Seven Layer Salad is a vibrant, crunchy, and flavorful dish that’s perfect for potlucks and BBQ’s! Every bite is a fresh, satisfying delight!
This easy Salad side dish is sure to become a favorite for family reunions, cookouts, and picnics. Just like Macaroni Salad or classic Pasta Salad, it’s a refreshing dish with a creamy mayo dressing that’s perfect for spring and summer.
Sabrina’s Seven Layer Salad Recipe
The easy salad goes great with any number of main dishes. It’s filling, refreshing, and a favorite with kids and adults. If you’re serving a bigger group, you may want to make it a double batch. This crowd-pleasing salad goes fast. Seven Layer Salad is creamy, savory, salty, crunchy, and sweet. Each layer brings its own unique taste and texture that complements the dish.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 6 cups iceberg lettuce , chopped
- 1 red onion , chopped
- 12 ounces frozen green peas , thawed
- 3 stalks celery , chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Add bacon to a large skillet and cook until brown and crispy, then remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Let cool then chop.
- Layer the salad with lettuce, then onion, peas, and celery.
- Mix the mayonnaise and sugar and spread it over the celery, then top with cheese and bacon.
- Refrigerate until serving.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
This recipe follows the traditional ingredients for Seven Layer Salad for a nostalgic and delicious side. But you can always experiment with different ingredients. Try swapping out the peas for corn or adding in some ham or potatoes. There are so many ways you can change up the layers or add new ones for fun spins on this salad.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
You may have enjoyed Seven Layer Salad while you were growing up at a potluck or BBQ. This easy recipe makes it just like how you remember, with layers of iceberg lettuce, onion, peas, celery, creamy dressing, cheese, and bacon. It’s easy to make and is packed with a variety of different flavors and textures from all the layers. The creamy layer of mayonnaise helps bring all the other ingredients together, and the little bit of sugar mixed in adds just the right amount of sweetness.
Ingredients
- Bacon: You can use any bacon. I like thick-cut bacon, cooked to perfect crispiness, cooled, and chopped.
- Cheese: You can use pre-shredded cheese for ease. Buying a big block of cheese and then shredding it yourself is budget-friendly and ensures the freshest cheese possible outside a dairy farm!
- Lettuce: For easy prep, you can easily get the pre-cut salad mixes. If you want to get fancy, use baby spinach or butter lettuce in your layers. Be sure to wash and pat dry the lettuce before layering.
- Peas: Canned peas simply won’t do. The crisp flavor of thawed frozen peas is better. Bonus points if you can use peas fresh from the garden or farmer’s market!
- Onion: Red onion really gives the layers a nice pop of color. You can use white or yellow onion in an emergency, too. If this is the case, add a thin layer of sliced purple cabbage instead.
- Celery: Celery is celery, but it is essential to this recipe. Make sure to buy the freshest green celery that doesn’t have any dark green, mushy patches.
- Mayo: Use your favorite real mayo for this dish. Miracle Whip is not recommended unless everyone loves the extra sweetness.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, you can prep this salad ahead of time before hosting a party or attending a summer potluck. Once you have assembled all of the layers of your salad, cover and store in the fridge. Wait until you are ready serve before adding the dressing. Doing this too early can cause part of the salad to become soggy and not taste as fresh. You can keep salad in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Start by taking the peas out of the freezer to thaw. You can put them in cold water for this.
- Then cook the bacon in a large skillet until nice and crispy. Let the bacon cool down then chop it into bacon bits to get it ready for the salad.
- Make sure to get uniform cuts when you are chopping your head of lettuce or romaine lettuce, red onion, and celery.
- For the creamy homemade dressing whisk together the mayonnaise and granulated sugar really well so that the sugar dissolves. Spread sweetened mayo over the celery.
Serving Ideas
- This salad is perfect for all your summer BBQ’s and parties. Make it to go along side of your Burgers, Grilled Chicken, or Chili Dogs. With a salad this good, it may even outshine your main dish!
- Serve this salad with other delicious side dishes that are perfect for a BBQ like Potato Salad and Roasted Corn. If you have leftovers, you can add a protein like Chicken, Grilled Shrimp or even Steak for lunch the next day. If you don’t want the sweet mayo dressing, you can also make Lemon Vinaigrette for a zesty lighter dressing option.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave your salad at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Serve it in a clear trifle bowl or other glass bowl to enjoy the pop of color from the various layers.
- Store: If you have any leftovers or want to make salad ahead of time, it will last in the fridge for 3-4 days. Make sure to cover it tightly with plastic wrap or seal it in an airtight container.
- Freeze: Due to the mayo, this recipe won’t freeze well and is best served fresh. If you don’t finish it within the 4 days, it’s best to throw it out and make a fresh batch.
Frequent Questions
While mixing all the ingredients together is technically possible, this recipe showcases the actual ingredients in contrasting layers that are aesthetically pleasing. If you mix it all together, toss it well to coat everything in the mayo, and serve it in an opaque serving bowl.
Use a glass bowl that you can see the layers in. You can use a trifle dish, which is perfect for this kind of dish because you can easily see the layers.
Variations
- Bacon: Instead of topping the salad off with typical bacon, you could use turkey bacon or add some more sweetness with candied bacon. You could also add other meats like shredded chicken, turkey, or ham.
- Cheese: Instead of regular cheddar cheese, try using sharp cheddar, Swiss, provolone, pepper jack, or even Gouda cheese.
- Lightened Seven Layer Salad: Instead of using one cup of mayonnaise, you can exchange it for sour cream or non-fat plain Greek yogurt. This will make for a lighter salad but will have a similar texture.
- Flavor: For some flavor additions, try mixing in some lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, or lime with the dressing. You can also add seasonings like paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, or oregano.
- Add-ins: For even more layers for your layered salad, try adding green onions, fried onions, cherry tomatoes, corn, pasta, avocado, hard-boiled eggs, or potatoes.
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These photos were used in a previous version of this post.
This is good but I add more layers to the salad.
I like to add green peppers and cauliflower
shredded blend of cheese
I have been making 7 layer salad since the 80’s. I also add chopped red and green peppers and sliced mushrooms to this salad. Everyone loves it. 7 salad salad should be made the day before serving, covered with Saran Wrap and refrigerate. Delicious and so easy & quite the crowd pleaser.
Making this for superbowl party…hardest part are the eggs! Cannot find “old eggs” to boil…you know the drill…this is an authentic recipe, thank you! Added tarragon mustard to the mayo as mustard and tarragon are great with eggs. Go Bengals!
Great recipes, Sabrina, love ya Chef!
Craig