Bright, crunchy, and colorful, this easy Seven Layer Salad recipe is a fun blast from the past for any party. Make it as-is, just like you remember it, or switch up those layers in a million different delicious ways.
Recipe ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
- Lettuce: Iceberg, crispy head lettuce, or Romaine.
- Hard Boiled Eggs: Not in my Seven layer salad! But many people say that’s how they make it.
Step-by-step instructions:
Before you begin, you should decide on what bowl to use for your layered salad. A clear glass bowl shows off all the hard work you put into chopping the vegetables. And a clear glass bowl with straight sides makes it easy to assemble.
- First layer: In the bottom of the bowl, spread the shredded lettuce
- Second layer: A thin layer of chopped red onion
- Third layer: Chopped celery
- Fourth layer: Peas
- Fifth layer: Spread the mayo over everything and sprinkle with a little sugar
- Sixth layer: Shredded cheddar cheese
- Seventh layer: Crispy chopped bacon
Cover the salad up with plastic wrap and chill for a at least a couple hours.
Recipe tips and variations:
- Mayonnaise dressing: Plain, good quality mayo like Hellman’s or Best Foods is perfect. A little sugar makes it just slightly sweet, but even that’s optional if you’re watching your sugar intake.
- Miracle Whip: Substitute Miracle Whip for the mayo if you are a Miracle Whip fan. The only difference between them is that the salad dressing Miracle Whip already has added sugar, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Sour cream: Some cooks love mixing half mayo, half sour cream for a tangier dressing.
- Parmesan cheese: A few tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese taste great added to the mayo.
- Add meat: You could layer in some turkey or ham instead of the bacon.
- Extra veggies: Change out your layers for different vegetables like bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, scallions
- Change the cheese: Pick the cheese you love like smoked provolone, blue cheese, or feta cheese
- More toppings: Not traditional, but avocado, olives, and crunchy fried onions are so good!
More delicious salads:
Seven Layer Salad
Bright, crunchy, and colorful, this easy Seven Layer Salad recipe is a fun blast from the past for any party. Make it as-is, just like you remember it, or switch up those layers in a million different delicious ways.
Ingredients
- 1 head lettuce shredded
- 1/2 cup red onion diced
- 2-3 celery ribs sliced (about 1 cup)
- 12 ounces frozen peas thawed
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 pound bacon fried and crumbled
Instructions
- Spread the lettuce evenly in the bottom of a glass bowl. Top with red onion, celery, and peas.
- Spread mayonnaise on top of celery and sprinkle with sugar. Top with cheddar cheese and bacon. Cover and chill.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Lettuce: Iceberg, crispy head lettuce, or Romaine.
- Hard Boiled Eggs: Not in my Seven layer salad! But many people say that's how they make it.
- Mayonnaise dressing: Plain, good quality mayo like Hellman’s or Best Foods is perfect. A little sugar makes it just slightly sweet, but even that’s optional if you’re watching your sugar intake.
- Miracle Whip: Substitute Miracle Whip for the mayo if you are a Miracle Whip fan. The only difference between them is that the salad dressing Miracle Whip already has added sugar, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Sour cream: Some cooks love mixing half mayo, half sour cream for a tangier dressing.
- Parmesan cheese: A few tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese taste great added to the mayo.
- Add meat: You could layer in some turkey or ham instead of the bacon.
- Extra veggies: Change out your layers for different vegetables like bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, scallions
- Change the cheese: Pick the cheese you love like smoked provolone, blue cheese, or feta cheese
- More toppings: Not traditional, but avocado, olives, and crunchy fried onions are so good!
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 11gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 504mgPotassium: 219mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 780IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 1mg
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Love this salad, but by the next day….there is water in the bottom of the bowl which is gross. How to prevent weeping??
Hi Jacqui! I’m so sorry it was soggy the next day! Making sure the vegetables (especially the lettuce) are as dry as possible after washing is the key to preventing it from becoming soggy. I hope this helps. Take care! – Meggan
This sounds so good!
Two questions: 1. Do leave the salad in the refrigerator overnight before serving? 2. Do you toss the salad just before serving?
Thank you so much.
fayecrews@gmail.com
Hi Faye, you need to chill this for at least a few hours before serving but you can definitely leave it in the fridge overnight if you need to. No tossing, the separate layers are what it’s allll about. Hope this helps! – Meggan
I really like the variety of choices of toppings in this recipe. Gives me more ideas to make it a little different each time.
I have been looking for an AUTHENTIC 7-layer salad recipe from the 60’s and this is it – Thank you! Too many recipes add eggs, ham, and other stuff – not the original! Thanks again – I can’t wait to make this!
Thanks James, hope you enjoy! – Meggan