Hot Bacon Dressing
This quick and easy Hot Bacon Dressing recipe is always a winner and ready in minutes! Rendered bacon drippings combined with sugar and vinegar, and served warm over a bed of spinach greens.
If you’ve ever had a “wilted salad”, chances are it was a spinach salad with this delicious dressing! This classic warm vinaigrette is super easy to make and can be easily adapted to your liking. (Variations are listed below)
Ingredients
This warm vinaigrette comes together in about 15 minutes and uses simple ingredients.
- Bacon – I’ve found that a pound of cooked regular bacon (not thick bacon) yields about ¼ cup of drippings, which is the amount you need for this recipe
- Drippings – I prefer this warm vinaigrette made from bacon I have cooked, however, now you can buy a jar of bacon fat! Go figure…anyway, I haven’t ever made this with jarred grease, so I recommend you just fry up or bake some strips the old fashioned way
- Sugar – plain ole’ granulated sugar
- Vinegar – I recommend apple cider vinegar, but you can use red wine vinegar for the vinaigrette
- Salt and ground black pepper – season to taste
How to make it
- Cook a pound of bacon; drain off the grease and strain it; then measure out ¼ cup
- Pour the strained grease into a medium saucepan on medium heat
- Add sugar and apple cider vineger, stirring constantly
- Cook until the sugar is dissolved; remove from heat; taste for seasonings, add salt and pepper to taste
- I like to serve this over tender greens like baby spinach leaves or Bibb lettuce, however, you can serve this vinegar dressing with whatever type of salad greens you like.
Recipe tips
- The recipe as written makes about ½ cup of warm dressing, which is plenty to coat 5-8 ounces of greens
- If your cooked bacon doesn’t yield ¼ cup of rendered fat, then add enough canola oil or vegetable oil until you have a quarter cup of oil
- This is a thin dressing; if you want it a little thicker, you can add in a teaspoon of Dijon mustard (note, mustard is a thickening agent, but it will also add a tangy flavor, slightly reducing the salty flavor)
- For added texture, once the dressing is done, add in some bacon crumbles
Variations
You can easily adapt this recipe for hot bacon dressing by adding a teaspoon of any of the following ingredients:
- Honey or Agave nector
- Minced shallots or finely diced red onion
- Dijon mustard
- Cayenne pepper
Make ahead and storage
Store leftover dressing in an airtight container, preferably a glass jar, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To heat cold bacon dressing, simply pour it into a saucepan and reheat on low, or place in the microwave for a few minutes until the hot bacon dressing is well-combined.
Enjoy this delicious dressing over a tender spinach salad with red onions, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and slivered almonds!
Related recipes
- Sweet and Tangy Salad Dressing
- Low Sodium White Balsamic Dressing
- Buttermilk Ranch Salad Dressing
- Louisiana Remoulade Sauce or Dressing
Hot Bacon Dressing
Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon, reserve grease See recipe notes
- ¼ cup rendered bacon grease, strained
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar See recipe notes
- salt and pepper to taste
- bacon crumbles (for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook the bacon on the stovetop or in the oven, remove cooked bacon from pan and set aside; reserve ¼ cup of the bacon grease1 pound bacon, reserve grease
- Drain reserved grease and pour into a medium saucepan on medium heat¼ cup rendered bacon grease, strained
- Add sugar and apple cider vinegar to saucepan; stir constantly and cook 5- minutes or until the sugar is dissolved½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- Allow dressing to cool a bit; taste for salt and pepper; pour warm dressing over your favorite greens, garnish with crumbled bacon and enjoysalt and pepper to taste, bacon crumbles (for garnish)
