The Venison Bacon Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing is my twist on the classic wedge salad that is a permanent fixture at every steakhouse I've ever been to.
Why You'll Love Venison Bacon Salad
My venison bacon salad version of the iceberg wedge salad is drizzled with homemade blue cheese dressing. It's topped with venison bacon and tomatoes. The smoky, savory homemade venison bacon is a fun way to transform some of that venison burger in your freezer. It makes a great topping for lots of different summer salads.
Our 9-year-old daughter isn't a fan of blue cheese. She chooses to top her loaded lettuce wedge salad with ranch dressing. My wife always needs to add croutons on top of her portion. Whatever twist you want to put on it, this wedge salad recipe I developed using deer bacon is cool, crisp, and refreshingly tasty!
I'm currently developing a lot of summer salad recipes for different clients. I use the huge variety of salad greens in our backyard garden. The salad ideas are endless. The girls and I are enjoying eating all of them. But it's essential that when you make a wedge salad, you use iceberg lettuce. Do not substitute for something else. The iceberg lettuce shape is what gives the classic wedge salad its name.
Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
I love a good thick blue cheese dressing recipe, but I thinned this version out with a few tablespoons of buttermilk making it easier for the dressing to get into all the nooks and crannies of the iceberg wedge. I used fresh chives from our garden, but you could substitute fresh parsley. Both chives and parsley have a subtle flavor, and in the presence of something strong like blue cheese, neither one is all that noticeable apart from the color it adds.
You can make the blue cheese dressing ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for 2 days.
Pair this wedge salad with my Cast Iron Venison Steak, for a match made in heaven!
How To Make Venison Bacon Salad With Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
1. In a small bowl, combine half of the crumbled blue cheese, buttermilk, sour cream, black pepper, salt, smoked paprika, garlic and 2 tablespoons of chives and stir to combine.
2. Fry the venison bacon in a skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes per side, or until it's as crispy as you like it. On a cutting board, chop it into bite-size pieces.
3. On that same cutting board, cut the core out of the head of iceberg lettuce and cut it into four wedges.
4. Place one wedge on each individual plate for serving. To help all the toppings stick to the lettuce, top each wedge with 2 tablespoons of blue cheese dressing. Garnish with the venison bacon, cherry tomatoes, remaining half of the blue cheese crumbles, and remaining 1 tablespoon of chives. Serve immediately.
More Venison Bacon Recipes
Some of our favorite ways to use venison bacon are these recipes:
Deer Bacon with Asparagus and Eggs
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Venison Bacon Salad with Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
- 5 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 5 slices venison bacon, cooked
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup croutons (optional)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine half of the crumbled blue cheese, buttermilk, sour cream, black pepper, salt, smoked paprika, garlic and 2 tablespoons of chives and stir to combine.
- Fry the venison bacon in a skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes per side, or until it's as crispy as you like it. On a cutting board, chop it into bite-size pieces.
- On that same cutting board, cut the core out of the head of iceberg lettuce and cut it into four wedges.
- Place one wedge on each individual plate for serving. To help all the toppings stick to the lettuce, top each wedge with 2 tablespoons of blue cheese dressing. Garnish with the venison bacon, cherry tomatoes, remaining half of the blue cheese crumbles, and remaining 1 tablespoon of chives. Serve immediately.
