This classic recipe for wilted lettuce with hot bacon dressing is the perfect way to eat leaf lettuce from the garden. The bacon dressing is a little sweet, tangy, and savory all at once. It’s the perfect mix.

small plate piled high with wilted lettuce salad with big chunks of bacon and hard boiled egg mixed in.

Have you ever had a Southern wilted lettuce salad? It was always one of my favorite salads growing up, but I got out of the habit of making them.

When MiMi gave me a bunch of fresh leaf lettuce from the garden I knew I had to dig out the recipe and bring it back. It has always been a favorite of mine and I could easily make a meal of it.

There is just something about the slightly sweet and really simple salad that draws me in. Of course the bacon doesn’t hurt!

It always feels a little strange pouring the hot dressing over the salad. Wilting leaves is usually the enemy of salads, not the intent, but whoever came up with this one knew what they were doing!

I can’t help but wonder if the first version of this salad was a mistake though. A hurried cook realized they ran out of oil and used hot bacon grease perhaps?

Then after a bite they were hooked?! Who knows? No matter the origin, it’s a tasty creation.

My husband was quite pleased with it as well. He isn’t a huge salad fan and normally only eats them loaded with toppings.

skillet full of warm bacon dressing with bits of onion and bacon in it.

But this classic wilted lettuce salad recipe won him over in spite himself. Every time I make it, he is surprised how much he likes it.

I think most recipes have you include the onions raw. I am not a huge fan of raw onions, so I like to cook them until they are just translucent in the bacon grease and just stir them in as part of the dressing.

It takes the edge off of them and makes them more enjoyable for me.

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Skillet pouring warm bacon over bowl of torn lettuce.

Bowl of lettuce topped with hard boiled eggs and warm bacon dressing ready to be tossed.

You could also use green onions instead of white onions. That would give you an mild onion flavor without having to cook or soak them

Luckily I just got a bunch more fresh lettuce from our CSA box, so there is more wilted lettuce in our future. That is the beauty of this time of year, there is plenty of delicious fresh produce.

Did you come here looking for ways to revive wilted lettuce?

Obviously you see by now, this recipe uses a hot bacon dressing to slightly wilt greens. The result is delicious.

The wilting action is part of what earned this salad nicknames such as killed lettuce or kilt lettuce salad. The hot bacon kills the crisp crunch of fresh lettuce.

You can use that same dressing on slightly wilted greens if you would like. Or, to try to revive wimpy greens, you can try soaking them in ice water for fifteen or twenty minutes.

If your lettuce is slimy, go ahead and toss it. It isn’t worth wasting more ingredients on greens that are already too far gone.

serving of wilted lettuce salad with bacon and hard boiled eggs.

Wilted lettuce salad made with mixed greens, hard boiled eggs, and hot bacon dressing.

Can I make southern wilted lettuce salad ahead of time?

Like most salads, this wilted lettuce, or killed lettuce, salad is best made when you are ready to eat it. It is best when the bacon grease is still warm and the lettuce is just a little wilted and not too wimpy.

More Great Recipes

Some of our other favorite simple side salads using fresh garden produce are caprese quinoa salad and creamy dill cucumber salad. What are your favorite fresh garden sides?

For an easy entrée to serve with your salad, try making Maid Rites. They are super simple sandwiches that come together quickly and they are a Midwestern classic.

4.92 from 60 ratings

Wilted Lettuce Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

This vintage recipe for wilted lettuce with bacon is the perfect way to eat leaf lettuce from the garden. The warm bacon dressing is a little sweet, tangy and savory all at once. It’s the perfect mix!

Prep: 5

Cook: 15

Total: 20

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Thoroughly wash and dry lettuce leaves, use your salad spinner if you have one. Then place in a large salad bowl.
8 cups leaf lettuce
In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove the slices of bacon to cool on a paper towel, but leave the warm bacon grease in the pan.
6 slices bacon
Thinly slice onion and cook in the bacon fat over low heat until it begins to soften.
1 small sweet onion
Carefully stir in the vinegar, salt and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add ketchup if you’d like (we like it both ways!)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons ketchup
Chop or crumble bacon and dice the hard boiled eggs and place in serving bowl with lettuce.
2 hard boiled eggs
Pour warm bacon dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately.