BLT Pasta Salad
BLT sandwiches are great, but pretty hard to serve at a party. Enter our BLT Pasta Salad. The creamy avocado, crisp lettuce, and nutrient-rich spinach make sure you get all of your veggies too.
BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
A BLT Pasta Salad is the perfect way to enjoy bacon, lettuce, and tomato, but with a twist. Instead of two slices of bread, you use orzo pasta for the carby part of the equation. This dish travels very well, so it is ideal for picnics and tailgating. As long as you can keep it iced until you are ready to serve, it will be good to go.
Why You'll Love This Dish
- BLT Flavor In A Bowl - Bacon, tomato, and crisp greens with a creamy dressing.
- Great For Cookouts - Easy to make ahead and serves a crowd.
- Hearty Without Being Heavy - Orzo keeps it filling but still light.
- Crunch Options Built In - Romaine, croutons, and bacon give great texture.
- Easy To Customize - Add avocado, chicken, or swap the dressing style.
More Pasta Salad Recipes to love!
Recipe Shopping List
Wondering if you have to hit the store? Here's the list of items you'll need to make this recipe. For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Orzo Pasta - Small pasta that mixes easily and soaks up dressing; small shells work too.
- Bacon - The star flavor; cook it crisp so it stays snappy on top.
- Tomatoes - Juicy freshness; Roma or grape tomatoes hold up well and stay less watery.
- Romaine Lettuce - Crunchy greens that mimic the "L" in BLT; shredded iceberg works too.
- Croutons (Optional) - Extra crunch and that sandwich vibe; add right before serving so they stay crisp.
- Avocado (Optional) - Creamy richness that balances bacon and tangy dressing; add close to serving so it doesn't brown.
- Mayonnaise - Creamy base for the dressing; use your favorite brand.
- Sour Cream - Adds tang and keeps the dressing from tasting too heavy.
- Balsamic Vinaigrette Or Creamy Balsamic Dressing - Brings sweet-tang flavor that plays great with tomatoes and bacon.
Try this incredible Chicken BLT recipe, too!
How To Make This Recipe
This is just the overview so you can see what you're actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you'll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
- Cook Pasta And Bacon: Boil orzo in well-salted water. Cook bacon until crisp, then drain on paper towels and chop.
- Cool The Orzo: Drain pasta and rinse with cold water, then drain well.
- Mix Dressing: Whisk mayo, sour cream, and balsamic dressing until smooth.
- Toss Salad: Combine orzo, romaine, tomatoes, and avocado (if using). Stir in dressing until evenly coated.
- Chill And Finish: Refrigerate 3-4 hours. Top with bacon (and croutons) right before serving.
Recipe FAQ
Thick sliced bacon that's cooked crispy is the way to go for this recipe. Use my No-Flip Bacon method if you have a pellet grill! You could also likely use that method in a convection oven too.
If you are bringing this somewhere it would be best to keep the mix-ins out of the bowl until you get there.
To make things super simple, just carry a big enough lidded container where you can throw in all the ingredients, slap on the lid, then shake to mix.
Chopped dark green romaine gets my vote here. I always like romaine better than iceberg lettuce in my BLT sandwiches, and the salad benefits from it too.
If you are feeling on the adventurous side and ready for some variations on the good old standby of regular old lettuce, then try using arugula or mustard greens.
I recommend staying away from the more bitter leafy veggies unless you are able to grill them first. Grilling will reduce the bitterness and bring out nice sweet caramelized qualities of things like endive or escarole.
In the fridge, you can keep this salad for three or four days. I do not recommend freezing pasta salad. I would also recommend only mixing together as much as you are going to eat in a day since there's lettuce in the mix.
Lettuce doesn't like to be dressed for too long.
If we were talking sandwiches, then the big tomatoes like beefsteak tomatoes work wonderfully, but for a nice orzo pasta salad, you can't go wrong with cherry tomato halves. The size works wonderfully, plus they don't tend to get too soft too fast.
You can find cherry tomatoes in a variety of really cool colors like purple, yellow, and orange. So you can really add some appetizing colors to the dish as well.
More Recipes With Bacon
More Recipes Using Orzo
Orzo is great for pasta salads. Although it is pasta and made of flour, it is intentionally shaped to resemble rice. Like a giant grain of rice, it is the perfect pasta for pasta salads. It is quick to cook to al dente, and it holds up well in pasta salads.
I have a few orzo pasta salad recipes to recommend.
- My favorite summer pasta salad is this Greek Orzo Pasta Salad! Easy to throw together, and some grilled chicken breast is perfect in this!
- Salmon Orzo Pasta Salad is one you can make a meal out of! It uses leftover Smoked Salmon.
- Our Greek Orzo Pasta is easy enough for a weeknight, but tastes like you spent hours on it!
- Orzo with Swedish Meatballs has a nice thick and hearty sauce along with nice big meatballs.
- Broccoli Cheese Orzo is every bit as delish as any style of mac and cheese, and adds broccoli to make sure the veggies get eaten too.
- Orzo is perfect to use in soup, like our Smoked Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup.
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BLT Pasta Salad
Delicious BLTS Pasta Salad has all of the flavor of your favorite bacon-filled sandwich, plus some pasta to make it amazing.
Ingredients
- 1 pound orzo pasta, uncooked
- ½ pound bacon
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chopped romaine
- 1 cup croutons (optional)
- 1 large avocado, diced (optional)
Sauce
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup balsamic vinaigrette or creamy balsamic dressing
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Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted water. Cook the bacon at the same time until it is crisp. When the pasta is done, drain and rinse in cold water. When the bacon is done drain on paper towels and chop roughly.
- Combine the sauce ingredients together and whisk to combine.
- Toss the pasta with your lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado (if using). Gently stir in the dressing until it is well-incorporated.
- Chill for 3-4 hours, and top with bacon right before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 395Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 586mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 13g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate.
