BLT Salad With Homemade Croutons Recipe

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This BLT Salad With Homemade Croutons gives you all the delicious flavors of a BLT in a salad bowl. It's perfect for a quick and easy dinner.

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Total Time23

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Servings:

1 large head of lettuce (romaine or green leaf lettuce recommended), washed and dried
10 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, washed and dried
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb bacon, thin cut
4 slices whole wheat bread
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
Creamy salad dressing of choice for serving on the side

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Place the whole wheat bread on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and garlic powder; stir well. Use a silicon pastry brush to brush the butter mixture over both sides of each slice of bread.
Use a serrated knife to slice the garlic buttered bread into 1/2-inch squares. Scatter the squares across the baking sheet.
Bake the croutons for 10 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Use tongs or a fork to flip each crouton, then return to the oven for another 5 minutes until golden brown on the second side.
The croutons are done baking when they are golden brown on both sides and crispy. Transfer the croutons from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Tear the head of lettuce into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl.
Cut the tomatoes in half and add to the salad.
Sprinkle the salad with shredded cheddar cheese.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Chop the raw bacon into bite sized pieces, then cook in the skillet, stirring occasionally (very carefully to avoid the hot grease), until the bacon reaches your desired level of crispness. Remove the cooked bacon from the frying pan and drain on paper towels until cooled to room temperature. Set aside.
Right before serving, toss the homemade croutons and bacon into the salad.
Serve with creamy salad dressing of your choice on the side.

Makes 4 dinner size servings, or 6-8 side salad servings.