It doesn't get soggy because the dressy sits on top of the salad and doesn't get mixed into the salad until serving time. That's also why 7 layer salads call for iceburg lettuce - it stays crispy sitting overnight at the bottom of the bowl underneath all the other ingredients. I believe most of the layered salad recipes call for them to be made the day or night before.

Not much of a recipe..
Into a deep bowl...I like glass so you can see the layers...
Put one small head of lettuce, cut or torn into bite sized pieces, 1 cup of so sliced celery and about 1/2 that amount of green pepper diced ( I leave that out when fixing for certain people)
1 10 oz package of frozen peas....don't thaw or cook
a bunch of sliced green onion...tops too.
a couple of carrots shredded( I often omit this)
About a cup of shredded chedder cheese....a little more is good
Half a pound of bacon, cooked and crumbles
4 hard boiled eggs sliced
Then top with the dressing which is just mayo and sugar. 2 cups of mayo mixed with 2 Tablespoons of sugar.
Spread over the top of the salad, being sure to cover every space...refrigerate for 4 or 5 hours...or over night.
Then just before serving toss it all together!
I guess if you omit the peppers and the carrots it's 7 layers!
Linda C

Thanks for your quick response...this is the recipe but it calls for romaine lettuce...would that work overnight??
Is it a tasty salad?
http://www.squidoo.com/eight-layer-salad

OK, so I went ahead and made it! Will let you know what everyone thought of it!
Franny

Certain things shouldn't be messed with.
this salad is one....I wouldn't like the addition of sour cream...that would make it LESS tangy rather than more. The horse radish might bo OK...but I would certainly not add Miracal Whip....AND sweetener!!
Romain is fine....but sour cream and salad dressing is not
...THERE IS A REASON Mayonaise costs more!
If they didn't like it try the traditional recipe.
Linda c

Amen, Linda! This salad should not be messed with!

Teresa

I just looked at that recipe and have a question. Every layer is seasoned with salt & pepper. Would the salt make the lettuce release its liquid. Just wondering if it would get too juicy after the overnight sit?

I do not salt and pepper between the layers and most recipes I have seen do not do this either. When you seal the top of the salad with the mayo topping, you cut off the air to the lettuce and other vegetables and this helps to keep the lettuce from becoming soggy. The mayo topping needs to be spread all the way to touch the sides of the bowl. You should not use chopped tomato in this salad either, which will be adding liquid to the mix.

This kind of salad does not need the salt and pepper seasoning each layer. Why would you need to salt cheese or bacon?

Teresa

Teresa, that's exactly what I was thinking too. I've never seen a recipe that called for seasoning each layer either. The mayo topping provides an "air-tight" seal that prevents the vegetables from getting soggy. Why would you interfere with that?

I've made this for years; it's DH's favorite request. The only difference that I have is in the layering. I seal the salad with the mayo/sugar after the pea layer, sprinkle the eggs over dressing, then the cheese with the final layer being the bacon crumbles. Definitly no salt or pepper between the layers, but lots of fresh ground pepper at serving. We usually don't toss it before serving since there's just the two of us and we have it around for a couple days. We just kind of scoop down deep into the bowl to get a layer of everything then mix it on the plate. Everything stays crisp if it's refrigerated in a sealed container since it's not tossed.

Yep, no tossing here either - we also scoop down deep to get some of all the layers. Ummmm....we don't usually have any leftovers....

However, I do add just a little freshly grated parmesan to the mayo/sugar mixture.

jude

I sprinkled some Penzey's taco seasoning to the mayo/sugar mixture...quite good! Think I'm going to make one of these salads for dinner tonight - too hot to heat up the kitchen (and plan to chop up a number of items in the crisper - a little of this & a little of that).

After reading this thread, I had to try the Seven Layer Salad. Don't know where I have been or why no one else has fed me this salad, but I am only sorry I have been missing out all these years. LOL. Thanks so much to all who responded and special thanks to Franny for posting question. Anyway, my new question "is it supposed to be so thick?". I made according to Lindac's directions and used Hellman's mayo but when tossing together, it was kind of "gloppy" if that is a word....way thick. Wonderfully delicious but thick.
Just wondering if I missed something.
Thanks so much.
Murphy

Down here in my area of the South, we do not toss this salad at all. You spoon down through the topping and the layers when serving yourself some of the salad. Also, I think any leftovers remain less soggy than when the salad is tossed. Yes, the topping is thick - that's why we don't toss it.

teresa

Doesn't the sugar thin the mayo a bit after it's sits overnight? That's what I thought the purpose of the sugar was. My dressing is always thick, but not really gloppy and mixes in well after it's scooped onto the plate. Maybe a bit more sugar would do the trick.

Thanks Teresa. Just wanted to make sure the dressing was supposed to be thick. Not tossing this salad and making ahead of time is one of the attractions to this recipe. I made one Friday for Saturday and added a bit of milk to the mayo to thin just a tad and it worked out fine. I live in the upstate area of SC and still wonder how I have missed this salad over the years. I also missed the Tomato Pie recipe until I happened upon it a couple of years ago. Well, better late than never on finding two delicious recipes!
Tmd15, the sugar didn't seem to thin it for me. Didn't want to add more because it is just sweet enough as is. But now I know it is SUPPOSED to be thick, I will just eat, enjoy. and quit worrying about it. :)
Murphy

Murphy,
When I eat this salad, I sort of spread the dressing/topping around a bit when I have my portion on my plate. When on the rare occasions I have had some of this salad left over, I carefully remove it from the larger bowl and put it in a smaller container, cover and refrigerator. Just don't stir it up to blend the dressing with the salad! For a couple of days it is still just fine, but begins to "weep" and get watery after that.

I was always told to spread the dressing completely to the edges to "seal" the salad from air. That is how the lettuce stays crisp and doesn't go limp. My family loves this salad and is about the only recipe with lettuce and fresh vegetables (that I have seen) that can be made ahead. For me, this recipe appeared in our church cookbook in 1979, so my versions pretty much follow this recipe:

Twenty-four Hour Salad

Use in of the following ingredients layered in a large glass bowl or casserole, layered in this order:

chopped iceberg lettuce
chopped fresh spinach leaves
1/2 package frozen green peas, thawed
1 small thinly sliced red onion
1/2 lb. crumbled, cooked bacon
2 chopped hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup grated sharp or medium cheddar cheese

Combine:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
opt. 1 TB sugar
opt. 2 TB finely grated Parmesan cheese

Spread over top evenly to seal in salad ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Optional: top the creamy dressing with a sprinkle of paprika for some color.

Teresa

should read "use any of the following ingredients..."

I consider my recipe traditional--I've been making it for over 40 years. The dressing on mine calls for 2 c. mayo, 3/4 c. sour cream and 2 Tbsp. sugar. So to me, anything other than that is messing with the recipe. My recipe came from my mother-in-law in Indiana.

We don't toss it either. Just dip down. Now I'm craving 7-layer salad!

I just made another 7 layer salad the other night after reading all these recipes & this time I placed cherry tomatoes (uncut) all around the edge - looked pretty and since they were uncut they didn't make a mess in the salad (and were a nice addition). I've always tossed mine but next time I'll try just dipping into the salad and serving like many of the folks here suggest.

Just to let you all know that I did the 8 layer salad...http://www.squidoo.com/eight-layer-salad...I didn't add the salt because I never use salt anyway, and didn't add the sweetner...I brought it to the luncheon and everyone was impressed at how wonderful it looked....but I did toss it all before serving...I brought a bigger bowl to toss it in since it was full to the brim in the glass bowl...put back in the glass bowl and everyone helped themselves....it was delicious and everyone wanted the recipe...like you Murphy I was missing out all these years...why did I wait so long for this great tasting salad...am making it again for Father's Day!

I don't know how I could have gotten this far in my life and never heard of this salad. I've been looking for recipes for meatless dishes and I think I'm going to make this minus the bacon. I bet it will still be delicious!

I've been deprived of this salad too. I want to try it with salt, just afraid it would turn to a mush.

beverlyal...that was my concern with this salad, especially making it the day before...does not go mushy, everything stayed crisp...gardenkat, try it as well without the bacon it will be just as good!

I’m only ten years late here but I made it for the first time last night, let it sit overnight and went to serve it tonight and the dressing was absolutely awful. I used 1/2 cup Hellman's mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 TB sugar. Horrible. We even tried dumping the mayo mixture out. Everything else in it was delicious but the dressing. What am I missing here?

Only thing I can think of: was either the mayo /or sourcream rancid.... gone bad in some way?