This post was sponsored by Heluva Good! as part of an Ambassador Program and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
It’s the season for entertaining and while I love having family and friends over to visit, prepping all the food does stress me out a bit. Today I’m sharing a bit of an entertaining hack with my tips on how to serve a deconstructed salad. This has been a big hit with my guests because it’s pretty creative, and I love that it kills two birds with one stone: You can use this as the finger foods before the main course is served, and then you can skip making a traditional salad (no dirty bowls!) with dinner. Win-win!
Heluva Good! Dips
Instead of using salad dressing I use Heluva Good! Dips. I love doing this because they’re not runny like salad dressing so there’s no mess, and they come in a bunch of amazing flavors. Heluva Good! Dips are made with real sour cream and flavorful herbs and spices. French Onion, Buttermilk Ranch, White Cheddar & Bacon and Bodacious Onion are all great options and with this tray of veggies, you could easily put out a selection of several dips for your guests to sample.
I started with Buttermilk Ranch for this tray. It’s SO good! I think my son ate his weight in carrots munching on them with this dip! You can find Heluva Good! Dips in your local grocery store in the dairy section. I just grabbed a few more for my Thanksgiving dinner this week. We’re hosting 15 people so I’m going to need some munchies!
How To Serve A Deconstructed Salad
This is such a pretty way to serve a salad, and if you’re one of those people who doesn’t necessarily love everything that gets tossed into a traditional salad, this is even better: you pick the things you like to eat. No radishes for me, tyvm.
Choose a bunch of your favorite vegetables that are sturdy and can be easily dipped. Snow peas, bell peppers, cucumber slices, carrot slices or baby carrots, grape tomatoes, broccoli, or cauliflower are all great choices.
You need some lettuce in the mix to really drive home the ‘salad’ message, and Romaine leaves are study enough to dip. Trim them up to pieces about 3-4 inches long and only use the firm sections, no wimpy leaves that can’t be dipped. Add some of your favorite croutons to the tray as well. I think the combination of lettuce and croutons is what really makes this feel like a deconstructed salad versus a veggie tray.
A deconstructed salad is super easy to put together. Many of these things come ready-to-serve at the grocery store so you can lay out your serving tray (I used a pretty wooden cutting board), place your ramekins of Heluva Good! Dip in the middle, and be able to serve this impressive spread to your guests in a matter of minutes. And did I mention the part about not dirtying a bunch of salad bowls?
Learn More
Visit the Heluva Good! Dip website to check out the huge selection of flavorful dips they have available. Be sure to follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more delicious snacking suggestions!
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