BLT Chicken Salad with Creamy Mayo Vinaigrette
This BLT Chicken Salad captures the spirit of a classic BLT sandwich in a super satisfying and downright delicious healthy salad bowl. Crispy bacon and juicy tomato slices are piled on a bed of lettuce, along with chicken, avocado, and hard-boiled egg. Served with a homemade mayo-based ranch dressing, this salad is guaranteed to be a family favorite. Not to mention, this delicious salad packs 39 grams of protein per serving.
If you are a fan of BLT sandwiches, this BLT chicken salad recipe is for you. Imagine a bed of chilled, crisp iceberg lettuce topped with slices of juicy red tomatoes, crispy bacon, and a mayo-based dressing. In other words, everything we know and love about BLTs sans bread.
This salad takes BLT fillings a few ingredients further with chicken, hard-boiled egg, and avocado. Clearly, this one-of-a-kind BLT salad has no shortage of protein and nutrient-rich fresh veggies.
Regular thick and fluffy mayo is perfect for spreading on sliced BLT bread, but it doesn’t work quite as well as a salad dressing. Fortunately, transforming mayonnaise into a creamy, full-bodied mayo vinaigrette is simple!
The mayo-based vinaigrette was initially created as a healthier alternative to ranch dressing to go with cobb sirloin steak kebabs. It’s perfect for paleo, Whole30 -and, best of all, this delicious chicken salad!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It features a homemade mayo-based salad dressing that doubles as a healthier alternative to ranch dressing and dip.
- You can use any leftover chicken -grilled, baked, rotisserie, etc.
- When the BLT craving strikes, this low-carb and keto-friendly breadless BLT is the perfect solution.
- It’s easy to make paleo and Whole30 with minor modifications.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the BLT salad:
- Chicken: I included quick poaching instructions and a link to a favorite grilled chicken recipe, but you can’t go wrong adding any cooked chicken to this recipe. You can use leftover rotisserie chicken, store-bought cooked and diced chicken, air fried chicken, etc.
- Bacon – Pre-cooked bacon roughly chopped or crumbled. If you’re going for paleo and Whole30, make sure the bacon you use is sugar and nitrate-free.
- Iceberg lettuce – Iceberg is by far the most common type of lettuce used in BLTs, but romaine, Boston, butterhead, and green leaf work just as well in this salad version.
- Tomatoes – San Marzano, beefsteak, and Roma tomatoes are perfect for slicing and piling on a BLT, but since this is a salad, feel free to use cherry and grape tomatoes.
- Avocado – Creamy avocado and crispy bits of bacon belong in salads together. Not to mention, avocado is packed with healthy fats and plant-sourced protein.
- Hard-boiled egg – I like prepping perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs once to add to salads like this one throughout the week.
- Fresh cracked pepper – Helps season the fresh lettuce greens.
For the mayo vinaigrette:
- Mayonnaise – I use an olive oil blend mayo, but use whatever mayo you have. For paleo and Whole30, look for an approved brand or make homemade olive oil mayo.
- White wine vinegar & olive oil – This pair of ingredients helps thin the mayo into a more vinaigrette-like consistency and intensifies the tangy flavors.
- Lemon juice – Brightens up the zesty, well-rounded ranch-inspired flavors.
- Fresh herbs – Parsley, dill, and chives bring the palatable herbaceous ranch flavor.
- Sea salt and black pepper – Adds and improves flavors.
How To Make A BLT Salad with Chicken
Step 1: Grill or Poach chicken. For my favorite grilled chicken marinade and grilling instructions, check out this recipe for the best gluten-free chicken marinade. Poaching instructions: Bring a large pot of salted water to a full boil. Add chicken and allow the water to return to a boil. Cover the pot, immediately remove it from the heat, and let it stand until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. Drain and let cool before shredding.
For more information on successfully poaching chicken breasts, my avocado chicken salad post has the deets!
Step 2: Assemble the salad. In a large salad bowl, add a bed of iceberg followed by tomato slices, diced avocado, hard-boiled egg, and chopped bacon. Top with sliced or shredded chicken and season to taste with fresh cracked pepper.
Step 3: Make the dressing. Whisk mayo, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh herbs together in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 4: Serve. Drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad or serve on the side, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- If you haven’t already cooked the bacon, it only takes a few minutes. Preheat a frying pan over medium-low heat and cook the bacon strips in a single layer without overlapping until cooked to your desired doneness. Set the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate to drain before chopping.
- If you don’t plan to eat this salad right away, wait until immediately before serving to add avocado, as it will begin to brown as soon it’s cut into.
- The same goes for the dressing. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
Variations
Dressing alternatives – The mayo-based ranch dressing pairs perfectly with the BLT theme, but this salad goes great with other salad dressings like creamy balsamic or Greek. You can also use a store-bought Whole30-approved ranch dressing if you like.
Lettuce wraps – If you’re craving something handheld, skip chopping the lettuce and make iceberg lettuce cups. Use two leaves per cup, and wrap chicken, bacon, tomato, avocado, hard-boiled egg, and a drizzle of dressing in a secure bundle.
Storing
If your salad is tossed in dressing, keep leftovers in a well-sealed glass container in the fridge for up to 2 days. To extend the shelf-life, refrigerate each ingredient, including the olive oil and mayo salad dressing, in separate containers and assemble single servings of BLT chicken salad from scratch before each meal.
Recipe FAQ
Yes! Layering salad elements in a jar is a great way to preserve their textures, so you don’t have to store each ingredient separately. Make sure you build the salad directly in a tall jar in this order, starting at the bottom: mayo vinaigrette, tomato, hard-boiled egg, bacon, and finally, top with lettuce. Add freshly diced avocado before serving.
Sure -and these days, a few brands are readily available in stores and online to choose from. Look for brands like Primal Kitchen, Tessemae’s, Sir Kensington’s, and Chosen Foods.
More Easy Salads with Chicken
Grilled Chicken Salad with Roasted Asparagus
Caribbean Grilled Jerk Chicken Bowls
Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Salad
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BLT Chicken Salad with Creamy Mayo Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce rinsed and chopped
- 8 oz chicken breast cooked, boneless, skinless *see notes
- 12 San Marzano tomatoes sliced
- 2 large eggs hardboiled, sliced in half
- 1/2 ripe avocado diced
- 4 strips of cooked bacon chopped into pieces
- Fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Dressing:
- 4 tbsp olive oil-based mayonnaise *see notes
- 1 1/3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh dill finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh chives finely chopped
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl, add a bed of iceberg followed by tomato slices, diced avocado, hard-boiled egg, and chopped bacon. Top with sliced or shredded cooked chicken and season to taste with fresh cracked pepper.
- Whisk mayo, vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh herbs together in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad or serve on the side, and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken: I included quick poaching instructions and a link to a favorite grilled chicken recipe, but you can’t go wrong adding any cooked chicken to this recipe. You can use leftover rotisserie chicken, store-bought cooked and diced chicken, air fried chicken, etc.
- Mayonnaise – I use an olive oil blend mayo, but use whatever mayo you have. For paleo and Whole30, look for an approved brand or make homemade olive oil mayo.
- Dressing alternatives – The mayo-based ranch dressing pairs perfectly with the BLT theme, but this salad goes great with other salad dressings like creamy balsamic or Greek. You can also use a store-bought Whole30-approved ranch dressing if you like.
- Be sure to use a lighter mild-tasting olive oil that is fruity and balanced so it doesn’t overpower the dressing for best flavor.
Nutrition
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That dressing is amazing!!!! Made it whole 30 compliant and it’s going to be a keeper on my menu!
Awesome Becki! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!!