7 Layer Salad (Southern Classic)
Our 7 Layer Salad is loaded with all your favorite salad toppings, sharp cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, grape tomatoes, green peas, and red onions. All on a bed of crunchy farm-fresh iceberg lettuce with a creamy dressing.
Equipment
- large glass bowl
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 cups iceberg lettuce -chopped (or romaine)
- 10 ounces frozen peas -thawed (1 bag)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes - cut in half lengthways
- 1 ½ cups extra sharp cheddar cheese - -shredded (yellow for color)
- ¾ cup red onion - chopped
- 5 hard cooked eggs - chopped
- ½ pound bacon -cooked and chopped
Dressing
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese - grated (or romano)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Dressing
- Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, parmesan cheese, apple cider vinegar, granulated sugar (or honey), garlic powder, table salt, and black pepper to a medium bowl. Mix to combine and adjust seasoning to taste. The dressing should be smooth and creamy.*Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dressing while you prepare the rest of the salad. Chilling the dressing helps the flavors blend.
Salad
- Cook the bacon, drain and chop.
- Make the hard cooked eggs, peel, cool and chop.
- Rinse, drain and chop the lettuce.
- Rinse the grape tomatoes and cut them in half lengthwise.
- Shred the cheese. I like to use yellow cheddar so it adds color to the salad.
- Chop the red onion.
- Defrost the peas.
Assembly:
- Fist layer - chopped lettuce.
- Second layer - tomato halves
- Third layer - peas
- Fourth layer - chopped onions
- Fifth layer - chopped eggs
- Bonus layer - dressing
- Sixth layer - shredded cheddar
- Seventh layer - chopped baconDon't mix the salad!
Notes
Can I Change Up the Ingredients?
Absolutely! We used iceberg lettuce in our recipe, but you can use romaine lettuce or a combination of your favorite leafy greens. Spring mix, baby spinach, and arugula would all be nice additions.
We used red onions because they have a milder flavor; however, you can substitute green onions or sweet onions if you prefer. If you’re not a fan of onions, feel free to leave them out.
We used a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream to make the creamy dressing, but you can use Greek yogurt as a substitute for either the mayo or sour cream. You can also use Miracle Whip as a substitute for the mayonnaise. Add pureed avocado to make a green goddess dressing.
Cheddar cheese is always a good addition to salads, but if you want to add a little more oomph to the recipe, consider adding bleu cheese or gorgonzola to the mix.
You can add other ingredients to the mix; red bell peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, broccoli florets, radishes, and sugar snap peas would all make delicious additions.
Add cooked chicken to make the seven-layer salad a complete meal. Serve it with crispy tortilla shells and seasoned ground beef to make a taco salad.
Can I make the 7 layer salad ahead of time?
Absolutely, it can be prepared the night before, but don’t mix it together until just before serving. The dressing actually helps seal in the freshness.
How do I keep the salad from getting soggy?
Make sure to dry the lettuce as dry as possible and keep it at the bottom of the bowl.
Add ingredients with moisture, like tomatoes, peas, and onions, in the middle.
Add the dressing, then the cheese, and bacon. And always use a heavy mayonnaise-based dressing, not a vinaigrette.
Add ingredients with moisture, like tomatoes, peas, and onions, in the middle.
Add the dressing, then the cheese, and bacon. And always use a heavy mayonnaise-based dressing, not a vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Calories: 372kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 12gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 565mgPotassium: 212mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 700IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 190mgIron: 1mg
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