Posted: 04/12/24
Updated: 04/13/24
/5
11 Comments
This easy 7 layer salad is a classic potluck and entertaining favorite made even higher with all the very best layers! With lettuce, peas, tomatoes, cucumber, chopped eggs, and numerous bacon, cheese, and a heavenly creamy dressing, your guests will likely be fighting over the past of this make-ahead layered salad side!
🫛 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This classic recipe is summer salad. Fresh produce topped with a creamy, tangy dressing and crisp, savory bacon. YUM.
- It’s super easy to make, it’s pretty to have a look at! Absolutely the go-to salad if you desire a side that’s tasty and in addition aesthetically pleasing. Bring this one along when you must wow a gaggle with no ton of effort.
- It’s a straightforward recipe to personalize. You can adjust the quantities on the ingredients below or swap something out entirely, replacing it along with your favorites. Want to make a 7 layer salad that the vegans in your group will love, too? No problem! Swap out the cheddar cheese for vegan cheese, omit the eggs, and use plant-based bacon bits or pieces. McCormick Bac’n Pieces are vegan! You may also just sub the dressing with the vegan dressing of your selection.
- You could make this the night before your event! Yup, 7 layer salad is a fairly good make-ahead option. Just be sure that to cover it with plastic wrap and seal it tightly. The tomatoes could make the opposite ingredients wet in the event that they sit too long, so in the event you’re making this greater than 12 hours upfront, you would possibly leave them out, adding them to the highest just before serving. I’d also recommend leaving the bacon off until just before serving, so it stays crispy.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Depending on the dimensions of your bowl, you could not use all the amount of every ingredient on this recipe. Adjust the quantities as needed!
- The bowl you employ in your 7 layer salad will really make a difference! The easiest bowls to work with are ones which have flat bottoms and straight, tall sides – like a trifle bowl! That’s just an example, in the event you don’t have a trifle bowl, any bowl that matches the outline will work. It doesn’t should be a glass dish either, but glass will showcase the layers of your salad!
- If you’re not using pre-cooked bacon or bacon pieces on top of your 7 layer salad, there are quite just a few methods you need to use to cook yours! Bacon within the air fryer is super easy and just about hands-off, but you may also go for this oven-baked method!
- For perfect hard-boiled eggs each time, try my air fryer or Instant Pot methods, or use my easy stovetop method!
- The dressing in your 7 layer salad doesn’t should be chilled, but in the event you’ve got the time, I like to recommend it! Chilling the dressing for at the least half-hour gives the flavors time to develop, making it somewhat tangier than in the event you mix it up immediately before you construct your salad.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
Anything you want! We use iceberg lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, peas, cucumber, hard-boiled eggs, shredded cheese, bacon, and a homemade salad dressing. Technically that’s 8-9 layers, but we consider the dressing + cheese + bacon to be all one layer.
Don’t mix all of it up! Instead, use a big spoon with an extended handle (longer than the edges of the bowl are tall!) to achieve all the best way in to the underside of the dish. This way, you’ll pull out somewhat of every layer while leaving the remaining of the salad intact!
Sure! I wouldn’t make it too far upfront simply because there are a number of wet ingredients on this dish, however the night before or the morning of must be fantastic. I like to recommend leaving the bacon off until right before you serve the salad, just so it stays crispy.
🥗 More Easy Salad Recipes You’ll Love
7 Layer Salad
7 layer salad is just as pretty because it is delicious, and it’s fully customizable – just swap in your favorite ingredients!
Instructions
For the Dressing
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Add 1 ⅓ cups mayonnaise, 1 clove garlic (pressed), ⅔ cup freshly grated parmesan cheeseand ¾ teaspoon salt to small mixing bowl. Whisk or stir ingredients together until fully combined into smooth and creamy dressing.
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Set dressing aside if assembling and serving salad immediately. If assembling and serving salad later, cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate dressing until able to assemble salad.
For the 7 Layer Salad
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Place 8-10 ounces shredded iceberg lettuce in bottom of trifle dish or similar dish with tall sides. Arrange lettuce into one even layer covering bottom of dish completely.
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Add 1 cup diced red onion to dish, spreading onion evenly across dish to cover top of lettuce layer.
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Cover layer of red onions with 1 ½ cups diced tomatoes spread evenly across dish.
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Layer 12 ounces peas evenly across top of tomato layer. If using frozen peas, make sure to defrost peas fully before assembling salad.
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Cover layer of peas with 1 cup diced English cucumber spread evenly across dish.
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Place layer of 6 large hard-boiled eggs (cubed or diced) on top of cucumber layer. Gently press on layer of eggs if needed to pack salad into dish.
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Spread prepared salad dressing on top of egg layer as evenly as possible, then sprinkle 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and 1 pound bacon crumbles evenly across top of dressing.
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Serve prepared layer salad, using spoon with very long handle to achieve as many layers as possible while serving.
Notes
- Salad could be prepared as much as 12 hours ahead of serving. If you’re not serving it immediately, wait so as to add the bacon pieces until just before serving so that they’ll stay crispy.
- Depending on the dimensions of your bowl, you could not use all the amount of every ingredient on this recipe. Adjust the quantities as needed!
- Use a big spoon with a really long handle to serve so that you get something from every layer! This’ll also help the layer definition stay intact so long as possible.
- Make it Vegetarian: Use plant-based bacon bits or pieces.
- Make it Vegan: Use plant-based bacon pieces, omit eggs, use vegan cheddar cheese, and use vegan dressing or substitute mayo and parmesan for plant-based.
- Leftovers: Refrigerate leftover layer salad in an airtight container and revel in inside 2-3 days. Keep in mind that the salad will turn out to be very wet and mushy the longer it sits.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 348cal, Protein: 11g, Fat: 31g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 106mg, Sodium: 587mg, Potassium: 237mg, Total Carbs: 7g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Net Carbs: 5g, Vitamin A: 508IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 131mg, Iron: 1mg
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