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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! 🙂
BLT Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for the BLT Salad:
- 12 oz sliced cooked bacon*
- 1 to 2 cups croutons
- 1 lb 3 cups tomatoes (any kind), sliced
- 1 medium/large head of lettuce, ** chopped, rinsed, dried
Instructions
- Make the dressing first to allow the flavors to meld. In a small bowl, combine 3 Tbsp mayo, 4 Tbsp sour cream, pressed garlic clove, 1/4 cup chives, 1/8 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp salt (or season to taste). Stir together then add 1 to 2 Tbsp milk, or add milk to desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- 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.
Notes
**Great lettuce options: Boston/bibb/butter lettuce, romaine, or green leaf lettuce.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
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?
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I’ve made this recipe a number of times. I like to add thin sliced red onion, shredded cheddar, and Grillo’s pickle slices! Absolutely obsessed with the dressing!
Loved this. I took whole romaine lettuce leaves, stacked 3 together, and made BLT “boats” by putting in bacon strips, quartered colorful cherry tomatoes. Put them on a rectangular serving dish and had the dressing in a small coffee creamer pitcher for each person to drizzle on their salad. It was tidy enough to eat out of hand. It was pretty and delicious, especially the dressing.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Madge!
your cookbook is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very good recipe. Thank you for sharing it. I made if for my hubby for a lunch date. He really liked it.
I could go on Worst Cooks In America-seriously. And EVERY recipe I have tried has been great. This was absolutely the best summer main dish ever! It did hold up for two days! Second time I made it I added chicken…OMG with the bacon and chicken; amazing!
This is an absolutely amazing review! Thank you Sharon!
Very tasty salad, especially with local summer tomatoes in right now. The dressing complemented the salad well. I made it just as written and found it slightly on the salty side as mayo also contains salt. I might suggest initially reducing the amount of salt in the dressing, and then adjusting to taste depending on the saltiness of your bacon and croutons. Thank you for sharing your recipe, this is a summer recipe keeper!
Hi Clarissa! I’m glad you loved it! That’s a great tip. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, do you have dairy free alternatives for the dressing? I would really like to try to make the dessert but I am dairy free.
Hi Sheri! I have not tested any alternatives but you could try using a dairy-free yogurt in place of sour cream and a dairy-free milk to reach the consistency you’d like. Let us know how it turns out.
That easy dressing was so tasty! Made it for lunch and made it again for dinner. Even the “I hate veggies” teenager ate two bowls.
I didn’t have time to make the croutons but definitely going to the next time.
That’s great, Lori! So glad to hear that.
OMG, the best salad. I’m not a big salad as main course for dinner but this salad is fantastic and yes the dressing is fantastic. It’s perfect as is but my husband now adds hard boiled eggs on his hand and I add avocado. Thanks sooo much for sharing this recipe.
Hi Maureen! I’m so glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Alone. Maybe a portion???
Maybe lunch and supper.
BLT Salad and delicious!
The salad is amazing but the dressing!!!! I make (double) it every week and we love it. Great as a veggie dip or salad dressing. Sometimes I add more herbs.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Kay!
I wanted to try a BLT salad to go with a potato, corn and bacon chowder and I can’t fault the recipe. Just for me however, I’m not crazy about bacon strips in my salad – I prefer it crumbled on top, so I’d do that next time.
The BLT salad is meant as a full meal, so makes no sense to have it with chowder. Just make a simple green salad and sprinkle some bacon on it.
We started ordering this salad at a pub that has really good food. They also add dill pickles ….its really good !
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I had made this salad once last year and found it ok, nothing special. A few weeks ago I thought I’ll make it again, expecting nothing special, but I decided to add some grated cheese this time. And it made all the difference for us! It was soooo good!!! I’m obsessed🤤 thanks Natasha for the great recipe!
Nice, thanks for sharing that with us. Great to hear that loved it more after adding some grated cheese.
I, too, loved the dressing but made some substitutions:
1. Used basil + poppy seeds since I had no chives.
2. Added a cut up baked chicken filet since I had leftover
Recommendations: Less salt(I thought 1/4 t made it a little too salty so added some sugar and more pepper)
But it was delicious!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Darcy!
Wow, I signed up just so that I could leave this comment.
This dressing is the bomb. It is the PERFECT creamy dressing for almost any salad and as a base, can be taken in a million directions.
I am so grateful, because I make a lot of dressings, but this one is so quick and easy that I’ve already doubled it, tweaked it and written it down for next time!
Thank you, Natasha!
BTW, we are having the BLT Salad tonight with fresh garden tomatoes…it’s August, after all! That’s how I found your site, and I’m so excited to see your other recipes.
I did have to do a sub (had no fresh chives), maybe this is helpful for someone else: I used 1 tsp of dried chives and used 2-3 T of finely sliced green onion tops for the freshness. It worked great.
For a keto tweak: I replaced the milk with a dash of heavy cream (2 t) and since I still wanted it a bit more pourable, I added water until the consistency was perfect for us. It is very rich, even with the water! I also added 1/2 packet of True Lemon powder and a good pinch of cayenne, but that’s just personal taste…’cuz we’re chili heads and can’t help ourselves.
Today, I am grateful for Natasha’s dressing!
Hello Mary, thanks for the effort in sharing this review with us, that is so appreciated! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and I was happy to see you keto suggestions. That is so helpful!