Here's everything the recipe calls for, measured out before any cooking starts (Ask Chef Dennis):

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 12 ounces bacon
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika

The base splits evenly between mayonnaise and sour cream rather than leaning on one dairy component to do all the work. That balance keeps the dip rich without tasting like straight mayonnaise, and it gives the sour cream's tang room to cut through the bacon fat.

The seasoning trio of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika isn't meant to dominate. Those spices round out flavors the bacon, lettuce, and tomato are already carrying, rather than replacing them.

For the bacon, thick-cut pork bacon is the recommended default because it holds up with a bigger crunch, though regular bacon or cooked turkey bacon both work as substitutes (Ask Chef Dennis). Whichever cut ends up in the pan, drain it on paper towels as soon as it comes off the heat. Less rendered fat riding along into the bowl means less chance of grease pooling at the bottom later, though that's a matter of technique rather than something the recipe measures.

Notice the two produce items are already prepped to a specific form before they ever touch the base: tomatoes chopped, lettuce shredded. Doing that work ahead of time, rather than mid-assembly, keeps the final combine step quick.

Five steps get this from ingredients to serving bowl, matching the order in the original recipe. Follow them and skip the guesswork that turns a lot of BLT dips watery halfway through a party.

1. Rinse the produce. Clean the tomatoes and lettuce under cold water (Ask Chef Dennis) before chopping and shredding. Pat both dry with a towel before they go anywhere near the bowl; this isn't a step the source calls out specifically, but standing water on either one is an easy way to water down a creamy dip.
2. Cook the bacon. Cook over medium heat until crunchy, about 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally (Ask Chef Dennis). Crunchy means the pieces snap cleanly when lifted with tongs rather than bending, with no translucent fat left on any of them. Drain it on paper towels right away.
3. Combine everything. Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cooked bacon, tomato, and lettuce together until evenly combined.
4. Chill for 30 minutes. Refrigerating the dip for 30 minutes lets the flavors meld before serving (Ask Chef Dennis).
5. Serve. Set it out shortly after the chill time, before the toppings have much chance to soften.

That's the tested method as written, and it's the right call for a dip that goes from fridge to table and gets eaten within an hour or so. If the bowl needs to survive longer than that on a crowded buffet table, a different order is worth trying: chill just the base, meaning the mayonnaise, sour cream, and seasonings, for the full 30 minutes, and hold the bacon, lettuce, and tomato separately until just before guests arrive. That's an editorial variation aimed at texture, not the tested recipe, but the logic is straightforward. Lettuce sitting in a creamy base for hours is likely to lose its snap, and chopped tomato can weep liquid into the bowl over time. Neither outcome is something the recipe tests directly, but it's the reasoning behind splitting the timeline when a party runs long.

Part of what makes this a good party dip is how much of it can happen before guests show up. The recipe can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, with the bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes added before serving (Ask Chef Dennis).

A workable two-day schedule: the evening before a party, mix the seasoned mayonnaise-sour cream base and keep it covered in the refrigerator. The next day, cook the bacon, rinse and prep the tomato and lettuce, and combine everything within an hour or two of when guests are due. That doesn't change anything the recipe calls for; it just spreads the same steps across two days instead of one afternoon, which matters more than it sounds like when there's also a main dish and three side salads competing for stovetop space.

Once everything is combined, treat leftovers like any dairy-based dip: store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and plan to finish it within a day (Ask Chef Dennis). Freezing isn't recommended (Ask Chef Dennis), so this is a same-day or next-day appetizer, not a batch-cook recipe for the freezer. If a gathering is more than a day out, prep the base ahead but leave the bacon uncooked and the produce unwashed until closer to serving.

A dip that sits out for a while with all its toppings already mixed in tends to look tired well before the bowl is empty. One way to stretch its fresh window at a longer event: hold back a portion of the bacon, lettuce, and tomato instead of stirring in the full amount at once, then top up the bowl as it empties. That's a serving habit rather than part of the tested recipe, and there's no data on exactly how much time it buys, but the goal is to keep more of what's in the bowl looking like it just came together.

Nutritionally, this is a rich dip. Each serving carries 431 calories, 43 grams of fat, and 470 milligrams of sodium (Ask Chef Dennis), so pairing it with something plain enough to let the bacon and tomato carry the flavor tends to work better than stacking it against something equally heavy. At 3 grams of carbohydrate per serving (Ask Chef Dennis), the dip itself fits reasonably well into a low-carb spread, though the total carb count for any given serving depends heavily on what it's scooped with. Crackers, vegetable sticks, or toasted bread are all reasonable options; the recipe itself doesn't specify dippers, so that choice comes down to whatever's already on the table.

The core decision is timing, not ingredients. Mix and season the base whenever it's convenient, up to a day out. Cook the bacon and prep the produce separately, and decide, based on how long the dip needs to sit out, whether everything gets combined right after chilling or held back and added closer to serving. Either way, the underlying dip is the same 52-minute recipe serving eight people; only the order changes to match the occasion. Once that habit is set, it holds up no matter what ends up in the bowl, since the same timing rule applies regardless of how the flavors get dressed up.