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This easy 7 layer salad is a classic potluck and entertaining favorite made even better with all the best layers! With lettuce, peas, tomatoes, cucumber, chopped eggs, and lots of bacon, cheese, and a heavenly creamy dressing, your guests will be fighting over the last of this make-ahead layered salad side!
🫛 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This classic recipe is the perfect summer salad. Fresh produce topped with a creamy, tangy dressing and crisp, savory bacon. YUM.
- It’s super easy to make, and it’s pretty to look at! Absolutely the go-to salad when you want a side that’s tasty and also aesthetically pleasing. Bring this one along when you want to wow a group without a ton of effort.
- It’s an easy recipe to personalize. You can adjust the quantities on the ingredients below or swap something out entirely, replacing it 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, leave out the eggs, and use plant-based bacon bits or pieces. McCormick Bac’n Pieces are vegan! You can also just sub the dressing with the vegan dressing of your choice.
- You could make this the night before your event! Yup, 7 layer salad is a pretty good make-ahead option. Just make sure to cover it with plastic wrap and seal it tightly. The tomatoes could make the other ingredients wet if they sit too long, so if you’re making this more than 12 hours in advance, you might leave them out, adding them to the top 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 size of your bowl, you may not use the entire amount of each ingredient in this recipe. Adjust the quantities as needed!
- The bowl you use for your 7 layer salad will really make a difference! The easiest bowls to work with are ones that have flat bottoms and straight, tall sides – like a trifle bowl! That’s just an example, if you don’t have a trifle bowl, any bowl that matches the description will work. It doesn’t have to be a glass dish either, but glass will show off 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 a few methods you can use to cook yours! Bacon in the air fryer is super easy and pretty much hands-off, but you could also opt for this oven-baked method!
- For perfect hard-boiled eggs every single time, try my air fryer or Instant Pot methods, or use my easy stovetop method!
- The dressing for your 7 layer salad doesn’t have to be chilled, but if you’ve got the time, I recommend it! Chilling the dressing for at least 30 minutes gives the flavors time to develop, making it a little tangier than if you mix it up immediately before you construct your salad.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
What is 7 layer salad made of?
Anything you like! 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.
How do you serve a 7 layer salad?
Don’t mix it all up! Instead, use a large spoon with a long handle (longer than the sides of the bowl are tall!) to reach all the way in to the bottom of the dish. This way, you’ll pull out a little of each layer while leaving the rest of the salad intact!
Can you make 7 layer salad the night before?
Sure! I wouldn’t make it too far in advance just because there are a lot of wet ingredients in this dish, but the night before or the morning of should be fine. I recommend leaving the bacon off until right before you serve the salad, just so it stays crispy.
🥗 More Easy Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Avocado Salad
- White Bean Salad
- Watermelon Feta Salad with Mint
- Zucchini Salad
- Nicoise Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Mexican Street Corn Salad
- Perfect Pea Salad
- Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
- Red Potato Salad
- Keto Broccoli Salad
- Crisp Apple Salad with Raisins and Pecans
- Cauliflower Potato Salad
7 Layer Salad
7 layer salad is just as pretty as it is delicious, and it's fully customizable – just swap in your favorite ingredients!
servings
Equipment
- small mixing bowl
- whisk or silicone spatula
- trifle dish or similar dish with tall sides
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ⅔ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ⅓ cups mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic pressed
- ¾ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
For the Salad
- 8-10 ounces shredded iceberg lettuce 1 small head lettuce; rinsed, patted dry, shredded
- 1 cup diced red onion
- 1 ½ cups diced tomatoes
- 12 ounces peas thawed if frozen
- 1 cup diced English cucumber approximately half of 1 cucumber
- 6 large hard-boiled eggs cubed or diced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 pound bacon cooked, crumbled
Instructions
For the Dressing
- Add 1 ⅓ cups mayonnaise, 1 clove garlic (pressed), ⅔ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, and ¾ teaspoon salt to small mixing bowl. Whisk or stir ingredients together until fully combined into smooth and creamy dressing.
- 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 ready to assemble salad.
For the 7 Layer Salad
- 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.
- Add 1 cup diced red onion to dish, spreading onion evenly across dish to cover top of lettuce layer.
- Cover layer of red onions with 1 ½ cups diced tomatoes spread evenly across dish.
- Layer 12 ounces peas evenly across top of tomato layer. If using frozen peas, be sure to defrost peas fully before assembling salad.
- Cover layer of peas with 1 cup diced English cucumber spread evenly across dish.
- 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.
- 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.
- Serve prepared layer salad, using spoon with very long handle to reach as many layers as possible while serving.
Video
- Salad can be prepared as much as 12 hours ahead of serving. If you’re not serving it immediately, wait to add the bacon pieces until just before serving so they’ll stay crispy.
- Depending on the size of your bowl, you may not use the entire amount of each ingredient in this recipe. Adjust the quantities as needed!
- Use a large spoon with a very long handle to serve so you get something from every layer! This’ll also help the layer definition stay intact as 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 enjoy within 2-3 days. Keep in mind that the salad will become very wet and mushy the longer it sits.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 348calProtein: 11gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 587mgPotassium: 237mgTotal Carbs: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gNet Carbs: 5gVitamin A: 508IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 131mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Can you add cauliflower or broccoli
Sure!
Great recipe. Takes a brief while but worth it. Btw I am UK grad but live in AZ
Thank you so much, Christy!
I made this for my daughter’s birthday BBQ and it was a huge hit. So yummy! To make life easier, I cooked the bacon and hard boiled eggs the day before, and sliced the onions. Made the assembly much easier the next day.
Thank you so much, Tammie! I’m so glad you enjoyed this salad so much, especially on such an important day!
Made this for Easter and it was a hit! This will definitely be a go to from now on.
But…it’s not 7 layers, it’s 8! 9 if you include the dressing! Why call it a 7 layer salad? Asking in all seriousness!
I think this recipe must have 7 ingredients of whatever 7 you prefer. I have some who love it without tomatoes. I have some who like it without onions. You can personalize your 7 layers.
We count the top layer (dressing, cheddar cheese, and bacon) as a single layer even though it has multiple components!
Beautiful presentation. How do you serve it so you can get every ingredient? Do you toss it just before serving?
Use a deep spoon to serve all the layers together without losing the definition for as long as you can! Thanks for asking Dana!