Seven Layer Salad

Seven Layer Salad isn’t anything new. It’s been popular (thanks to Betty Crocker) for decades now, but luckily the very best things never really go out of style. If you don’t remember it – or have never had it – Seven Layer Salad is an easy make-ahead salad that’s layered and chilled so all of the ingredients stay crisp and fresh. With iceberg or romaine lettuce, bacon, green onion, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, peas, cheddar, and a creamy dressing whose taste defies its simplicity, it’s quite possibly the perfect potluck salad.

In its heyday, this salad was generally made with iceberg lettuce, but we find that romaine still packs the same satisfying crunch but with a more desirable nutritional profile. After that first layer of lettuce is down, you add green peas, fresh tomatoes, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and chopped green onions each in their own layer.

The dressing is next, which is a simple mixture of mayo, sour cream, a bit of sugar, and some salt and pepper. That may seem like nothing special, but trust us when we say that it’s the perfect accompaniment to this fresh and crunchy salad. It binds all of the layers together with its creaminess and brings the ideal balance of tang and sweet.

We like to save the cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon for the top, as it helps either ingredient from getting sad and soggy. Cover it up with some plastic wrap and let it hang out in the fridge for up to two days. You might think that storing a salad is a recipe for disaster, but this one truly improves with a little bit of age. And that’s what makes it the perfect potluck pick!

Seven Layer Salad

15 minutes to prepare serves 6-8

Ingredients

  • 5 cups romaine or iceberg lettuce, chopped
  • 1 (12 oz) package frozen peas, thawed
  • 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
  • 3/4 cup green onions, chopped
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. In a trifle bowl or large clear glass bowl, layer the lettuce along the bottom.
  2. Add the tomatoes, peas, eggs, and green onions in individual layers over the lettuce.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, and salt and pepper. Spread over top of salad.
  4. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and then crumbled bacon over the top of the sour cream dressing. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for up to 2 days. Serve, and enjoy!

Adapted from Feast and Farm.

Whizzco for LPE