Bacon, Avocado, and Blue Cheese Salad
The most delicious blue cheese salad with bacon, avocado, maple walnuts and the best homemade blue cheese dressing ever! Crazy good and a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Servings 3 servings (3 large servings or 6-8 small)
Ingredients
- 1 head butter lettuce washed and chopped
- 1-2 persian cucumbers sliced
- few grape tomatoes halved
- 6-8 strips pastured bacon
- 1 small avocado cut into chunks
- 1 cup Easy Maple Walnuts (or can use raw walnuts)
- 2 oz crumbled blue cheese
For the blue cheese dressing
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup butter milk or 1/2 cup milk + 1 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 oz blue cheese chopped or crumbled*see notes
Instructions
To make the dressing
- Mix all ingredients except blue cheese together using a whisk. Stir in blue cheese and serve.
To make the salad
- Get the walnuts and bacon started in two separate pans at the same time. Brown the bacon over medium heat and follow recipe instructions for the walnuts.
- While the bacon and walnuts are cooking, mix the blue cheese dressing according to the recipe.
- Next prep the remaining salad ingredients. Gently toss the lettuce in a large salad bowl with a little dressing and about half of the cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, and crumbled blue cheese.
- Drain the bacon, then cut or break into crumbles. Transfer the walnuts to parchment paper to cool completely.
- Sprinkle remaining raw veggies and cheese on top of the salad, followed by bacon crumbles and maple walnuts. Drizzle with additional dressing and serve.
Notes
- The maple walnuts are an amazing addition but, if you don't have time to make them, you can use raw walnuts or pecans.
- Make sure your blue cheese is very crumbly (or break/chop it) so it gets evenly distributed throughout the dressing.
- I use Amish blue cheese as it's slightly milder and flavor but you can choose the strength you prefer.
- If you're making this salad in advance I recommend not dressing the salad until last minute. Also, the avocado will oxidize so add that last minute too.
- Leftovers will store well in the fridge for 1-2 days although it may wilt.
- Not a fan of blue cheese? Try my creamy feta dressing which would also work really well!
- Makes 3 large dinner salads or 6-8 small side salads.
- For the blue cheese, larger, heavier chunks will sink to the bottom of the mixture, but finer ones will more evenly incorporate so you get blue cheese in every bite!