BLT Salad Recipe with the Best Dressing

Hi Natasha, I made this salad for my book club meeting last night. I just returned from a vacation to Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro, so going grocery-shopping jet-lagged is never a good idea. I kept forgetting things! and had to substitute green onion for the chives and wanted to make your croutons but ran out of time, so store-bought it was. 11 people, huge bowl of romaine with cocktail tomatoes and heaps of cooked bacon – GONE! It was a huge hit, as have been all your recipes. Thanks again, it was good to get out of my usual Caesar salad mode too.

I’m all smiles reading your comment! Thank you for sharing your amazing review!

Hi Natasha, Can you recommend a brand of mayo for this recipe. Thanks! Kandy

Kandy, we usually buy Kirkland mayo from Costco, but “Best Foods” or your favorite regular mayo brand would work fine.

Very yummy salad!! It’s on my list for my son’s bday party:)

Thank you Alina, bacon makes everything taste better . Happy Birthday wishes to your son . Reply

This salad is so good i loved it so much. This is something that i’ll continue to make often. Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

You are welcome Rosa, thank you for sharing that with us

I was wondering if once you have it all combined with dressing and all and you serve it but there is still some left over can you refrigerate the salad? How long does it typically last?

Hi Rosa, this salad is really best eaten after it’s made. The croutons readily absorb moisture and will become mushy overnight and the lettuce will start to wilt. Also, the bacon will soften from moisture and will lose it’s crispy appeal. I would definitely suggest dressing only as much as you want to eat and leave the remaining salad refrigerated without dressing. Also, I would personally keep the bacon and croutons in separate zip-loc bags and leave croutons at room temperature since they can absorb moisture from the refrigerator.

I was wondering if you happen to have any weekly meal plans? I recently got married and trying to make a routine to go shopping all at one time to make it much easier than going to the store everyday if I don’t have something for the recipe or need to do something else. Just curious if you might have something like that (:

Hi! I don’t have anything like that currently. I was doing them in my newsletters for awhile but not on my blog, but it’s a great suggestion! thank you!

There’s an interesting story behind this BLT Salad Recipe! Anyone can make a BLT salad (the name is a dead giveaway of the ingredients and it’s basically a deconstructed sandwich) but not every BLT dressing is created equal! A few years ago, we attended my husbands’ cousin’s wedding and their reception was in a fancy hotel in Washington state. There was a salad on the menu and the dressing tasted just like a favorite salad of ours (Creamy Cucumber and Tomato Salad) except it was served over a bed of greens and I thought – “YAAAASSSS! This is brilliant!” Why not put the same tasty dressing on every salad possible? Why not put it on a BLT salad loaded with fresh lettuce, crispy bacon, bright tomatoes and of course croutons (and these were homemade by the way!).

The dressing for this salad is spot on and my Mom mmm’d her way through her bowl. It was an instant win because it has the same familiar family-favorite dressing but it’s served in a really exciting way. I venture to call this our new house salad; ‘Natasha’s House Salad.’ I won’t lie – I kinda like the sound of that!

Ingredients for BLT Salad:

12 oz sliced cooked bacon*

1 to 2 cups croutons (click here for croutons recipe)

1 lb (3 cups) tomatoes (any kind)

1 medium/large head of lettuce,** chopped, rinsed and spun dry

* I baked ‘ma bacon on a foil lined baking sheet for about 14-15 min at 400˚F. Thick cut bacon can take closer to 20 min.

**Photographed is a Boston lettuce (also known as bibb or butter lettuce). You can also use romaine, or green leaf.

For the Creamy BLT Salad Dressing:

3 Tbsp mayo

4 Tbsp sour cream

1 large garlic clove, pressed

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1 to 2 Tbsp milk, or add to desired consistency

How to Make the Best BLT Salad:

1. Make the dressing first to allow the flavors to meld. In a small bowl, combine 3 Tbsp mayo, 4 Tbsp sour cream, 1 pressed garlic clove, 1/4 cup chives, 1/8 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp salt (or season to taste). Stir together with a fork then add 1 to 2 Tbsp milk, or add milk to desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and croutons. Just before serving, drizzle with dressing (adding it to taste) and toss to combine. You may or may not use all of the dressing depending on how large your head of lettuce was. I had a tablespoon or so left over.

This BLT Salad is easy peasy and you have one ridiculously tasty salad! Enjoy this my friends!

What is your families all-time favorite salad? We get into grooves where we make the same salad all the time for an entire season because we love it so much! Are you the same way?

Original article and pictures take http://natashaskitchen.com/2016/09/09/blt-salad-recipe/ site