Cornbread Salad

Salads in the South are a bit confusing. We know that—and this Cornbread Salad won't help define the term. While most people think of salads as a bed of lettuce topped with chopped vegetables, maybe a bit of meat or cheese, and a dressing, we Southerners call a lot of things "salad" that bare little resemblance to that definition.

Take as evidence Watergate Salad and Strawberry-Pretzel Jello Salad. Now add to it Cornbread Salad, a layered dish of cornbread, vegetables, dressing, bacon, and not a single piece of lettuce.

Learn how to make cornbread salad, and impress everyone with your their new favorite potluck side dish.

Ingredients for Cornbread Salad

Cornbread salads have as much personality as the local garden club. Each person's is different, and that's the way we like it. Here's what you'll need to make this version:

• Homemade cornbread: Use your favorite recipe, or try ours, which calls for butter, cornmeal mix, buttermilk, and eggs.
• Bacon: For salty, savory flavor a mid a lot of vegetable sweetness.
• Ranch dressing: We're starting with a bottled ranch dressing, and then we'll doctor it up for more flavor.
• Mayonnaise and buttermilk: Both add tang and richness to the ranch dressing.
• Fresh herbs: We like a combination of parsley, dill, chives, but you can pick your favorites.
• White wine vinegar: Balances the richness of the dressing.
• Black-eyed peas: You can use another type of canned bean if you prefer, but we like black-eyed peas for their mild but nutty flavor.
• Cherry tomatoes: We like the bite-size cherry tomatoes because they don't water out as quickly as chopped tomatoes, but you can use a regular one if you want.
• Fresh corn: Adds great sweetness and crunch.
• Orange bell pepper: Orange is really for a color choice, so use whatever you like. But the more color, the better in our books.
• Red onion: A slightly sweeter onion that still has plenty of kick, but you can also use a milder yellow or white onion if you want.

How To Make Cornbread Salad

There are quite a few steps to this cornbread salad, but really, it's straightforward once you have all the elements. Here's a brief overview; the full recipe is further below.

• Step 1. Make the cornbread: We include a recipe here that makes the perfect amount, but you can make your own. Just make sure you have 4 1/2 cups of crumbled cornbread.
• Step 2. Cook bacon: Cook the bacon while the cornbread cools, and crumble.
• Step 3. Make ranch dressing: Give bottled ranch dressing a little more life with fresh herbs, buttermilk, and mayonnaise.
• Step 4. Make vegetable mixtures: Make the black-eyed pea mixture, and make the corn-and-tomato mixture. Both are dressed up with herbs and some seasonings.
• Step 5. Assemble cornbread salad: We suggest an order, but the beautiful part about this layered salad is that the layers... don't really matter. Follow our suggestions, or do your own thing. The end result will still be incredible.

What To Serve With Cornbread Salad

This Southern cornbread salad is the perfect dish for potlucks, neighborhood picnics, family reunions, even holiday tables. It's also a great way to use up leftover cornbread, and it gets better after it sits for a day, when everything has a chance to meld just a bit.

As for the rest of the plate, this is the perfect side dish for some classic recipes, such as:

• Slow-Cooker Ham
• Asparagus-Stuffed Chicken
• Spicy Grilled Chicken Breasts
• Light-And-Crispy Pan-Fried Catfish

How To Store Cornbread Salad

We loved the leftovers of this cornbread salad nearly as much as we loved it when fresh. Store the salad covered with storage wrap or a lid up to 2 days. The cornbread gets softer and moistened by the dressing and vegetables, so we spooned it up with crackers for a one-of-a-kind lunch.