Southern Cornbread Salad is probably not a salad recipe you’re expecting! This vintage layered salad with cornbread, fresh tomatoes, peppers, and pickles, all meld together with an easy homemade dressing. Top it off with a generous sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and crispy bacon bits for an easy recipe to take to summer backyard bbq parties, as dinner sides, or easy holiday recipes!
The Best Southern Cornbread Salad Recipe
I remember the first time my daughter watched me make this old-fashioned cornbread salad. This usually culinary adventurous kid wrinkled her nose and said “A salad of cornbread, onions, and pickles with sugar mayonnaise dressing does not sound good…” as she side-eyed the ingredients on the counter.
I laughed.
I get it. Those ingredients don’t seem like they would taste good together, but if you’ve never had southern salad with cornbread, you’ll just have to trust me on it.
“Just try it,” I shrugged.
She now talks about how good this side dish is all the time!
What is cornbread salad made of?
To make cornbread salad recipes, you’ll need:
- Cornbread (sweet or regular)
- Pickles (see my note below on dill pickles vs sweet pickles for this recipe)
- Bacon
- Red onion or green onion
- Bell peppers
- Tomatoes
- Cheddar cheese
- Mayonnaise
- Sugar
- Pickle Juice
RECIPE TIP: This is a great recipe if you have leftover cornbread! Whenever we do bbq takeout, we always have a ton of cornbread muffins left and I use it for this recipe! It’s also great if you make cornbread that turned out crumbly and you couldn’t use it. Just crumble it up for this easy recipe!
Additional List Of Ingredients For Cornbread Salad
One of the great things about this recipe is that you can play around with it and swap out different ingredients and try others.
For example, some people make this salad recipe with Ranch dressing (or a Ranch/mayo combo), but I prefer the homemade mayonnaise dressing for a cornbread salad like grandma made!
Other Things You Can Put In Cornbread Salad:
- Pinto beans
- Ranch dressing
- Whole kernel corn
- Black beans
- Black olives
- Sour cream
- Black eyed peas
- Buttermilk
- Cherry tomatoes//.
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Peppers
- Sweet pickles
- Green onions
- Red onions
- Ranch seasoning
MORE EASY RECIPES: CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD
How To Make Cornbread Salad Dressing
My grandma and mom passed down this recipe to me. We make a sweet homemade dressing for this salad, but some people use Ranch dressing instead. (I like it with the mayo dressing better.)
To make mayo cornbread dressing, you’ll need:
- Real mayonnaise (like Hellmann’s or Dukes, not Miracle Whip)
- Sugar
- Pickle juice
What can you serve with cornbread salad?
This salad recipe goes well with just about everything, including:
- Barbecue
- Grilled chicken
- Steak
- Roast
- Pulled pork
- Chili
- Fish
- Ribs
- Holiday sides (we make this for Thanksgiving sides, Easter and Christmas, along with summer backyard bbq cookouts)
- Or as a salad with hearty soups like this!
How To Make Cornbread Salad (aka: Cornbread Pickle Salad)
There are many, many ways to make this recipe. I also love black olives in it and sometimes substitute green onions for red onions.
You can definitely play around with this recipe!
RECIPE NOTE: You can use sweet cornbread (with sugar) or regular cornbread in this recipe. It’s really just personal preference. (I prefer less sweet cornbread in mine because this homemade dressing is a bit sweet.)
DON’T MISS THIS SOUTHERN RECIPE: FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
Southern Cornbread Salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups cornbread torn into bite-sized pieces
- 12 slices cooked bacon cooked crispy and crumbled
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper chopped
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 cup dill pickles chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar, and pickle juice for dressing.* Set aside.
- In a large bowl, layer: 1/3 cornbread, 1/3 tomatoes, 1/3 peppers, 1/3 pickles, 1/3 red onion, 1/3 shredded cheese, 1/3 drizzle of the dressing, and 1/3 bacon.
- Repeat layers until you end with cheese, dressing, and bacon crumbles. (I usually get 3 different sets of layers depending on how large the bowl is.) Salt and pepper each layer, to taste.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Serve with extra dressing on the side, if needed. (See NOTE below.) You can also mix all the ingredients together and then serve that way.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Note
Nutrition calculations are approximate. If you're following a special diet, please calculate your own nutrition values.
MORE SALAD RECIPES TO TRY
I hope you enjoy the Southern Cornbread Salad recipe!
Just like my mamaws recipe I’ve been looking for! Thank you!!!!