7 Layer Salad Recipe – a classic recipe! Layers of lettuce, green onions, celery, green peas, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and cheese. Topped with a homemade creamy dressing made with mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, sugar, garlic, and seasoned salt. Can make in advance and refrigerate until ready to serve. This delicious salad is great for potlucks, cookouts, and family gatherings. It is always a bit hit. Everyone LOVES this salad!
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BEST Seven-Layer Salad Recipe
This 7 Layered Salad has been a staple in our house all summer long. It is SO good! Layers of veggies, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, tangy dressing, and cheese! All of our favorites in one casserole dish. I could make a meal out of just this salad. SO good! This is my go-to side dish for cookouts, dinner parties, and family gatherings. It is super easy to transport and is always a big hit. Everyone loves it!
How to Make 7 Layer Salad
This 7 Layer Salad is very easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Layer lettuce in the bottom of a glass baking dish or trifle bowl. Add a layer of chopped green onions and chopped celery on top of the lettuce. Layer peas over the onions and celery. The fourth layer of the salad is chopped hard-boiled eggs. Add a layer of cooked chopped bacon. Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar cheese over the salad. In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, cider vinegar, garlic, and seasoned salt. Spread the dressing over the top of the salad. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- Can use iceberg lettuce or romaine lettuce or a combination of the two.
- I just threw the green peas in the salad frozen. They will be completely thawed by the time you eat the salad.
- Here are instructions on how to cook hard-boiled eggs in the Instant Pot: https://www.plainchicken.com/instant-pot-hard-boiled-eggs/
- You can mix up the vegetables for the layers.
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- sweet white onion
- grape tomatoes
- Roma tomatoes
- green peppers
- radishes
- water chestnuts
- chopped cauliflower
- You can use any cheese you enjoy. Sharp cheddar cheese, blue cheese, Monterey jack, parmesan cheese, pepper jack, gouda, anything goes!
- Make sure to use a good quality mayo in the dressing. I prefer Duke’s or Hellmann’s.
- Can substitute Miracle Whip.
- If you are doing Keto or Low-Carb diet, omit the sugar.
- Can add any fresh herbs you like to the salad dressing.
- Also, feel free to add a packet of Ranch dressing mix to the dressing for a different flavor.
- This salad would also be great with my Real Deal Chicken Finger Sauce as the dressing.
- Can substitute plain greek yogurt for some or all of the mayonnaise or sour cream for a lower calorie option.
- I use real bacon bits in this salad. You will need a cup of really bacon bits for the one pound of freshly cooked bacon.
- You can make the salad in a large glass bowl, large trifle dish, or glass baking dish.
- Can 7 Layer Salad Be Made in Advance? Yes! You want to make this salad the day before you plan on serving it and store it in the refrigerator.
- Leftovers will keep a couple of days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- The lettuce doesn’t get soggy because the dressing is on top of everything and not mixed into the salad.
What to Serve With Layered Salad
This salad goes with everything. Chicken, pork, burgers, steak, sandwiches – really everything! I love to make this when we have friends over for dinner. It is easy and can be made in advance. It is also super easy to transport to parties and cookouts. This would be great for tailgating in a few weeks too!
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7 Layer Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped green onions
- 2 cups frozen green peas
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1½ cups mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
Instructions:
- Place chopped lettuce in the bottom of a 9x13x2-inch baking dish.
- Toss together celery and green onions. Layer on top of lettuce.
- Sprinkle green peas on top of celery and onions.
- Spread chopped hard-boiled eggs on top of green peas.
- Spread cooked bacon crumbles on top of eggs.
- Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Spread over salad and make sure it completely covers the entire salad.
- Sprinkle grated cheese on top of the dressing.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Notes:
Steph
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I know this is a “layered” salad but in the photo it looks tossed together… so do you toss it before you serve it or just scoop it out? Oddly I have never made or eaten this.
No. I did not toss it together before scooping it out.
Weve been making 7 Layer Salad for over 30 years in my family We dont use the Vinegar or Garlic and we ate a layer of sliced tomatoes before the cheese. We Love 7 layer salad!!!!
To cut back on a bit of fat, I left out the bacon. I decided to try the dry Ranch dressing mix addition also. And to makeup for the lost layer, I added French Fried Onions that come in a package just before serving. It was a huge hit!
Sounds yummy!
This is pretty much the same recipe I use except I just put plain mayo for the dressing. I am excited to try this dressing as I think it will step up the flavor. This is one of those recipes that can be used as an entire meal and it is so, so good!
i love this recipe – classic and no funky weird ingredients – i've always just been lazy and used plain mayo – bhahahaha – i'm in! (and i love frozen peas)
I've been making my version of 7=layer salad for years… it's a fantastic side dish, or even an entire meal in the summer! My layers are romaine, green or red onion (diced), canned water chestnuts (chopped), frozen peas, bell peppers (any color, diced), bacon bits, and cheese shreds. My dressing is made by mixing mayo (or plain yogurt) with the juice of an orange with some of the zest added, and drizzled over the top… wonderful!