If you love BLT sandwiches, you'll love this Salmon BLT Salad with Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing. It takes the classic sandwich and flips it into a healthier, antioxidant-packed meal.
Are you a to-do list maker, bullet journal-er, or "I'll keep it all in my head and get it done when I get it done" type person? I am a to-do list maker to the max and love nothing more than starting the day with a huge list and then working my way through checking everything off one by one and ending the day with a clear list. Except LOL, I don't think I've ever ended the day completing everything on my to-do list. EVER. I definitely get a little crazy and overambitious with my lists and basically make them impossible to complete. It's like an evil game I play with myself. But sometimes I end up just staring at my list and feeling legit paralyzed by everything on it. And I often have a tough time working on larger projects because I can either work said project for 4 hours and check one thing off my list or work on 10 smaller projects for 4 hours and check 10 things off. Easy decision, right?
I don't really know what the solution is (hit me up if you have it!), but I do know that one thing on my list almost every single day that always gets a check mark is "make dinner." It's kind of one of those gratuitous freebie to-dos because I know I'm always going to do it, but it makes me happy to have feel an extra little sense of accomplishment each day. Meal planning is usually on my list, too, since I'm always working to plan either new recipes for the blog or just dinners for the week. The best thing is when those two tasks come together and dinners for the week are also new recipes for the blog. That was exactly the case with this Salmon BLT Salad.
I absolutely love salmon and try to get it into my meal plans once a week for those omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. Of course, I also love bacon and also probably eat it once a week, as well. For the... deliciousness. I'll almost always choose a BLT if it's on the menu, but if I see a salmon BLT? I am 100% down. So, a salmon BLT salad was kind of an obvious dish for me to make.
I pan seared this salmon, but feel free to cook it however you like best. The prep is nothing fancy since I really feel like salmon is best when it's most basic and without anything crazy... Especially considering all the other flavors of the salad.
I also mixed together a super quick chipotle buttermilk dressing. I pretty much always make my own salad dressings as opposed to buying since it's so easy to do, tastes much better, and is almost always healthier. This buttermilk dressing is deliciously creamy without involving too much fat. The chipotle peppers add a nice kick without making it overly spicy. Basically, it's the perfect salad dressing!
For my greens, I used a kale and spinach mix because I wanted to pack as much nutrition into the salad as possible. I rarely make salads with iceberg or romaine because I love the flavor of both kale and spinach (and the vitamins and antioxidants!), but feel free to use any greens you like best. If you're using kale, you'll want to take a little time to massage the dressing into it to soften it a bit.
I guess it's not really fair to call this a BLT salad if I'm using kale instead of lettuce... But BKT doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Once the dressing is massaged into the greens, divide the greens into bowls and top with salmon, tomato wedges, sliced avocado, and crumbled bacon. I drizzled on some more of that buttermilk dressing, too.
This salad basically involves all of my favorite things. Besides donuts. But I can always save the donuts for when I'm done eating the salad. And I won't feel so bad about eating them considering all the nutrition packed in this salad. Between the salmon and the avocado, look at all those healthy fats!
We can just ignore the type of fat that's in the bacon. Or instead of ignoring it, just appreciate how delicious it is and how it adds the perfect salty crunch to the salad.
I almost never make salads that don't involve cheese or croutons of some kind, so the fact that I would choose this over almost any other salad is a very big deal. An even bigger deal? I might go so far as to say I'd choose this salmon BLT salad over an actual BLT sandwich. Wahhh?! I know. It's that good.
I always know I've had a salmon/salad success when Chris licks his bowl clean as these are two dinners that aren't his favorites. What a joy I am that I force him to eat salmon once a week, right?? I mean, I'm doing it for his own good and I think he would agree that lately I've been killing it with delicious salmon recipes that even he can't deny enjoying. If you have any great salmon recipes in your arsenal, send them my way because I'm always looking for more!
This salmon BLT salad is one meal that will be a regular dinner rotation in my life. Which means my meal planning just got a little bit easier. Which means I have one more thing I can easily check off my to-do list. Woo hoo!
Would your favorite sandwich also make an awesome salad?
If you love BLTs as much as I do, be sure to also check out my French Toast BLTs (omg so good!).
BLT Salmon Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lbs salmon, cut into 4 filets
- ¼ tsp chipotle powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil (or other cooking oil)
- 8 cups kale/spinach mixture (or greens of your choice)
- 2 large tomatoes, sliced into wedges
- 1 ½ avocados; peeled, pitted, and sliced
- 8 strips cooked bacon, crispy
Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 chopped chipotle pepper, plus 1 tsp adobo sauce from chipotles
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Sprinkle salmon filets evenly with chipotle powder, salt, and pepper.
- Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once hot, place salmon in pan skin-side down. Let cook for about 3-4 minutes, until skin is crispy. Flip filets and let cook until salmon is firm to the touch, about 2-3 more minutes.
- Put kale/spinach mixture in a large bowl and add ¼ cup of chipotle buttermilk dressing. Using your hands, massage the greens with the dressing for about 2 minutes. Add more dressing if desired.
- Divide greens into bowls and top evenly with salmon filets, tomatoes, avocado slices, and crumbled bacon. Drizzle additional dressing over salads.
Chipotle Buttermilk Dressing
- In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
- Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.
April says
I love everything about this! Definitely can't wait to make it and then stuff my face with it. 😉
Sarah Averett says
This is my favorite way to eat salmon!
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
sounds like a great salad!! also, i love the idea of putting salmon on a salad. my son isn't into salads yet but i could definitely make this for me and just give him the salmon!! 🙂
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
Exactly like you, I am a to-do list maker. Nothing makes me happier than crossing things off my list! 🙂 This salmon salad looks awesome! I would take the bacon out, and my husband would end up lucky with a double dose of it! 🙂
Madi says
I need to make this salad for dinner! That dressing sounds so perfect!
Michelle Barsness says
Yum! That chipolte buttermilk dressing sounds like a great pair with the salmon. I'm definitely making this.
Brian Jones says
What a lovely combination of flavours, I love the idea of bacon with salmon, not something I do often enough!
Denise says
I think I have made every salad known to man but I never thought of this one! You combined two of my favs ... BLT and salmon salad. Can't wait to try this!
Dominique | Perchance to Cook says
This is genius! I love how fresh and healthy this salad is... you really can't go wrong with bacon, tomato, and avocado in your salad. And especially with grilled salmon and a homemade dressing. YUM
Ben Myhre says
I am TOTALLY a to-do list person. I would say it is about 80/20 for a 'get everything done' to NOT ratio. I guess my thing is that I want to accomplish a lot, but it is so disheartening to always not complete my list. So, I go through an exercise at the beginning of the week thinking about all the things I want to accomplish for the week. I estimate the time for each of these tasks. Then, I parse them out to each day... knowing that I only have 9 hours of workable time for the day. The rest is filled with sleep, daily tasks, relaxing, etc.
Then, as time goes on, I just get better (not perfect) about estimating my tasks OR I am just doing too much stuff.
As always, stuff comes up. Things happen. life happens. so the schedule can change.
And that is the thing... I need to be flexible about it. Sometimes stuff just doesn't get done and often, that is ok. Sometimes I forget about an appointment or some other random stuff. Some tasks just have to move sometimes. People aren't going to take away my birthday if 'write X blog post' gets moved to next week.
Finally, I would totally eat this salad!
Sues says
@Ben- LOL you're right! I'll still have my birthday 🙂 But I like that you break things down your tasks with times. My problem is I get really bad time anxiety, like "omg I only have an hour to get this done!! Help!!" But I'm definitely going to try this as I think it could help!
Renu says
Looks so inviting. I will replace the salmon with Indian paneer as I don't eat salmon. Worth a try. Thanks for the share.
Melve says
We love healthy foods and this BLT Salmon Salad sounds so perfect! Must give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Evelyne says
Wow this salad looks perfect! The instruction is very easy to understand. So, I am going to make this recipe at home!
Paige says
I am totally a list person, in fact it drives me crazy! I'm also a salad person and this looks and sounds incredible!
Paige says
I am totally a list person, in fact it drives me crazy! This salad sounds wonderful, I love all the ingredients. Super filling for lunch or dinner too!
anne says
BLT sandwich is one of my favorites. I love that you turned it into a salad and added some salmon to it!
Rachel says
I'm was totally a list person. This worked out really well for me unit I had kids. Now I'm a discouraged list person! I have to say though, crunching on this healthy and spicy salad would totally make me feel better about all of the things that I haven't crossed off my list!
Jennifer says
I try to have salmon once a week too and I'm always on the look out for new recipes so that I don't get bored with it. This BLT salad looks delish! I love that there's no bread involved...perfect for me since I'm gluten and grain free!
Cleo @ Journey to the Garden says
Salmon can sometimes be a little bland so I love the addition of the chipotle and the bacon. A really healthy and delicious dish!
Sara Lehman says
This looks like a delicious family meal! I can't wait to try your recipe!
Rezel Kealoha says
Yum, Yum, Yum. I love this bowl. I have some salmon right now in the fridge and I think this is what I will do with it. Thanks for sharing!
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
Not only does it sound great...it is so pretty.