Everyone’s favorite sandwich loaded with beloved bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes; deconstructed into this healthy and easy meal prep lunch BLT salad.
Watch the magic happen:
I love making salads for lunch, and turning one of my favorite sandwiches into a salad? Best. Idea. Ever.
In fact, I loved this recipe so much, I decided to try it the other way too, and turn a salad into a sandwich. Another huge success, and you can grab my Salad Sandwich Recipe here.
Okay, let’s begin. You’re going to love how easy this tasty salad is to prepare!
Making BLT Salad
You know the recipe: bacon, lettuce, fresh tomatoes, in between 2 slices of white bread slathered with mayonnaise. It’s crunchy, bacony goodness and easy with a capital E.
However, if you are going grain free or low carb, this beloved classic is not an option, until now! I’ve improvised, added a few veggies and BOOM! We have a healthy, low carb BLT lunch salad. This recipe is what we’ve all been waiting for.
Favorite Salad Toppings
Since this is a new creation, I wanted to add everything I think a BLT should include: cheese, avocado, and Ranch dressing.
Don’t get me wrong, the classic sandwich is good all by itself, but I can’t help but feel it would be even better with these three toppings.
Dropping the bread but keeping the other fresh ingredients is how I get my BLT fix, even when I’m committed to fresh-food-only for 30 days at a time. There’s nothing but amazing whole ingredients in this salad and it’s a great way to get your family on board with a family-friendly clean eating plan.
How to Prep BLT Salad Toppings
What makes this salad so delicious?
The crispy bacon? Perhaps.
Homemade Ranch dressing? Possibly.
The fact that it can be prepped ahead for on-the-go lunches? Bingo!
Just kidding, it’s all three. But seriously, whenever I can make a week’s worth of lunches in one day, I’m always game. Cook the bacon, chop the lettuce, prepare the Greek yogurt ranch dressing, and assemble. Make sure you leave enough of each ingredient to make yourself a salad right then and there because you won’t be able to resist.
If you are looking for more tips to help you meal prep by cooking once and eating twice, you’ve got to grab a copy of my ebook Meal Prep’d.
Meal Prep’d eBook
In this book, I share 70+ recipes that can be cooked ahead, stored in single-serve portions or frozen, and save you time and effort in the kitchen.
Cook once and have ready-to-eat meals for an entire week. These nutritious and filling recipes can be enjoyed as dinner or packed for lunch.
How to Make Crispy Bacon for Salads
How you prep bacon is up to you. If you’re short on time, you can microwave bacon to have this recipe on the table in minutes.
For the stove-top method, a cast-iron skillet is always a good idea for the ultimate, crispy bacon.
The key is to start with a cold skillet. Then, you place the bacon into the bottom of the pan and warm over medium heat. Give it a few minutes, and you’ll have pork perfection.
Another simple method for cooking bacon is in the oven. It requires no flipping, no grease splatters, and the bacon comes out perfectly crisp and flat. Preheat the oven to 450F, line the baking sheet with bacon strips and bake until crispy, about 20 minutes.
Best Lettuce for Salad
The sturdier the lettuce, the longer it will keep in the fridge, so options like Iceberg and Romaine are prime for these meal prep salads.
If you do plan to prep ahead, make sure to save the dressing and avocado until your ready to pack these for lunch. Otherwise, you’ll have a soggy salad with brown avocado on top.
If you’re really planning ahead, I will show you how to store lettuce so it stays fresh here.
How to Prep this Salad for Lunch
Whether you are prepping lunch for 1 or 4, this recipe is simple and takes no time as all, so grab those meal prep containers ready, and let’s get to it.
Start with the Lettuce
First, make a base layer in each container of Romaine lettuce.
Add your Toppings
Top the lettuce with the cooked and chopped bacon, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado making alternate rows.
Pack the Dressing
Divide the Homemade Ranch or storebought into mini sauce containers, pop them into the salad containers, and seal them up!
How to Keep Avocado from Browning in Salad Prep
You can slow down the browning process but you cannot keep avocados from turning brown. Browning is a natural oxidation process. I suggest you either soak it in lime juice to slow it down or wait to slice it until the last minute.
My Favorite Salad Prep Containers
What’s a meal prep without cute meal prep containers that makes your fridge look like #fridgegoals and these glass meal prep boxes do just that!
They’re large enough so you can pack a hefty serving without going overboard and hold up well in the dishwasher. If packing this into a school lunch then these glass lunch containers are a great choice. I’ve had mine for years, and they’re still going strong.
BLT Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 8 cups romaine lettuce, finely shredded
- 1- pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 6 slices crispy bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 avocado, diced
- Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Create a bed of Romaine lettuce in 4 lunch containers. Top with tomatoes, ¼ cup shredded cheese, 2 tablespoons cooked bacon, and ¼ of an avocado.
- Divide Ranch dressing between 4 lidded sauce containers and pack with salads.
Maeghan Gerloff
Can’t wait to try this! What are the nutrition facts without the dressing? I have something a bit different for my dressing,
Laura Fuentes
For customization, I recommend you use your favorite nutritional tracker app.
Kimmy
Always loved this combo as a sandwich but never thought of a BLT Salad! Totally brilliant!
Rachel
This salad is so simple and yummy! I added cucumbers and red onion because I had it. I used your ranch recipe and only did a half batch because I wasn’t meal prepping but used the full amount of dill(I love extra dill flavor). I love that I can still enjoy my favorite sandwich but in a much lighter form. Thanks for the recipe!
Natalie
Is the calorie information for 4 salads or just 1?
Laura Fuentes
Hi Natalie, the nutrition facts are per salad but they have been recently updated.
BDial
How do you keep your avocado from browning?
Laura Fuentes
Either soak it in lime juice or I usually wait to slice it last minute before serving.
Milo Clary
How do you keep the avacado from turning brown ?
Laura Fuentes
You can slow down the browning process but you cannot keep avocados from turning brown. This is a natural oxidation process. I suggest you either soak it in lime juice to slow it down or wait to slice it until the last minute.
Johanna
This BLT Salad was epic. I loved the dressing and I made myself a bowl and meal prepped it for the week. Thanks for a great recipe!
Laura Fuentes
I’m so glad!
Jenny
I made this BLT salad for lunch today and it was AMAZING! I usually buy ranch but I used your recipe and it was easy and delicious!
Sarah
This salad looks amazing. I can see myself prepping them for the week!
I had no idea that it could be that fast to make my own ranch dressing!