From church basements to backyard BBQs, no one does a potluck quite like the Midwest—and no one does potluck salads quite like Grandma. These are the dishes that fill long folding tables and disappear before anyone even deals the first hand of euchre. We’re talking broccoli salad, macaroni salad, and the kind of “salads” made with Snickers, Cool Whip, and crushed cookies. You won’t find these on a fancy restaurant menu, but there’s a good chance you’ll find them in every Midwest church cookbook worth its spiral binding. The 17 recipes ahead are just like Grandma used to make: crowd-pleasing, no-fuss, and full of vintage charm.
Seven Layer Salad
Allrecipes / Qi Ai
As written, this Seven Layer Salad is designed to serve 12. It will steal the show at gatherings—especially if you serve it in a large glass bowl or trifle dish—but this works as a family dinner side dish, too, confirms recipe creator Leah Mae: “There’s never too much because everybody loves it!” Allrecipes user Mary G. says halving the recipe also works great, if you like. She keeps the bacon-topped veggie dish in the fridge to dish up for an after-work appetizer (instead of “grabbing whatever I see, like chips or cookies”).
Cookie Salad
Morgan Glaze / Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Stylist: Pricilla Montiel
“This is the cookie salad my mom always made, and it is delicious!” says recipe creator JT jan. Fudge stripe cookies, vanilla pudding, buttermilk (which Allrecipes user MNISCOLD confirms is optional) team up with mandarin orange slices and crushed pineapple in this dessert salad. Serve this Midwest potluck favorite in a large dish or parfait cups: “Simply layer the salad, extra whipped topping, crushed cookies, and repeat. Top parfaits with a dollop of whipped topping,” JT jan suggests. And feel free to get a head start: “The cookies don’t get soggy at all,” MNISCOLD verifies. “In fact, I like it best the next day.
Broccoli Salad
Morgan Glaze / Food Styling: Sally McKay / Prop styling: Abby Armstrong
If you’re crunched for time before your potluck, this homemade broccoli salad can come to the rescue. Featuring fresh broccoli, cranberries, nuts, and bacon, all tossed in a tangy, creamy dressing, it comes together in just 25 minutes. Just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it’s not flavorful. This is one of our most popular salad recipes, boasting over 1,300 five-star reviews. Follow the recipe to a T, or try this remix from Tiffany Taylor: Cook, drain, and cool two 9-ounce packages of cheese-filled tortellini and fold them in for a broccoli-pasta salad that “always gets rave reviews.”
Snickers Salad
Photographer: Brie Goldman / Food Styling: Skyler Myers / Prop Styling: Sue Mitchell
Whipped topping, diced Granny Smith apples, and chopped Snickers are the typical stars of this dessert table-worthy salad. This recipe ups the ante with butterscotch pudding, an element that accentuates the caramel in the candy bars. “I first had this years ago, so I was happy to find this recipe again,” says Allrecipes member Traci-in-Cali. For extra decadence and a showy look, they like to “swirl some caramel around a pretty glass before adding the ingredients” for single-serving portions. “It’s like a caramel apple!”
Popcorn Salad
If boiled potatoes and cooked pasta can act as the foundation, so can cooked popcorn! Here, the MVP movie snack is mixed with savory bacon, crunchy water chestnuts, sharp Cheddar cheese, celery, carrots, and mayo. “What a fun salad! I was very skeptical at first but was totally surprised,” raves Mary Cutler Taylor, who used plain popcorn for the base. “Since this is rather rich, you wouldn’t want any extra salt or butter. I will definitely make it again!”
Ambrosia Fruit Salad
Allrecipes / Julia Hartbeck
A cornucopia of canned fruits, nuts, shredded coconut, and whipped topping prove that fruit salad can flex to fit any of the four seasons. Sandy Conley Uebel shared this vintage recipe at Thanksgiving last year, where she hosted family from out of state. “I received an email from my daughter-in-law asking me for the recipe, because she wants to take it to work tomorrow. It was a big success and will be at our table for most special occasions. Since the recipe creator Kimberley Teal knows the spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) and maraschino cherries can be polarizing, they’re listed as optional. Grandma would grant you permission to go your own way!
Napa Cabbage Ramen Salad
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Go ahead, ignore the instructions on the instant ramen noodle packet. For this classic Midwest potluck salad, you start by toasting the broken, dry noodles in butter with almonds and sesame seeds. This delightful combo acts as the “croutons” for this Asian-inspired cabbage salad. To make it a meal, Kathy Guhin Sterba suggests adding diced or shredded rotisserie chicken. “I have been making a recipe like this for many, many years, but I don’t heat the dressing,” says Allrecipes user Cynthia Marie. Instead, she adds the ingredients to a mason jar and shakes them before drizzling over the shredded cabbage. “People LOVE this salad; as do I,” Cynthia confirms.
Waldorf Salad
Since its debut at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1896, this creamy fruit and nut salad has been growing its devoted fan base. RubyDip3717 counts themselves among those fans, and explains that they grew up eating this: “It’s just as good 50 years later!” Crunchy and sweet apples join celery, walnuts, and a sweet mayonnaise dressing in this 20-minute Midwest potluck masterpiece that is “the perfect salad recipe for any time of the year,” according to Penny.
Pink Stuff
Allrecipes / Sonia Bozzo
True, “stuff” might not be the most enticing description. But recipe creator Shannon shares that it’s a placeholder for this canned cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, and whipped topping blend. “We haven’t figured out yet if it’s a fruit salad or a dessert,” Shannon says. What they know for sure: “ This has been used as a Thanksgiving favorite in my family for years, and it’s rich and good.” Enjoy it in a communal bowl, individual cups, or take Pink Stuff into full dessert territory by scooping it into a store-bought graham cracker pie crust.
Traditional Three-Bean Salad
Allrecipes/Qi Ai
“This reminds me of a simpler time of life,” notes carolgraves. We agree, because someone’s grandma was almost guaranteed to bring a variation on this marinated bean salad to every potluck we attended as kids. Green beans, wax beans, and kidney beans are accented by onions, celery, green bell pepper, pimento peppers, and a simple vinaigrette. Allrecipes member TameSpice6654 tells us that this simple and easy-to-make salad is a great side dish to bring to any barbecue: “The hardest part is waiting for all the flavors to mesh together,” as it’s ideal to allow the salad to refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. “It’s well worth the wait.”
Champagne Salad
Photographer: Brie Goldman / Food Styling: Skyler Myers / Prop Styling: Sue Mitchell
Admittedly, this Midwest potluck salad doesn’t contain Champagne. But the creamy, tangy frozen fruit salad sure is ready to party! “This recipe was a huge hit at a wedding I catered last summer,” says KKKKIM of this treat featuring beloved banana split components: crushed pineapple, strawberries, sliced bananas, and walnuts. Stephanie remembers making this in her eighth-grade home economics class 15 years ago and has been searching for the recipe ever since. “This is the BEST dessert! If I remember correctly, my teacher used cherries instead of strawberries,” Stephanie adds. “I think either would be equally as delicious.”
Classic Macaroni Salad
DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
This Midwest potluck salad should come with a warning, Allrecipes user Rebecca Timbers notes. “This is a fantastic pasta salad. The only drawback is that now I am required to bring a big bowl to every family gathering, no matter the season or holiday!” It’s all about the dressing, home cooks confirm. The cooked macaroni and fresh vegetables score so much flavor after marinating for four hours or more in a mayo-based mixture that’s “flavorful, plentiful, and bright with a little tang from the mustard and the vinegar,” according to Betty Daley. “My macaroni salad has always been bland and just okay, until I tried this—which will be my go-to recipe from now on. Wonderful!”
Sauerkraut Salad
Allrecipes/Qi Ai
Hearty barbecue roasts (and even hot dogs and burgers) beg for something acidic to cut through the richness. This tangy Midwest potluck recipe can flex as either a side salad or a condiment. “I took this to a pig roast and people loved it,” says home cook tksalinas, who swears “it does not taste like sauerkraut after marinating overnight” in the mustard-infused dressing. It’s ideal if you prefer a make-ahead contribution: this worth-the-wait recipe benefits from two days of chill time before serving.
Dad’s Creamy Cucumber Salad
Allrecipes / Qi Ai
The secret to a crunchy, never-soggy cucumber salad? Slice and salt the cucumbers to help draw out some of the excess moisture, which you can drain off before proceeding with the recipe. This crisp and creamy cucumber salad starts with that step. From there, tag in thinly-sliced onions, garlic, dill, and mayo for a make-ahead side dish that’s always “a huge hit,” says home cook Lisa.
Old-Fashioned Potato Salad
DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
The search for the quintessential mayonnaise-based potato salad stops here. Boil your favorite kind of potatoes (we love Yukon Golds here), then fold in hard-boiled eggs, celery, and mayonnaise, plus a little pickle relish and mustard for a kick. For some loaded baked potato flair, try member Raymond Taft’s trick: Cook six slices of bacon until crispy. Once the bacon is cool enough to crumble, use it as a garnish or stir it in.
Bacon Pea Salad
Allrecipes/Qi Ai
Speaking of bacon, we’re making the most of every strip in this fresh pea salad recipe. In addition to the crumbled, cooked bacon that joins cubed Cheddar, celery, onion, and peas, try adding a bit of the bacon fat to the honey-mayo dressing. If you’re preparing it ahead of time, store the Cheddar and bacon crumbles in separate food storage containers, and add them just before serving to prevent the salad from getting soggy, suggests Jennifer Rosette. She did just that, and “took this in my lunch for four days. It held up well!”
Frog Eye Salad
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
They might slightly resemble amphibian eyes, but we promise this Midwest potluck salad is fully vegetarian. The line-up includes acini di pepe (or couscous) pasta, coconut, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and optional marshmallows, all dressed up in a sweet-tart pineapple juice-based dressing. One spoonful will be enough to convince you to expand your definition of “pasta salad.”
