If you love a classic BLT in summer – that crisp cool lettuce and tomato with salty, crunchy bacon – you can love our BLT Salad Recipe – it is easy to make and packed with flavor. You'll love this recipe because it is a good, creamy, rich salad loaded with mayo, cheese, bacon, tomatoes, and crunchy croutons!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

How to Make BLT Salad

For the best bacon to use, check out our crunchy baked bacon recipe!

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.

BLT Salad Ingredients

First, we need to gather our ingredients:

Romaine lettuce: provides crispness, freshness, and a sturdy base that holds up well to toppings and dressing.
Grape tomatoes: add juiciness, slight sweetness, and acidity to balance the richness of bacon and cheese.
Thick-cut bacon: delivers savory, smoky, and salty notes with a crispy texture.
Sharp cheddar cheese (cubed): offers bold, tangy, nutty flavor and pockets of richness.
Texas Toast croutons: contribute extra crunch with buttery, garlicky notes, adding heartiness.
Mayonnaise: forms the creamy, fatty base that echoes the BLT sandwich flavor.
Sour cream: lightens the mayo and adds a subtle tang for balance.
Garlic powder: brings mild garlicky warmth that complements the bacon and cheese.
Salt: enhances all the flavors, especially the creaminess and sharpness of the dressing.
Buttermilk: slightly thins the dressing and adds tang for freshness.
Ground black pepper: adds a touch of heat and complexity.

BLT Salad Process

Once you've gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process:

Prep Salad

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.

Make Dressing & Toss

Top salad with croutons.

Whisk together all dressing ingredients and pour over the salad, toss to combine.

Serve and enjoy!

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 good – as well as safe to eat.

Assemble salad up to a day before serving, without dressing. We'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, we 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 dress it when you're ready to eat!

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 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 solid salty, crunchy bacon that is solid to crumble into a BLT salad – or on a BLT sandwich!

Recipe FAQs

How long does BLT salad last?

This salad should be enjoyed within an hour or two of adding the dressing.

Can we make BLT salad ahead of time?

This salad can be prepared in advance, but don't add the dressing until before serving.

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Ingredients

1 large head romaine lettuce
1 pint grape tomatoes
6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked
Sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
Texas Toast croutons
⅓ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 pinch ground black pepper

Method

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.
Whisk together all ingredients and pour over the salad and toss to combine.
Top with croutons and enjoy.