Epic Bacon Wedge Salad Board
Ditch the usual side salad! This epic bacon wedge salad board brings crispy, creamy, savory goodness to the center of your table. Featuring crispy bacon, chilled iceberg wedges, creamy dressings, and all the build-your-own fixings, it’s the ultimate wedge salad recipe for summer gatherings.
With all the delicious toppings laid out on the board, just grab a wedge, add your favorite fixings, and don’t forget to rub a pat of butter over the tops of the rolls as they come out of the oven.
I love making my own Thousand Island dressing for this – it’s so much better than store-bought! To serve, simply arrange one iceberg wedge on a plate, drizzle with dressing, then pile on bacon, red onion slices, crumbled cheese, and a crack of black pepper.
What is a wedge salad?
A wedge salad is traditionally a single serving of a chilled iceberg lettuce quarter, drizzled with creamy dressing and topped with crisp bacon, tomatoes, and blue cheese crumbles.
Today, I’m taking this classic dish and turning it into an interactive, shareable experience for a crowd – perfect for any summer gathering!
Instead of serving assembled wedges, the board lays out all the components – dressings, bacon, eggs, veggies, and even a bell pepper bowl of feta which allows each guest to build their own wedge exactly how they like it. It’s a fun, customizable deviation that everyone loves.
Why you’ll love this epic bacon wedge salad board
- It’s a fun, customizable twist on the classic wedge salad that turns a single plate into an interactive sharing experience.
- Easily adapt this board with your favorite wedge salad ingredients to suit personal tastes or dietary needs.
- It’s the perfect way to showcase fresh seasonal produce, pairing beautifully with outdoor summer BBQs.
Ingredients needed to make this wedge salad board
- Iceberg lettuce: You’ll need 3 heads of lettuce, quartered. A smaller board will require less.
- Green bell pepper: The top is sliced off to make a bowl which holds the crumbled feta. Feel free to use red or yellow bell pepper instead.
- Crumbled feta cheese: Crumbled blue cheese is a delicious alternative, often called for wedge salad recipes.
- Dressings: One small bowl of blue cheese dressing and another with Thousand Island dressing.
- Bacon: Cooked, crumbled, and loaded into a small bowl to place on the board.
- Hard boiled eggs: Halved.
- Red onion: Sliced. You can soak the onion in ice water for 5 minutes to reduce the bite, if you prefer.
- Roma tomatoes: Quartered.
- Cucumber: Thinly sliced.
- Dinner rolls: Use store-bought or homemade dinner rolls.
- Butter: To rub on the rolls while hot out of the oven.
- Cantaloupe: Thinly sliced. Optional to leave rind on or not.
- Parsley: For garnish and used as a way to cover empty spots on the board.
How do you make this wedge salad charcuterie board
Assemble ingredients on the board:
- Use a food-safe giant board or place parchment paper down. In the center, arrange the bell pepper filled with feta cheese.
- Place 4 small bowls on the board filled with the 2 dressings, red onions, and bacon pieces.
- Next, arrange the sliced cucumbers, then the tomato wedges around the bell pepper.
- Arrange the soft boiled eggs on the outside, followed by the cantaloupe, dinner rolls and iceberg quarters on the outer edge.
Garnish and serve:
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
- Don’t forget the tongs and spoons!
Serving
This wedge salad board is hearty enough to stand alone as a satisfying, centerpiece dish for any casual gathering. However, if you’d like to offer guests a bit more variety, the board pairs beautifully with a warm bowl of Smoked Tomato Bacon Soup Recipe on the side.
For an even heartier spread, add grilled chicken or tender steak slices, which complement the cool, crunchy wedges without overwhelming the board’s balanced mix of ingredients.
Finish strong with a slice of Orange Creamsicle Frozen Dessert, Raspberry Lemon Bars, or a classic mix of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- Salad storage: Leftover wedge salad ingredients should be stored in separate airtight containers in the fridge for a maximum of 1-2 days before they lose crisp freshness.
- Make ahead: Make the salad dressings 1-2 days in advance and store in the fridge, ready to be placed on the board with the fresh ingredients just before your guests arrive. Homemade dinner rolls can also be made ahead of time and stored at room temperature.
- Halve or double the recipe: Easily adjust this recipe if you are serving a smaller or larger crowd. Use a smaller board when halving the recipe so that the board doesn’t look sparse.
- Reduce moisture: Dry your lettuce wedges thoroughly with paper towels before arranging to prevent the board from getting soggy. I tend to prefer to line the board with parchment paper to protect the surface of the board and reduce cleanup.
- Squeeze bottles: Serve the dressings in small squeeze bottles alongside the bowls for easy drizzling over individual wedges. This is particularly helpful when there are younger children building their wedge salads.
- My recommendation of bowls and boards are here.
Variations:
- Add-ins: Chopped Kalamata olives, apple slices, Mandarin oranges (canned), fresh blueberries, walnuts, and red grapes are all delicious additions to this wedge salad board.
- Dressing: Consider using Honey Dijon Vinaigrette as well or as an alternative to those used in this wedge salad recipe.
- Presentation: A giant round board will give you the same look as how I’ve laid out the wedge salad ingredients, but you can use any board or platter and rearrange the ingredients as needed.
Love wedge salad? I certainly do! It’s why the list keeps growing with Wedge Salad Bites, Marry Me Caesar Wedge Salad, and Shrimp Wedge Salad Charcuterie Board.
More epic summer salads you may want to try:
- Summer Slaw
- BEST BLT Pasta Salad Recipe
- Cucumber Melon Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing
- Summer Corn Tomato Salad
- Watermelon Burrata Salad
Get the Recipe:
Bacon Wedge Salad Board
Ingredients
- 3 heads iceberg lettuce, quartered
- 1 bell pepper, slice the top off to make a bowl
- 1 5 oz crumbled feta cheese or crumbled blue cheese
- 1 6 oz bleu cheese dressing
- 1 6 oz Thousand Island dressing
- 12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 6 hard cooked eggs, halved
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 12 dinner rolls, we love Rhodes rolls
- Butter, to rub on top while hot
- 1 cantaloupe, thinly sliced (optional to leave rind on or not)
- Parsley for garnish
Equipment
Instructions
- Use a food-safe giant board or place parchment paper down. In the center, arrange the bell pepper filled with feta cheese.
- Place 4 small bowls on the board filled with the 2 dressings, red onions, and bacon pieces.
- Next, arrange the sliced cucumbers, then the tomato wedges around the bell pepper. Arrange the soft-boiled eggs on the outside, followed by the cantaloupe, dinner rolls and iceberg quarters on the outer edge.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
- Salad storage: Leftover wedge salad ingredients should be stored in separate airtight containers in the fridge for a maximum of 1-2 days before they lose crisp freshness.
- Make ahead: Make the salad dressings 1-2 days in advance and store in the fridge, ready to be placed on the board with the fresh ingredients just before your guests arrive. Homemade dinner rolls can also be made ahead of time and stored at room temperature.
- Halve or double the recipe: Easily adjust this recipe if you are serving a smaller or larger crowd. Use a smaller board when halving the recipe so that the board doesn’t look sparse.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
My husband will love this. Serving for a dinner party soon! Gotta ask though, why cantaloupe? :)
I love this idea..I must tell you I’ve saved so many of your charcuterie board ideas. Hopefully some day I can make one after this pandemic. But initially..I bought the big board and two smaller ones thru Pier One. They are so beautiful it makes me happy just to own them. I keep a gray tinted carved one on my coffee table just for small items..I keep another brown carved one on my bed next to me for anything I need. My really big one I just keep on an antique table to display couple of things. I just love them…all because of you. ❤️
Where can i get the big board? Love it
here you go:
https://reluctantentertainer.com/category/the-big-board/
Where can I buy the board?
Here you go, Karen:
https://reluctantentertainer.com/category/the-big-board/
Absolutely beautiful. What a great idea.