READY IN 12+ hrs

That Addicting Salad

Read Reviews (36)

"The salad that initiated a year-long quest to duplicate the recipe! When I threw yet another attempt at the dressing in the fridge overnight, I hit on the secret ingredient. A huge hit with guests!" — MINNESOTAMOM

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and sugar until well blended. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. Stir again just before using.
In a large serving bowl, combine the lettuce, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, carrot, cauliflower, and bacon bits. Toss with chilled dressing just before serving.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 15 mins
READY IN 12 hrs 15 mins

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jul 21, 2011

Four stars because of the high fat content, but I have been making this salad for years. It is always a huge hit. NEVER use fake bacon, or fake anything when you are in the kitchen. I do this as a layer salad. Building from bottom to top, it goes, lettuce, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, bacon. Smear dressing mixture over top and SEAL in the salad ingredients with the dressing from edge to edge. Now refrigerate overnight. Just prior to serving, toss salad. Your veggies will be nice and crisp and fresh and the dressing will have developed properly.

—Seeker1948

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Oct 16, 2011

While I enjoyed the flavor, I initially began by leaving out the sugar. Absolutely NO need for extra calories and unnecessary calories. I liked it a lot. However, I made it again but this time I used plain Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise and I like it a whole lot more. It had a nice 'zing' to it. I kept the rice vinegar, a splash of apple cider vinegar, onion powder, Parmesan and I added dill weed. It is sooo good! I use it also as a vegetable dip as well as for my daily salads. It's perfect now and guilt free. Try it sans the mayo and it will be much less greasy and caloric.

—Sherry

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49 Ratings

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Sep 29, 2002

Well, I thought that I knew better than the author and served this salad in less than 1 hour. No raves, but good. Then the next evening I served the remainder of it, and YOU ARE RIGHT - it takes a night in the fridge and it's perfect. Magic.. my parents loved it. My kids tolerated it.

—CINDY LINEBERRY

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Aug 24, 2009

My family loves this recipe. As another reviewer mentioned, it originally came from a MN restaurant. They served it tableside just adding the dressing before serving. The dressing definately must be refrigerated to blend the flavors which in the original recipe included 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar. I do add 1/2 cup shredded parmesan and some shredded colby-monteray jack blend to the veggie mix. I think that REAL bacon makes a difference too as my recipe calls for 1 pound crumbled. This is not a low cal, low fat recipe, but for low carb fans, it does fit if you use Splenda instead of sugar (a little less, as Splenda seems sweeter). I also do chop the brocolli and calif. somewhat small and keep the lettuce just chopped. I'm bringing this tonite to our neighborhood party, hope they like it!!!

—MargieB

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Aug 22, 2003

liked this but not with white sugar, added 4 tb of seasoned rice wine vinegar to it instead. did the sweet/sour thing but thinned the mayo a bit and i am not into completely sweet or thick salad dressings myself. also added 1/4tsp of penzey's toasted onion powder (killer stuff), a bit of fresh garlic and some parsley and fresh basil. could play with the herbs....

—SELESTE

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Jun 09, 2006

This is a GREAT and EASY salad! I've made this a dozen times sice I first came across it last summer. It always goes down great! Never any left over. The dressing is enough for double the salad recipe for us though. I have doubled the reicpe and skipped the greens a couple of times and it went over just as well. DO LET DRESSING SIT IN FRIDGE OVERNIGHT! Rice wine vinegar works great for thinning out dressing if you like it that way!

—MAEHEIDI

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Aug 30, 2007

We doubled the amount of greens and added homemade croutons and chopped hard-boiled egg. The dressing is key, I made it exactly as written. Delicious!

—Catherine B.

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Dec 19, 2003

It was alright. Addicting? Well, I'm the only one who had seconds, but even I wasn't particularly thrilled. It was just alright. I thought there was way too much dressing for the amount of veggies.

—NITROJEN

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Nutrition

Calories
285 kcal
14%

Carbohydrates
6.4 g
2%

Cholesterol
24 mg
8%

Fat
26.1 g
40%

Fiber
0.8 g
3%

Protein
7.5 g
15%

Sodium
536 mg
21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

That Addicting Salad

Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 285
Calories from Fat: 235

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 26.1g 40 %
Saturated Fat 5.4g 27 %
Cholesterol 24mg 8 %
Sodium 536mg 21 %
** Potassium 125mg 3 %
Total Carbohydrates 6.4g 2 %
Dietary Fiber 0.8g 3 %
Protein 7.5g 15 %
Sugars 4.3g
Vitamin A 78 %
Vitamin C 16 %
Calcium 15 %
Iron 5 %
** Thiamin 1 %
** Niacin 9 %
** Vitamin B6 14 %
** Magnesium 4 %
** Folate 11 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.