Contents

Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad: The Ultimate Fresh, Flavorful, and Easy Meal

Discover the perfect blend of savory, creamy, and fresh with our incredible Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad. This vibrant dish combines tender, succulent turkey, crispy, smoky bacon, and rich, buttery avocado, all nestled on a bed of crisp greens. What truly elevates this salad is the amazing homemade balsamic vinaigrette, adding a tangy-sweet finish that ties every ingredient together beautifully. Whether you’re seeking a light lunch, a satisfying dinner, or a healthy side, this salad is a versatile masterpiece that promises flavor in every forkful.

Making the most of your ingredients is key. This recipe is fantastic for using up leftover Thanksgiving turkey, transforming it into a fresh and exciting meal. If you find yourself with an abundance of turkey, don’t let it go to waste! Explore other delightful recipes like our Turkey Tetrazzini, a comforting classic, our versatile Turkey Salad, or the equally delicious Turkey Bacon Avocado Sandwich.

Why You’ll Adore This Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad

This salad isn’t just a meal; it’s an experience. Here are compelling reasons why this Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad will quickly become a staple in your culinary repertoire:

Unbeatable Flavor Profile: Each bite offers a harmonious symphony of tastes. The savory depth of turkey, the irresistible crispiness and smoky notes of bacon, and the creamy richness of avocado are perfectly complemented by the bright, tangy-sweet homemade balsamic vinaigrette. It’s a balanced flavor explosion that satisfies every craving, making it a truly unforgettable dish.
Nutritionally Rich and Wholesome: Fuel your body with goodness! This salad is a powerhouse of lean protein from the turkey, healthy monounsaturated fats from the avocado, and a wealth of vitamins and minerals from the fresh greens and vegetables. It’s a meal that not only tastes great but also makes you feel great, supporting a healthy lifestyle with every serving.
Incredibly Versatile for Any Occasion: Whether you’re planning a quick and healthy weekday lunch, a refreshing side dish for a potluck, or a substantial main course for dinner, this salad fits the bill. Its robust ingredients make it satisfying enough to stand alone, yet light enough to pair with other dishes, adapting perfectly to your meal planning needs.
Effortless Preparation: Say goodbye to complicated recipes! This salad is remarkably easy to assemble, especially when you utilize pre-cooked proteins like leftover turkey or rotisserie chicken. Most of the prep involves simple chopping and mixing, making it ideal for busy individuals or anyone looking for a stress-free, delicious meal solution in minutes.
Easily Customizable to Your Liking: The beauty of this salad lies in its adaptability. Feel free to add your favorite vegetables, cheeses, nuts, or seeds to make it uniquely yours. It’s a fantastic canvas for culinary creativity, allowing you to adjust ingredients based on seasonality, dietary preferences, or simply what you have on hand.

Essential Ingredients for Your Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad

Crafting the perfect Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad begins with selecting high-quality, fresh ingredients. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need and why each component is crucial for achieving that irresistible flavor and texture:

Turkey: The star protein! You can use pre-cooked shredded turkey, making this an ideal recipe for repurposing leftover Thanksgiving turkey or deli turkey breast. Alternatively, delicious deli turkey slices, diced, or shredded rotisserie chicken work wonderfully as convenient substitutes, offering tender, savory bites that are ready to go.
Romaine Lettuce: The crisp foundation of our salad. Romaine provides a refreshing crunch and a mild flavor that perfectly complements the richer ingredients. Remember to wash and thoroughly dry your lettuce to prevent a watery salad and ensure the dressing adheres beautifully. A salad spinner is highly recommended for this!
Red Onion: Adds a delightful zing and a pop of color. For a milder flavor that doesn’t overpower the other ingredients, thinly slice the red onion and soak it in cold water for about 10 minutes before draining. This simple trick mellows its pungency significantly, making it more palatable for raw consumption.
Cherry Tomatoes: These little bursts of sweetness and juiciness are essential. Halved cherry tomatoes add a vibrant color and a delightful counterpoint to the savory elements, enhancing the overall freshness and adding a lovely texture to the salad.
Cucumbers: For an extra layer of refreshing crunch, use either standard salad cucumbers or crisp Persian cucumbers. Cut them into half-moons or dice them to integrate seamlessly with the other ingredients, adding a cool, hydrating element.
Avocado: The creamy dream! Choose avocados that are ripe but still slightly firm to the touch for the best texture. Their rich, buttery consistency adds a luxurious mouthfeel and healthy fats to the salad. Add them just before serving to maintain their vibrant green color and creamy perfection.
Bacon: The ultimate flavor booster! Cook your bacon until it’s perfectly crisp and then chop it into small, savory bits. Whether you pan-fry, bake, or use microwave bacon, its smoky, salty crunch is a game-changer for this salad. While optional, it’s highly recommended for that classic flavor combination that truly elevates the dish.

The Irresistible Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

A great salad deserves an equally great dressing, and this balsamic vinaigrette is truly amazing. It’s simple to make but delivers complex flavors that perfectly unite all the salad components, transforming them into a cohesive and delicious meal.

Balsamic Vinegar: The cornerstone of the dressing. Opt for a good quality balsamic vinegar to ensure a rich, deep, and slightly sweet base flavor that will shine through.
Garlic Powder: Provides a foundational savory note without the sharpness of fresh garlic, ensuring a smooth and balanced flavor. Adjust to your personal preference for a subtle or more pronounced garlic flavor.
Freshly Ground Black Pepper: Don’t underestimate the power of pepper! It adds a warm, subtle spice and depth that truly makes all the difference in this dressing, awakening the palate.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The emulsifier and flavor carrier. Use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil for its fruity notes and smooth texture, contributing to a truly luxurious dressing that coats every ingredient beautifully.
Light Brown Sugar: A touch of sweetness is key to balancing the acidity of the balsamic vinegar. Light brown sugar adds a subtle molasses flavor and helps to create a perfectly harmonious dressing, preventing it from being too tart.

Expert Tips for Crafting the Perfect Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad

Achieving salad perfection is easy with a few simple tricks. Follow these expert tips to ensure your Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad is always at its best, boasting vibrant flavors and irresistible textures:

Strategic Prep for Speed: To streamline your assembly, prepare your vegetables and cook the bacon ahead of time. This allows for quick, effortless construction of the salad, making it ideal for busy weeknights or meal prepping. Store prepped ingredients separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator to maintain freshness.
Customize Your Dressing: The balsamic vinaigrette is fantastic as is, but don’t hesitate to taste and adjust it to your liking. A little more sugar can cut through extra tang, while a pinch more garlic powder or pepper can enhance its savory notes. Feel free to add a dash of Dijon mustard for extra emulsification and a bit of zing, or a squeeze of lemon for brightness.
Timing is Everything for Avocado: To prevent your avocado from browning and becoming mushy, always add it to the salad just before serving. A squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice over the chopped avocado can also help preserve its vibrant green color and fresh taste, especially if you need to prep it slightly in advance.
Keep Greens Crisp: If you’re not serving the entire salad immediately, store the dressing on the side. Tossing greens with dressing too early can cause them to wilt and become soggy. This approach ensures your salad remains wonderfully crisp and fresh for leftovers, ready for a delightful future meal.
Enhance with Extras: Don’t limit yourself! This salad is incredibly adaptable. Consider adding crumbled feta or goat cheese for a creamy, tangy element, or toasted pecans or walnuts for a delightful crunch and nutty flavor. Hard-boiled eggs or crunchy croutons also make excellent additions, elevating both texture and protein content.
The Art of Washing Lettuce: For a truly professional-grade salad, ensure your romaine lettuce is not just washed but thoroughly dry. Excess water dilutes the dressing and prevents it from coating the leaves evenly, leading to a less flavorful and more watery salad. A salad spinner is an invaluable tool for this task.
Mellowing Red Onion: If you find raw red onion too pungent, a simple trick is to thinly slice it and soak it in cold water for about 10-15 minutes. This process significantly reduces its sharpness, leaving a milder, more pleasant flavor that integrates seamlessly into the salad without overpowering other ingredients.

Delightful Serving Suggestions for Your Salad

While the Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad is substantial enough to be a meal on its own, it also pairs beautifully with a variety of accompaniments to create a more complete and satisfying dining experience. Here are some ideas:

Hearty Breads: Serve alongside warm, crusty dinner rolls or thick slices of artisanal no-knead bread. The bread is perfect for soaking up any extra dressing and adds a comforting, carb-rich element to your meal, creating a more fulfilling dish.
Light Soups: A cup of light, flavorful soup makes an excellent companion. Consider pairing it with a classic roasted tomato basil soup for a vibrant touch or a hearty vegetable minestrone for added warmth and nutrients. The soup complements the salad without overwhelming it.
Savory Baked Dishes: For a more substantial meal, offer a warm, savory complement like a fluffy quiche or an elegant frittata. These add a different texture and richness that works wonderfully, making the meal feel more robust and satisfying.
Fresh Fruit Medley: For a refreshing contrast, a simple bowl of fresh seasonal fruit can be a perfect palate cleanser. Berries, melon, or sliced apples offer a sweet and juicy counterpoint to the savory salad, adding a burst of natural sweetness.
Crispy Sides: Craving an extra crunch? A side of crispy potato chips or golden french fries provides a satisfying salty indulgence that surprisingly complements the freshness of the salad, offering a playful textural contrast.
Grain Bowls: For an even more filling meal, serve the salad over a bed of quinoa, brown rice, or farro. This transforms it into a complete grain bowl, packed with additional fiber and sustained energy, perfect for a wholesome and hearty meal.
Grilled Vegetables: Complement the freshness of the salad with some smoky, tender grilled asparagus, bell peppers, or zucchini. The charred flavors add another dimension to the meal, making it even more appealing.

Storing Your Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad for Optimal Freshness

Proper storage is essential to keep your salad vibrant and delicious for as long as possible. Here’s how to ensure every serving is as fresh as the first:

Toss Just Before Serving: This is the golden rule for any leafy green salad. To maintain the crispness of your romaine lettuce and prevent it from wilting, always add the balsamic dressing just before you’re ready to enjoy the salad. Once dressed, greens tend to soften quickly, losing their appealing texture.

Separate Storage for Leftovers: If you anticipate having leftovers, which is often the case with such a generous salad, it’s crucial to store the components separately. Keep the prepped salad greens, the turkey and bacon mixture, and the chopped avocado in individual airtight containers in the refrigerator. Store the balsamic dressing in a separate sealed jar. This method prevents sogginess and avocado browning, allowing you to assemble fresh, crisp servings whenever desired.

Avocado Preservation: If you’ve chopped avocado but aren’t using it all immediately, store any unused pieces with the pit still intact in an airtight container. A slice of onion placed in the container or a spritz of lemon or lime juice over the avocado can also help minimize browning, keeping it fresh for your next meal.

Shelf Life: Stored separately, your salad components (excluding avocado) can remain fresh for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. The homemade balsamic dressing will keep well for up to a week when stored in an airtight container in the fridge, ready to enhance your next salad creation.

Explore More Favorite Salad Creations

If you love the fresh flavors and ease of this Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad, you’re sure to enjoy these other delightful salad recipes from our collection. Each offers a unique taste experience perfect for any meal:

Sweet Potato Salad: A hearty and comforting salad, perfect for any season, offering a delicious blend of sweet and savory notes.
Coconut Shrimp Salad: An exotic and refreshing option with a tropical twist, featuring succulent shrimp and a vibrant dressing.
Costco Kale Salad: A copycat recipe inspired by a popular favorite, packed with nutrient-dense kale and a delightful crunch.
Turkey Taco Salad: A fun and flavorful Tex-Mex inspired salad that’s perfect for a casual meal, loaded with savory turkey and fresh toppings.
Kale Cranberry Pecan Salad: A vibrant and nutritious salad offering a delightful mix of sweet cranberries, crunchy pecans, and hearty kale.

Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad

By Chelsea Lords

This Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad mixes tender turkey, crispy bacon, and creamy avocado over fresh greens, all topped with a delicious balsamic dressing!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

Small blender

Ingredients

For the Salad:

1-1/2 cups leftover shredded turkey or rotisserie chicken
6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (see Note 1 below)
1/4 of 1 red onion, thinly sliced (1/2 cup, see Note 2 below)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (5 ounces)
1 cup salad cucumbers, cut to half moons (2 small cucumbers)
1 large avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces
2.5 ounces bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped (optional)

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil (extra virgin recommended)
3 teaspoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

If using bacon, cook it until crisp, then chop it into small pieces. Wash, dry, and chop the romaine lettuce. Prepare the rest of the vegetables: thinly slice the red onion, halve the cherry tomatoes, cut cucumbers into half-moons, and chop the avocado into bite-sized pieces.
To make the dressing, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, light brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a small blender or food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth and fully emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed (a good starting point is 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper). Transfer the dressing to a mason jar or airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Remember to shake well before each use.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the salad ingredients: shredded turkey, chopped romaine lettuce, sliced red onion, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped avocado, and crispy bacon (if using).
To ensure maximum freshness, especially if you anticipate having leftovers, it is best to store the salad ingredients and the dressing separately. Right before serving, drizzle the balsamic dressing over the assembled salad. Add the dressing gradually, tossing gently, to your personal preference – you may not need or want to use all of it at once. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Note 1 (Lettuce Dryness): After washing your romaine lettuce, it is crucial to thoroughly dry it. Excess water can dilute your dressing and make the salad soggy. A salad spinner is highly recommended for achieving perfectly crisp greens.
Note 2 (Mellowing Red Onion): For those who prefer a milder onion flavor, soak the thinly sliced red onion in a bowl of cold water for approximately 10 minutes. This simple technique helps to remove the pungent “bite,” resulting in a sweeter, more subtle taste. Drain thoroughly before adding to the salad.
Storage: To keep this Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad fresh, always dress it with the balsamic vinaigrette just before serving. If you plan for leftovers, store the salad mixture (excluding avocado) and the dressing in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Add avocado just before eating your portion.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.

We hope you’ll give this incredible Turkey Bacon Avocado Salad a try! It’s a testament to how simple ingredients can come together to create something truly spectacular and satisfying. Perfect for any meal, this salad is sure to become a cherished recipe in your home. If you enjoy this recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment below. Your feedback helps us grow and inspires others to cook delicious, healthy meals!