This BLT salad is a celebration of peak summer tomatoes. Use the highest quality tomatoes you can find and pair them with crispy bacon, pan-fried croutons and herb-spiked green goddess dressing.

A platter of BLT salad loaded with tomatoes, bacon, shallots, chives and pan-fried bacon croutons

BLT Salad with Bacon Croutons and Green Goddess Dressing

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Author: Emily Hanka
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 medium shallot, sliced into thin rings
6 slices bacon
2 large slices high-quality crusty bread, like sourdough, cut into ½-inch cubes
4 cups mixed lettuces, torn into bite-sized pieces
The best tomatoes you can find, chopped into hearty chunks (about 2 cups’ worth)
Chopped chives, for garnish, optional
Plenty of green goddess dressing
Kosher salt and black pepper

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Place the sliced shallots in a small bowl, cover with an inch of cold water, and set aside. This removes the pungent onion-y flavor.
Set a large skillet over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook, turning frequently, until bacon is crispy on all sides. Using tongs, remove bacon to a plate lined with paper towel and set aside. Do not discard bacon grease.
Pour bacon grease into a mug and set aside. Wipe out the skillet, leaving as few browned bits as possible. We’re going to make our croutons in this pan and don’t want them to burn!
Add a couple tablespoons of bacon grease back into the skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Once the grease is hot, add the bread cubes and toss to coat them evenly in the oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and toast, tossing occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes, or until bread cubes are golden-brown and crispy on all sides. Remove croutons to a plate lined with paper towel and set aside.
Drain water from shallots. Crumble bacon into bite-sized pieces.
Arrange lettuce, tomatoes, shallots, bacon, croutons, and chopped chives on a large plate or salad platter. Don’t forget to season your salad with salt and pepper before drizzling with lots of green goddess dressing!

This year’s tomatoes have been the stuff of dreams. Around this time of year, they’re perfectly plump, juicy, so sweet you can eat them all on their own without even a sprinkle of salt. I’ve been buying fresh ones multiple times a week because we’re running through them so quickly.

This BLT salad is the perfect canvas for such peak-season tomatoes, and is ideal for days when you’re craving the flavors of a classic BLT, but perhaps with a few more vegetables involved.

For obvious reasons, I recommend using only the highest quality produce for this recipe, especially the tomatoes. There are so few ingredients that quality really matters. This salad just won’t taste the same with subpar ingredients. I buy my tomatoes from the farmers market, and they’re always spectacular. Home-grown is even better!

A salad spinner full of crisp iceberg lettuce and leaf lettuce

A bowl of shiny, perfectly ripe, multicolored cherry tomatoes from the farmers market

I will say, though, that this is one scenario where iceberg lettuce fits right in. Usually I’m a snob who believes there’s always a better lettuce. But the crisp, juicy crunch of an iceberg leaf feels like peak summer and peak BLT to me. So for this recipe, I used a mix of iceberg and leaf lettuce. You can use whatever leafy green feels right to you.

The croutons might feel intimidating, but you can do it! Making your own croutons is easier than it seems. Just cube up a couple slices of bread (I prefer sourdough) and add them to a hot pan with sizzling bacon fat. Toss them a couple times, season simply with salt and pepper, and let the heat do the rest. You’ll have crispy, savory, bacon-y croutons that may or may not make it all the way onto the salad.