This Chopped BLT Salad with Corn will quickly become your go-to salad. Tossed in an herby basil vinaigrette, you’ll make this chopped salad all summer long!
Chopped BLT Salad with Corn
BLT sandwiches are always a good idea, but adding the best ingredients to a big bowl of salad, and that’s way more my thing. Plus, roasted corn and chopped avocado, that all comes together with a basil vinaigrette that you’ll want to drink with a straw (it is SO good).
This Chopped BLT Salad with Corn is the perfect summery salad to enjoy as a full meal or is the perfect side to any protein. This time of year, we love grilling up entrees on Sunday and just making simple sides like this salad to enjoy throughout the week. Easy, fresh and SO tasty.
HOW TO MAKE THIS SALAD
This Chopped BLT Salad with Corn couldn’t be easier to create. Use any greens you like, and toss with bacon and tomatoes, avocados and sweet grilled corn before tossing into a basil vinaigrette.
- Grill your corn: I do recommend grilling your corn on the cob for this recipe to help bring out that natural sweetness and a little bit of summer char. If you don’t have time to grill your corn, I would suggest at least boiling your corn to help bring out some of the starch. This can all be done in advance.
- Make your bacon: Fry up your favorite bacon, allow it to cool and then roughly chop into big pieces.
- Make the Basil Vinaigrette: This vinaigrette tastes like if a chimichurri sauce and pesto had a baby. It’s fresh and tangy and so incredibly delicious.
- To a bowl, add greens of choice: (romaine, spring mix, kale, etc.) tomatoes, bacon, corn and avocado. Toss with basil vinaigrette and top with feta if you like (or you can skip the feta to keep dairy-free).
- Dig in and inhale.
You can easily make this chopped salad from start to finish in about 20-minutes. If you’d like to prep parts of this salad recipe in advance, you certainly can! Grilling your sweet corn, frying your bacon, and making the vinaigrette are all easy steps that can be done ahead of time.
I suggest waiting to add the avocado and cheese, with the Basil Vinaigrette until ready to toss and immediately serve.
HOW TO MAKE BASIL VINAIGRETTE
This dressing is good for more than just this salad recipe. It’s delicious over grilled meats, tossed in a pasta salad, or roasted veggies. After you make this vinaigrette the first time, you’ll make it all summer long – I promise!
To a blender, pulse to combine: 1 shallot, 2 garlic cloves (3 if you really want; measure with your heart), 2 cups fresh basil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. And a few pinches of red pepper flakes if you like a little spice.
This vinaigrette couldn’t be easier to make and is easy to prep in advance! If you do make ahead of time, make sure to remove from the refrigerator 20ish minutes or so before tossing. The olive oil in this dressing will solidify once chilled, and so you want to bring to room temp before serving to get all the flavor.
other summer sides to make:
- charred corn caprese salad
- strawberry spring salad
- zesty radish slaw
- brussels sprouts salad with bacon
Chopped BLT Salad with Corn
Ingredients
Basil Vinaigrette
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste - optional
Chopped BLT Salad with Corn
- 3 ears corn - husks and silks removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8- ounce package bacon, cooked to package directions and roughly chopped
- 4 cups salad greens of choice - romaine, kale, spring mix, etc.
- 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- 1/4-1/2 cup Basil Vinaigrette
Instructions
Basil Vinaigrette
- To a blender add shallot, garlic cloves, basil leaves, olive oil and red wine vinegar. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Taste test and add salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate 4-5 days. If making in advance, make sure to remove from refrigerator 20-ish minutes before serving.
Chopped BLT Salad with Corn
- Heat a grill pan over medium high heat and add oil. Place the Dandy® Sweet Corn in the pan and allow the corn to char for 4-5 minutes, turning every minute or so. Remove from heat and cool. Once cooled, cut corn away from cobs and set aside.
- Prepare bacon according to package directions. Once cooled, roughly chop and set aside.
- To a large bowl add salad greens, halved tomatoes, diced avocado and feta cheese. Pour in vinaigrette and toss to combine. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
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Made this for a cookout and it was a hit! I used roma tomatoes but next time I think I’ll use grape tomatoes
So glad to hear Jean!