BLT Salad With Avocado

Sara's Tiny Kitchen
by Sara's Tiny Kitchen
2 salads
20 min

If your family is anything like mine, Father’s Day means breaking out the grill and having some burgers, dogs, or I guess steak if you’re fancy?


Grilling is a talent that I’ve yet to master, so my go-to is generally a side dish or a dessert. This year, I’ll be bringing this BLT Salad with avocado, and I’m sure it’s going to be a hit. Crisp lettuce, crunchy bacon, homemade croutons, juicy tomatoes and creamy avocado all mix together to make one of the best salads I’ve made in ages.


This recipe is a riff on a Bon Appetit recipe that I came across awhile ago. It’s basically the perfect salad, and you should really be heading to the kitchen right now to make it.


Ingredients for BLT Salad with Avocado

Romaine: for salads I’m normally a fan of a spring mix or arugula, but for this salad you really want that crisp bite of a romaine or even an iceberg lettuce. Basically you want lettuce that you’d put on a classic BLT.

Bacon: thick cut bacon is perfect for this recipe, but really isn’t all bacon pretty much perfect?

Tomatoes: the third part of the trifecta – I generally use cherry or grape tomatoes because that’s the tomato I prefer most of the time, but any ripe tomato will work here. The best part about summer salads are the ripe, juicy tomatoes and this salad is no exception.

Croutons: the trick here is to toast the bread in the rendered bacon fat – it’s a game changer.

Avocado: you can leave this out if you’re a BLT purist, but I usually prefer BLAT’s anyway so I’ll always add an avocado when I can.

Chives: gives the salad a little something extra. Fresh herbs are always a good idea.

Dill: not fully necessary, but oh so good.

Recipe details
  • 2  salads
  • Prep time: 5 Minutes Cook time: 15 Minutes Total time: 20 min
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Ingredients
BLT Salad with Avocado
  • 8 slices thick cut bacon
  • 4 ounces bread, italian or french loaf
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil*
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
  • 2-3 romaine hearts, chopped
  • 1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved (or other tomatoes of your choice)
  • 1 large avocado, sliced thin
Instructions
To Make BLT Salad with Avocado
Preheat your oven to 350.
Line a baking sheet with foil, and place the bacon on the sheet in the oven for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Once bacon is done, increase oven temperature to 400.
While the bacon cooks, tear a small loaf of bread into bite size pieces (they can be irregular) and set aside. 
Once the bacon is cooked, remove it to a paper towel lined plate and set aside to cool.
Toss the bread pieces in the rendered bacon fat on the pan, and place the bread in the oven for 10-12 minutes, tossing halfway through and checking to make sure bread doesn't burn.
Make the dressing while the bread toasts. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until dressing comes together and gets thick. Add 2 tablespoons chopped chives and 1 tablespoon chopped dill. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
Build your salads. Place the chopped romaine lettuce into bowls, then drizzle with a little bit of the dressing. Top the lettuce with the bacon, croutons tomatoes and avocado. Top with the remaining fresh herbs, and drizzle more dressing over the tops of the salads.
Tips
  • Use the best olive oil you can afford for the dressing.
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Comments
  • Nicole P Nicole P on Jun 21, 2021

    Thanks for sharing!!

  • Jan Jan on Jul 10, 2021

    This sounds great, especially with avocado. Trying to cut back on bread. Will be trying next week. Thanks

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