family meal.
What to Serve with BLT Salad?
This salad has just about everything, but you can always have a slightly bigger meal right? I don’t think you can ever have too much bacon, so I would pair this salad with Bacon Wrapped Breadsticks or a delicious Club Sandwich that can be thrown together quickly and easily.
Can I add other proteins to this salad?
I like to add chicken and make this a BLT Chicken Salad. You can use a rotisserie chicken or cook and shred your own chicken to add to this delicious recipe. Another great option would be chopped turkey, which would make it more of a BLT Club Salad, and now I am getting hungry thinking of different ways to serve this sandwich-turned salad!
Put your salad together and grab a recipe for a soup or sandwich and a great lemonade below, and have a delicious and filling lunch in the sunshine, then come back and tell me what your favorite part of the BLT salad is, for me its the bacon, but you probably already knew that!
More delicious lunch recipes
BLT Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 head Romaine lettuce
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon cooked
- Sharp cheddar cheese cubed
- Texas Toast croutons
- Fresh chives thinly sliced (optional)
Dressing
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk (or regular milk or heavy cream)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Chope the lettuce and rinse. Use a salad spinner or paper towels to dry the lettuce. Place lettuce in a large serving bowl and set aside.
- Slice the tomatoes in half and add them to the bowl.
- Chop the cooked bacon and add it to the bowl along with the cheddar cheese.
- Whisk together the mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Top with croutons and chives and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Reichel Wellswim says
Awesome salad that really does taste like a BLT! I cut back on the milk a little and added a heaping tablespoon of sour cream. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!!!
Alena says
Oh my god, that looks so good. It reminds me of when I lived in Florida. I think I’ll have to make this weekend!
JC says
This was excellent, served with homemade vegetable soup.