I asked on Facebook how everyone loves their BLTs when I was writing this healthy BLT bowls recipe. The answers varied greatly but the most surprising answers were peanut butter and cheese. Now, I can see how cheese could be good (and you’ll note that it’s included here) but peanut butter? This is a social media joke, right? I have avoided including peanut butter in this recipe but if you DO decide to add peanut butter, please choose a green tier one, and then let us know in the comments how it turned out! I’m very intrigued by this!
This Healthy BLT bowls recipe yields only 1 slice of bread per serving, thereby cutting the carbs of a traditional BLT nearly in half. Not that carbs are evil! They’re not! We love healthy carbs at 90/10 Nutrition! We boosted nutrients and healthy fats by adding avocado and eggs. And by serving these bowl-style instead of sandwich style, we’ve practically eliminated the soggy sandwich from the lunchbox. (Simply package your croutons separately for travel to avoid sogginess.)
All the goodness of a healthy BLT, none of the sogginess of the sandwich. This recipe is special because it travels so well, like for work or school lunches! Healthy meal prep, anyone? So grab yourself some of those cute meal prep containers and whip up a batch of these healthy BLT bowls with Bacony Croutons.
Ingredients
- 8 slices uncured bacon no sugar added; see notes
- 4 slices 100% Whole Grain Bread optional, see notes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 head romaine lettuce
- 1 each red onion
- 2 each avocado
- 1 pint grape tomatoes we used multicolored, for color
- 4 oz cheddar cheese block
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 each egg
- 4 Tbsp fresh parsley optional, for garnish
- 4 Tbsp mayonnaise clean, see notes
Instructions
Bacon
- Preheat oven to 400. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange bacon on parchment, close but not touching. Bake at 400 16-18 minutes, depending on thickness. (Our bacon was super thin and cooked quite fast.) Remove from oven. Remove bacon from pan and onto a paper-towel-lined plate to drain and cool. Reserve 4 Tbsp bacon grease. Set bacon aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350.
Bacony Croutons
- While bacon is cooking, cut bread into cubes. Place bread cubes in small bowl. Drizzle bacon grease over cubes. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Toss to coat. Arrange bread cubes on prepared baking sheet (we re-used the one we used for the bacon). Bake bread cubes at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until toasted. Remove from oven and set aside.
BLT Bowls
- While bread is toasting, crumble bacon. Cut lettuce into shreds. Cut tomatoes in half. Chop onion. Slice avocados. Cut cheese into cubes. Chop parsley, if using. Divide bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocados, cheese, and croutons evenly among each of four bowls.
- Melt butter in a medium skillet on high heat. Reduce to medium. Add eggs. Fry eggs to desired doneness. Add an egg to each bowl. Top with 1 Tbsp mayonnaise and fresh parsley, if desired.
Notes
For Keto and paleo, eliminate bread/croutons.
For vegan, substitute vegan bacon for bacon. Eliminate egg, butter, and cheese.
For vegetarian, substitute vegan bacon for bacon.
For gluten free, use 100% whole grain gluten free bread instead of wheat bread.
Comments (3)
This sounds good! Never thought of BLT in a bowl…
These were great. I am eating grain free right now so I just skipped the bread entirely. It was just fine that way.
Loved it without avocado