A classic, easy 7 layer Salad recipe served in a trifle bowl. So many options for the seven layers, you choose what you love. Perfect for potlucks!
Love weeknight salads for dinner? This easy macaroni salad recipe is packed with pasta, veggies, and tuna! You may also love this Dorito Taco Salad for dinner!
Recipe for Seven Layer Salad
Growing up, my mom always made a 7 Layer Salad in the summer.
At family gatherings there was always an abundance of salads and side dishes, and the layered salad recipe with vegetables and sour cream never called my name.
I mean, things like Pistachio Fluff Salad and Snicker’s Taffy Apple Salad were my go-to choices.
And while I still love those sweet dessert salads, I’ve come full circle in life to where I tend to love and appreciate those foods from my childhood that I turned up my nose at (remember these 7 layer cookie bars?).
Anyway, let’s get started on all the details to making THE BEST Seven Layer Salad recipe!
What’s in a 7 Layer Salad?
EGGS: Make your hard boiled eggs. You’ll need about 6-8 large eggs for this recipe.
PRO TIP: I love using my Instant Pot Hard Boiled Egg recipe for quick and perfect eggs. They peel like a dream. Once cooked, cut eggs into quarters.
BACON: Whether you like your breakfast bacon chewy or crunchy doesn’t matter for today’s salad. You MUST make the crunchy version. Trust me, in a salad, wimpy chewy bacon is never a good option.
To get perfect crisp bacon I opt to fry it up in a skillet while my eggs are cooking! Crumble the bacon once it is cooked to a crisp!
VEGETABLES: Cut and dice your remaining vegetables.
- Lettuce: Iceberg lettuce is what I usually choose for 7 layer salad. Wash it good with cold water, shake off excess water, blot with paper towels, then give it a rough chop into bite size pieces.
- Cherry Tomatoes: Slice in half.
- Red Onion: Cut onion in half, peel, and make thin slices.
- Red Bell Pepper: Thinly sliced and seeded.
- Frozen Peas: Thawed. You can also use canned sweet peas that have been drained. I prefer the frozen though as they have a less “mushy” texture.
- Green Onion: Sliced thin, using the white and the green tops.
DRESSING: Mix the dressing. Using a medium size bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, granulated sugar, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and onion powder.
ASSEMBLE: Assemble the salad. In a large trifle bowl or clear glass salad bowl (so you can see the layers!), layer 1/2 of the chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, hard boiled eggs. Add about 1/3 of the dressing. Top with the remaining lettuce, black olives, peas, and red bell pepper. Add the remaining dressing on top.
Garnish the top of the salad with shredded cheese, bacon crumbles, and green onions slices (optional).
CHILL: Refrigerate. It’s very important for a seven layer salad to chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Serve and enjoy!
Stop up on mayo so you can whip up this easy chocolate mayonnaise cake next!
How do you Make Seven Layer Salad
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Onion
- Eggs
- Olives
- Peas
- Peppers
- OOPS. I have too many layers. Dressing.
- Cheese.
- Bacon.
- Green onion
As you can see there is a LOT of flexibility with layers. Sometimes I omit the olives and peppers. Sometimes I get rid of the onion and peas. Seriously, make it with the layers YOU love.
This salad makes a big trifle bowl full of fresh veggies, and is the perfect crowd feeding recipe!
Favorite Salad Recipes
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7 Layer Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the salad
- 8 Large Eggs hard boiled, quartered
- 1 package bacon, cooked and crumbled 12 oz
- 8 cups Iceberg lettuce
- 1 medium red onion sliced thin
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
- 12 oz frozen peas thawed
- 1 can sliced black olives, drained 4 oz
- 1 red pepper seeded and sliced thin (or diced)
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 green onions chopped
For the dressing
- 1 ½ cups Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ¼ cup Buttermilk
- 3 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Make your hard boiled eggs. You’ll need about 6-8 large eggs for this recipe. I love using my Instant Pot Hard Boiled Egg recipe for quick and perfect eggs. Once cooked, cut eggs into quarters.
- Prepare your bacon. To get perfect crisp bacon I opt to fry it up in a skillet while my eggs are cooking! Crumble the bacon once it is cooked to a crisp!
- Cut and dice your remaining vegetables. (see ingredients above).
- Mix the dressing. Using a medium size bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, granulated sugar, cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and onion powder.
- Assemble the salad. In a large trifle bowl or clear glass salad bowl, layer 1/2 of the chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, hard boiled eggs. Add about 1/3 of the dressing. Top with the remaining lettuce, black olives, peas, and red bell pepper. Add the remaining dressing on top.
- Garnish the top of the salad with shredded cheese, bacon crumbles, and green onions slices (optional).
- Refrigerate. It’s very important for a seven layer salad to chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. SERVE and ENJOY.
Notes
- For quick assembly, feel free to use precooked bacon and hard boiled Eggs. You can buy both at most large grocery stores!
- The dressing is key to this salad. It’s just slightly sweet from the sugar, but the zesty flavor comes from the buttermilk. I buy THIS buttermilk powder to store in my refrigerator for longer periods of time so it’s handy when I need it! You could also make my buttermilk substitute!
- In a pinch, don’t tell my mom, but you COULD use a thick ranch dressing if needed.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Video
Nutrition
Traditional, Southern 7 Layer Salad recipe with zesty dressing. Perfect for potlucks and parties.
Our family has issues with very much onion (I don’t have to share my French onion soup) so instead of the red onions I sub a can of drained and rinsed kidney beans OR green beans! Really does something good to the flavor and a protein if you don’t add chicken or turkey to it. Have also added two cans of drained tuna and the family really likes that, so does the church potluckers! I now have to take TWO big bowls of the salad for the dinners.
Hi Aimee! I searched up this recipe online and you were the first to pop up. Go you! Can’t wait to try it.
~Kristen (Barista) McShane (Kathy’s sister :)))
Aw yay! Hope you love it!
Mine was really watery
I drained the lettuce in a salad spinner after I washed the lettuce and thawed and drained the peas
Tasted great tho
Due to dietary issues I change up the layers! Exchanged out the onions with cucumbers, the black olives for chopped Rotisserie chicken breast. Great taste, worth the time and even the wife was surprised!
Delicious! I like how the recipe calls for putting some of the dressing as a middle layer, then the rest on top — it distributes it better than all on top. Added chopped grilled chicken to make it the main course.Thanks for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Everyone loved the layers! Amazing recipe, making it again soon!
So good!
Some how eating a salad this way makes it taste even better:) I added corn and left out the onions. Absolutely delicious!
This is one of the best (and biggest) 7 layer recipes that I have ever made! I love that this brings the classic dip into a healthier recipe by making it a salad! love it!
Do i see black olives in this also?
Shhhh, don’t tell 🙂 Yes, I sneak them into my salad!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this salad! So easy to make.
Take it to all kinds of gatherings & potlucks. Always come home with an empty dish & everyone wanting the recipe. Thank you for sharing.🙂
Or the dig deep salad that is delicious for pot lucks, BBQ’s of everyday supper! I had kind of forgotten about it.
Can it be mixed up like a pasta salad? I like all ingredients mixed do that you get a taste of everything?
Yes absolutely!
Everyone at my house loved it!! It was SO good!
I left out the red onions (so my kids would eat it), and it was amazing! The dressing is better than some of the toppings I’ve had with seven layer salad. I love taking this to potlucks!
Such a classic! Perfect party dish that’s easy and delicious!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to make for my next summer cookout!
This salad is soooo delicious! Each layer compliments the other perfectly. Thanks for sharing!
I love your recipe. The dressing has a lot more depth than many other recipes I’ve looked at, and I also like the layers of dressing. I can’t wait to try it!!