My 7-Layer Salad Recipe – Complete With A Simple Shortcut!

Contrary to what you might think by its name, this 7-layer salad recipe is definitely not short on flavor! Even the pickiest eater will have a hard time not liking the combinations of flavors and textures.

This popular salad is well loved thanks in part to the combination of bacon and cheese! (It’s pretty hard to go wrong when those two flavors are involved – even in a salad recipe!)

It’s no lie that coming up with different recipes to bring along to family gatherings, work potlucks, or even your big Sunday dinner can be a challenge. So many dishes leave you feeling full and with that heavy feeling in your gut – But not this salad recipe!

While you have likely seen different recipes for 7-layer salad, they all probably have slightly different ingredients. And that’s the beauty of this salad! It can be completely customizable to suit your family and their tastes.

When choosing alternatives, just be careful to try to pick something with a similar texture. For example, if you aren’t a big fan of onions, feel free to substitute a little chopped celery instead. While you won’t get that bit of spice without the onion, you will still get the nice crunch with the celery.

7-Layer Salad Recipe

*Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the full recipe, including exact measurements and amounts. You can also print out the instructions. I go into a bit more detail about the recipe here first, just in case you need it.

Ingredients

• Mayonnaise
• Sugar
• Lemon Juice
• Lettuce
• Red Onion
• Frozen Peas
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Shredded Cheese
• Bacon

Instructions – 7-Layer Salad Recipe

First off, you are going to need a 9×13 casserole dish or similar for keeping the salad in. I like to use a dish with clear sides so people can actually see the layers of the salad. It’s a very visually appealing salad if I do say so myself!

Make The Dressing

Before you begin actually layering the salad, you need to make your simple salad dressing. This dressing will end up being the 5th layer of the salad.

In a small bowl, mix together your mayonnaise and sugar thoroughly. Add a nice squirt of lemon juice. If I had to measure it out, it likely would come to about an eight to a quarter of a teaspoon. But I typically just eyeball it.

Mix these three ingredients together until the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside or stick it in the fridge so it stays cold until you are ready to use it.

Start the Layering Process

Now, it’s time to make the layers! Take your head of iceberg lettuce and chop it into large bite-sized pieces. I have used pre-shredded lettuce before, but I think the bigger pieces of iceberg lettuce hold the salad together and just give it a nicer texture than the smaller shredded pieces. Add the chopped lettuce to the bottom of your 9×13 dish.

After the lettuce, dice up your onion into small pieces. You can use whatever type of onion you prefer, but it will be consumed raw so keep that in mind when choosing. Many people prefer the flavor of red onion raw, so I typically go with that. Add the chopped onion to the top of the lettuce.

Next, take your bag of frozen peas and dump it evenly on the top. You do not want to cook or thaw out the peas before adding them to the salad. They will soften as you go along and become the perfect texture.

The last step before adding the dressing is to peel and chop up the hard-boiled eggs. Add those on top of the peas. We like to add a few extra egg whites just to give the salad a bit more protein. Well, and because we have lots of eggs from our chickens!

If you hate peeling eggs, you need to check out my easy-peel method. It works perfectly for peeling even just gathered, farm-fresh eggs! (See “Easy Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs, Even With Farm Fresh Eggs!”)

Add The Dressing

It’s now time to add the dressing you prepared earlier for the 7-layer salad. This can be a bit tricky to do since the last layer is the eggs and they don’t exactly make for a smooth surface.

To make it easier, I like to plot down the dressing in several different blogs evenly around the dish (technical terms right!?). Then, take a spatula and carefully smooth the dressing around, pressing down slightly as you do to help keep the eggs and peas from moving around. You should be able to get a pretty decently smooth and even layer of dressing using this method.

Finish It Off

Now it’s time for the best two layers: the cheese and the bacon! You can use your favorite shredded cheese for this salad or even shred the cheese yourself. We typically use shredded cheddar cheese but decided to go with shredded cheddar jack this time (because it’s what we had on hand!).

But really any cheese will work. Play around with the different types to give the salad a unique flavor profile and note which you like best.

Now it’s the bacon’s turn – And here’s where I go semi-homemade. While you can take the extra time to cook and chop up bacon from scratch, I take the cheater’s route. I usually end up using bacon bits from the store.

Sure, it’s not as natural and “homemade” when I go this route, but I figure I balance it all out by using my farm-fresh eggs! It’s all about balance and doing what works for you and your family. This is a simple and painless way I can save myself time (and dishes)! Besides, I am not really a fan of cooking bacon.

Anyway, sprinkle the bacon bits (or chopped bacon) on top of the cheese until it looks good to you. We usually end up using about half a bag of the 6-ounce Hormel bacon bits.

Your 7-layer salad is now complete! Cover the dish and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to meld together slightly. Serve it cold as a refreshing and “mostly” healthy salad or side dish. Enjoy!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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