EASY Blue Cheese Chopped Salad with Bacon

Name: Blue Cheese Salad (Royal Street Salad)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon onion (, diced finely); 1 tablespoon jarred pimiento peppers (, diced finely); 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (, minced); 1 ½ teaspoons fresh parsley (, minced); 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme (, minced); 1 teaspoon fresh basil (, minced); 1 teaspoon garlic (, minced); 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; ½ cup olive oil; 1 pinch kosher salt (*); 1 pinch black pepper; 8 cups romaine lettuce (roughly chopped); ½ cup Roquefort blue cheese (, crumbled ); 8 strips bacon (, cooked until crispy and crumbled)

With Crispy romaine lettuce, crunchy bacon, and blue cheese in a flavorful, zesty homemade dressing, this Royal Street Salad is perfect as an appetizer, side, or quick lunch idea.

Modeled after the “Royal Street Salad” from Mr. B’s Restaurant in New Orleans, this Blue Cheese Salad Recipe is a family favorite. My in-laws taught us how to make it, and we made the recipe our own to enjoy at home. It’s packed with a zesty flavor, is simple to make, and will leave you feeling satisfied. It’s the perfect side dish to enjoy alongside a bourbon sirloin steak and a big bowl of creamy buttermilk mashed potatoes.

If you’ve decided that you’d like to eat more salads, you need to try this incredible salad. It’s full of flavor and consists of a homemade dressing made using fresh ingredients – diced onion, pimiento peppers, and fresh herbs. When you want to try something new, delicious, and easy to put together, this is the perfect recipe for you.

A bowl of royal street salad and two slices of french bread.

🥘 Ingredients Needed
🍽 Equipment Needed
🥣 How to Make a Chopped Blue Cheese Salad
🍱 Recipe Yield
🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Variations & Substitutions
What to Serve with a Blue Cheese Salad
🥫How to Store Leftover Salad
✏️ Helpful Tips
Other Easy Side Dish Recipes
Blue Cheese Salad (Royal Street Salad) Recipe

🥘 Ingredients Needed

The ingredients in royal street salad, laid out and label with fresh herbs.

Once the herbs, onion, and garlic are minced, you should have everything pictured below.

The ingredients in royal street salad, laid out and labeled.

Onion – Dice your onion into fine, small pieces to add to your dressing mixture.
Pimento Peppers – Dice the pimento or pimiento peppers (it’s like pimento cheese – it’s spelled one way but pronounced another!) into small pieces.
Fresh Oregano – Mince the oregano before you add it to the mix.
Fresh Parsley – Mince your parsley with the oregano.
Thyme – You will also want fresh thyme to mince with your other fresh spices.
Garlic – Mince your garlic into small pieces after peeling it and chopping it.
Basil – Dice the fresh basil into the tiniest pieces possible for your dressing.
Dijon Mustard – Add a bit of zest using some Dijon mustard.
Red Wine Vinegar – A similar substitute for red wine vinegar would be white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.
Olive Oil – You can use canola oil or vegetable oil if you choose, but olive oil is best.
Spices – You will need kosher salt and black pepper.

A bowl of romaine lettuce, bacon, and blue cheese, labeled.

Romaine Lettuce – Roughly chop through the lettuce before assembling the salad.
Bacon – Cook your strips of bacon, allow them to cool, and then crumble them into pieces.
Blue Cheese – Add crumbles of blue cheese for additional flavor. You could also use Feta cheese.

🍽 Equipment Needed

Large Mixing Bowl
Sharp Knife and Cutting Board for mincing your ingredients

🥣 How to Make a Chopped Blue Cheese Salad

The royal street salad is made with cooked bacon and fresh ingredients, but it’s incredibly quick and easy to make.

First, you want to chop and very finely mince the fresh veggies and herbs. (Picture 1) Then, cook your bacon and crumble it.

Once you’ve finished prepping, mix the onion, pimiento, fresh herbs, garlic, mustard, and vinegar together in a large mixing bowl. (Pictures 2 – 5)

A collage of images showing how to make royal street salad, steps 1 - 5.

Then, slowly whisk the oil in to allow it to emulsify and create a rich dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Pictures 6 – 8)

A collage of images showing how to make royal street salad, steps 6 - 10.

Get your arms ready – it is a lot of whisking. (Just ask my husband! )

A man with glasses in a kitchen, glaring at the camera.

Add your romaine lettuce to the dressing. Toss the salad until fully coated with dressing. (Picture 9 – 10)

Then add bacon and blue cheese and toss. (Pictured below)

A silver bowl with royal street salad being tossed in it, topped with bacon.

A silver bowl with royal street salad being tossed in it, topped with blue cheese.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Royal Street Salad being tossed in a silver bowl.

🍱 Recipe Yield

When preparing this salad, you’ll have enough of it to serve four people if it is used as an appetizer or side dish. Feel free to double the recipe when making this Royal Street Salad for a large family or if it is going to be used as a main course.

🙋‍♀️ Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to make the Royal Street Salad?

It should take about 20 minutes. You’ll spend around 10 minutes preparing your ingredients and an additional 10 minutes assembling the salad. The cook time is dependent on how long it takes to cook your bacon. (My in-laws like to use pre-cooked bacon, so it takes them less than 5 minutes. We use thick-cut bacon, and it takes 10 minutes or more to be fully cooked and crispy.)

Is this salad salty?

No, this salad has a perfect balance. Just keep an eye on how much salt you’re adding to your dressing because the blue cheese and bacon both naturally have salt added to them. The salt in this recipe is a little variable depending on the type of blue cheese and bacon that you use. (If you use a REALLY salty blue cheese, you can use less salt.) So, you can add more or less salt, depending on your preference.

Variations & Substitutions

If you’d like to add extra ingredients, feel free to do so. (Though it wouldn’t be “the” Royal Street Salad – it would still be really delicious.)

Some people like to add diced-up blackened chicken breasts or cornmeal-crusted fried shrimp to this salad.
You can also add croutons.
Add more fresh veggies: cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, or any other veggies that your family likes.

A bowl of royal street salad and a slice of buttered french bread.

What to Serve with a Blue Cheese Salad

This salad is perfect as an appetizer, a side dish, or even as a healthy lunch option. I like to serve a side of salad with most of my entrees. Here are a few of my favorite entrees to go with this salad:

A white bowl of royal street salad with blue cheese and bacon.

Button linking to the Pinterest page for Southern Bytes.

🥫How to Store Leftover Salad

Store your dressing in a plastic or glass container with an airtight lid and keep it in the fridge. Keep your lettuce, crispy bacon crumbles, and blue cheese in separate containers in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the salad. If you have leftover salad that is already assembled, it will keep for a few days, but the lettuce will start to get soggy – I recommend eating it right away.

✏️ Helpful Tips

Be sure to use fresh ingredients when preparing your dressing to give it the best flavor possible.
If you don’t like blue cheese, you don’t have to add it to this recipe. Use mozzarella, crumbled sharp cheddar cheese, or parmesan cheese instead. (It just won’t be a Royal Street Salad, it will just be a tasty salad.)
Don’t pour the dressing over the salad until you’re ready to eat it because you don’t want your lettuce to get soggy.
Taste your blue cheese and bacon before adding more salt. If they are very salty, you may not need to add as much salt to your dressing.