This spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is a great dinner or appetizer salad to serve to guests. Its easy to make, but special with tons of flavor and so so good!
I don’t know about you, but Debbie and I eat a LOT of salad. Having a salad like this once in a while is such a treat from the usual. This one feels much more like a meal and its served warm so its great for a cooler evening.
Ingredients in this Salad
- Spinach
- Hard boiled eggs
- Bacon
- Tomatoes
- Gruyere
- Sauteed mushrooms
- Caramelized onions
Spinach Salad Variations
You could also try any of these ingredients in your spinach salad:
- Raw onions
- Raw mushrooms
- Blue cheese
- Avocado
- Candied pecans or reg pecans
- Homemade croutons
- You could try poached eggs instead of hard boiled!
Any of these would be great too!
Order of Preparation
So with a few ingredients that need to be prepared separately, this is the order that works best.
- make the boiled eggs first
- next make the bacon – reserve the fat
- then make the mushrooms and onions
- finally, throw together the rest of the ingredients.
Make the Hard Boiled Eggs
Have you ever made hard boiled eggs and then when you take the shells off and slice them open, the yolk has that ugly dark greyish layer around it?
That just drives me to drink! A while back I found a simple way to stop this from happening.
Here’s how to make perfect hard boiled eggs:
- You put your eggs in a pot and cover them with water
- Put the pot on high heat until it boils
- Once it boils, cover and remove from the heat
- Keep the lid on for 15 mins, then drain and cover with cold water
One other method for perfect hard boiled eggs:
- Bring a pot of water to a low boil.
- Add your eggs very carefully so they don’t break on the way in.
- Boil for 9-10 mins and remove the eggs from the water and cool right away.
Follow these steps and you will get perfect hard boiled eggs every time!
If you want your eggs to be jammy on the inside, try 12 mins for the first method and 7-8 mins for the second method.
How to Make Warm Bacon Dressing
Making the warm bacon dressing takes only a min or so and its very easy. You basically just need a few tablespoons of hot bacon fat in the pan, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk it up good.
If you have just made the bacon, scoop out the extra fat that you don’t need before making the dressing. You don’t want too much. Only about 3 tablespoons for two salads.
Tips for Making Warm Bacon Dressing
- Use the same pan you used to make the bacon and or onions and mushrooms. It will give the dressing more flavor.
- Make sure the bacon fat and the pan is not too hot when you make the dressing.
- You want the temperature of the pan on low.
- You can leave it in the pan until you are ready to serve it, but make sure to leave it on the lowest heat or turn the pan off for a bit and then heat it back up when you are ready to serve.
Debbie and I keep our extra bacon fat in a mason jar in the fridge. That way, when we need some to make warm bacon dressing in a pinch, its easy to do!
This is also awesome for when we make crispy potatoes or anything else that tastes amazing with bacon fat!
That said, we only keep the bacon fat from pasture raised and antibiotic free.
Tips for Making the Best Warm Spinach Salad
- Use the freshest ingredients you can find. Especially the spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms.
- Don’t use flavored bacon, it will taste weird
- Be careful to only dress the salad with just enough dressing. Too much dressing could taste greasy and overpower the rest of the ingredients. You only need a little.
- Eat it right away!
- You cant store salad with bacon dressing already on it. it will be gross. so only dress what you will eat.
Make this Salad for Guests
This spinach salad is so great for guests because its easy, kind of impressive and it tastes delicious! It would be great for lunch guests or as a starter salad at a dinner party.
If you are serving this warm spinach salad to guests we suggest doing the following:
- make the boiled eggs and bacon well ahead of time!
- get the spinach and cheese ready way in advance and keep it covered in the fridge.
- saute the onions and mushrooms just a little bit ahead of time. Then let them sit in the pan till you are ready to serve. You can turn on the heat and give them a quick saute to finish them up right before serving.
- make the dressing right before serving. It only takes a min or two to throw together. Or make it and let it sit in the pan on the stove till you are ready. Then heat it up and serve.
Other Salad Recipes You Might Like
- taco salad recipe with tequila lime chicken & homemade ranch (that actually tastes like ranch)
- grilled caesar salad with homemade caesar dressing
- pickled beet salad recipe
Kick Ass Homemade Salad Toppings
- maple roasted pecans – simply THE BEST
- homemade croutons – so easy & good that you will never want to buy them again
If you’ve tried this warm spinach salad recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments below. We love hearing from you!
We love to see your creations! Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM
Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
FOR TWO SALADS
- 6 cups spinach
- 8 mushrooms
- 4 strips bacon chopped and cooked, fat reserved
- 1/2 med red onion sliced
- 1-2 large hard boiled eggs
- 1/2 cup gruyere cheese grated
- 1 small tomato chopped
FOR THE DRESSING
- 3 tbsp bacon fat
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp maple syrup or more if you like a little more sweet
- 1 tbsp grainy mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
MAKE THE BOILED EGGS
- Gently add the eggs to a medium sized pot and cover them with water. Put the pot on high heat until it boils. Once it boils, cover and remove the pot from the heat. Keep the lid on for 15 mins, then drain and cover with cold water. Let the eggs cool in the water till you are ready to use them in the salad.
START THE SPINACH SALAD
- Wash and spin the spinach. Grate the cheese. Chop the tomato. Place the spinach on a plate and arrange the cheese and tomatoes on top. Set aside.
MAKE THE BACON, ONIONS and MUSHROOMS
- Make the bacon first. Chop it into pieces of about 1/2 to 1 inch thick and add to a skillet on medium heat. Cook until it starts to get crispy or to your desired doneness. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate lined with paper towel.
- Remove the bacon fat from the skillet and set aside. Don't discard!
- Add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms to the hot pan and saute them till nicely browned. You can cook the onions and mushrooms together or you can also cook them separately too, if you prefer. When they are done, remove them from the pan and set aside.
FINISH THE SALAD
- Peel and slice an egg on each salad however you like it. In half, in quarters, or sliced. Add half of the onions, mushrooms and bacon to the salad.
MAKE THE DRESSING
- Add a few tbsp of bacon fat back to your skillet. It does not have to be cleaned first. Melt the bacon fat if its cool. Next add the vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and salt. Whisk it well to combine and pour it over the two salads. Eat them right away.
Notes
- Use the freshest ingredients you can find. Especially the spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms.
- Don't use flavored bacon, it will taste weird
- Be careful to only dress the salad with just enough dressing. Too much dressing could taste greasy and overpower the rest of the ingredients. You only need a little.
- Eat it right away!
- You cant store salad with bacon dressing already on it. it will be gross. so only dress what you will eat.
- Use the same pan you used to make the bacon and or onions and mushrooms. It will give the dressing more flavor.
- Make sure the bacon fat and the pan is not too hot when you make the dressing.
- You want the temperature of the pan on low.
- You can leave it in the pan until you are ready to serve it, but make sure to leave it on the lowest heat or turn the pan off for a bit and then heat it back up when you are ready to serve.
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