Easy Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe
No spinach salad is complete without an easy Hot Bacon Dressing recipe to top it off. This simple Bacon Vinaigrette is quick to whip up and a great way to use up those leftover bacon drippings from your morning breakfast.
We’re big bacon fans here and, lucky for us, I always keep a good stash of bacon in the freezer at all times. Aside from the usual bacon on Saturday mornings, we love to use it to elevate the flavors of our favorite recipes like a weekday meatloaf.
Since I’m not the biggest fan of salads, I love to add bacon to my greens anyway I can and that includes dousing them in this easy Hot Bacon Dressing. It’s tangy, sweet and rich with bacon flavor….and it’s ready in minutes.
My first encounter with Hot Bacon Vinaigrette was in the south on a simple spinach salad. The flavor is out of this world when drizzled over a pile of greens but it’s a classic on spinach salad with chopped egg and sliced mushrooms. It’s the perfect homemade salad dressing to put on ALL THE THINGS.
Hot Bacon Dressing
A southern classic vinaigrette, Hot Bacon Dressing is made of warm bacon drippings, a sweetener like sugar or honey, minced shallots, a hit of vinegar and simple seasonings like salt and pepper.
You just whisk everything together until thick and creamy then use it to top your favorite greens like spinach, kale, green beans or even Brussels sprouts!
How To Serve It
We love to serve our warm bacon dressing over this bright and fruity spinach salad but it’s also a great substitute for melted butter on these crisp green beans or stir it into some grilled potatoes for an extra pop of flavor.
TIPS FOR MAKING HOT BACON DRESSING
- While this is a great way to use up leftover bacon fat which I store in the fridge to make things like popcorn or scrambled eggs, it’s best if you make your bacon fresh in the same skillet you’ll whisk up your vinaigrette.
- To make the bacon dressing in advance, remove the bacon from the skillet and finish making the dressing in the pan. Allow to cool to room temperature and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store the bacon in a separate container and warm for 10 seconds on a paper towel lined plate until crisp.
- To reheat your bacon dressing, microwave for 20 second increments at high power stirring until smooth and warmed through. Alternatively, you can warm the dressing in a small saucepan over low heat.
- Substitute the honey in the dressing for brown sugar, granulated sugar or your favorite low calorie sweetener.
- Switch up the vinegar called for in the bacon dressing with champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar or even balsamic vinegar for a bolder flavor.
More Easy Salad Dressing Recipes
If you like this easy dressing recipe, you may also love this easy Apple Cider Vinaigrette….it’s on repeat almost daily here because it’s a cinch to make. We also love this easy Blue Cheese Dressing and this super simple Thousand Island Dressing.
Want something a little spicier, this fire roasted Pineapple Jalapeno Dressing is amazing as is this Avocado Ranch Dressing...it’s OMG…DELISH!
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Get the Recipe: Easy Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Equipment
- skillet
Instructions
- In a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat until crispy.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain and reserve 1/4 cup of the rendered fat.
- Crumble the bacon and set aside.
- Add the shallots to the pan and saute until transluscent.
- Whisk the vinegar, honey and Dijon mustard into the bacon fat until slightly thickened and creamy. Remove from the heat.
- Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.
Video
36 Comments on “Easy Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe”
Old husband but new cook. My Mom used to make this when I was a kid. My family called it wilted lettuce. Made it tonight for my wife and we loved it. Thank for bringing back childhood memories.
You’re very welcome! This dressing is my favorite, too. I love to dip breadsticks in it!
Can I use white vinegar?
Yes, it will just have a much more pronounced vinegar flavor instead of the hint of sweetness.
It was very tasty and I will make again. It wasn’t however in anyway creamy. But the again, I have never had one that was.
So happy you liked it!
I had this dressing in a restaurant once and have been looking for the recipe ever since. Thank youi.
Thank you for your comment! We love this one.
How much is one serving (cups, tablespoons, etc)?
2 tablespoons = 1 serving
I just made this. Amazing! I have literally achieved salad nirvana! Thank you for this great recipe
You’re very welcome! I too, love salad nirvana. 🙂
I made this recipe pretty much to the instructions, and it was absolutely delicious. I was so excited, I forgot to add the salt and pepper, but really didn’t miss it. I also used red onions instead of shallots, to make the dressing and added two hard-boiled eggs, sliced to the recipe. Maybe I didn’t follow the recipe as close as I originally thought, lol. We used fresh spinach from the garden and it made two pretty good size salads, for me and my wife. The next time I am going to try adding strawberries instead of the hard boiled eggs to give it more of a citrus twist . So good!!
Thank you for your comment and for sharing your twist on our favorite dressing. I do love it with strawberries, too!
I really want to make this tonight but I am stumped on how this recipe will yield 6 servings when there are only 5 TBL of liquid ingredients. All the other bacon recipes I have looked at call for 1/3 C water……No Water in this??
No water in this but it will tighten up so feel free to add some water (I suggest 1 tablespoon at a time) until the desired consistency.
So, so, so good. Where has this been all my life! It’s perfect. It’s so funny how the simple things are the best things!
I agree! Thank you for your comment!
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I’ve tried three different recipes. In each case, the amount of dressing wasn’t enough for the amount of spinach. I also think I am using bacon that is too lean and should get some that has more fat. Any clues?
Definitely can be that your bacon is too lean and not yielding enough fat.
This was so easy to make and absolutely delish! I doubled the recipe except the bacon I used 9-10 strips. Perfect addition for my grilled chicken spinach and strawberry salad.
Yes! That sound like the perfect salad for this dressing!
Easy & delicious. Will add this to my family’s recipe box for sure!
Thank you!
Mom’s recipe was a bit thick and sticky. We loved it. Will using honey make your recipe a bit thick and sticky?
It could definitely make it sticky but I think it may have been the quantity used in the recipe.
I cooked some bacon yesterday and just saved the fat. It was a pound and a half of bacon – way more than 8 pieces. Now I’m not sure how much of the fat to use in this recipe since my bacon is already cooked and I have no idea how much fat 8 pieces of bacon actually yields. Help!!
It’s about 2-3 tablespoons of bacon fat for the recipe.
do you add the bacon bits back into the dressing or just top the salad with them or…..?
I just sprinkle them on the salad.
This dressing came out so good it will definitely be on the rotation thank you so much!!!!!!
Where are the shallots in the recipe?When you describe the dressing you said that there were shallots but there are no shallots in the recipe!
Thanks, Janet! I fixed the recipe instructions to include the shallots. Apologies for the oversight!
Awesome dressing recipe. This is one of the few on the internet that ACTUALLY uses not only the bacon fat, but not white sugar and/or corn syrup for the sweetness. Tastes like the fancy, way-too-expensive steakhouse salad dressing. Thank you so much.
You’re so welcome! Thank you for your comment!