Marry This Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing is a classic, savory, and comforting recipe. Featuring crisp, smoky bacon, sweet caramelized onions, earthy mushrooms, and perfectly hard-boiled eggs, all tossed with fresh spinach in a warm and tangy bacon vinaigrette. It’s the ultimate steakhouse-style salad, perfect for a satisfying lunch or a special side dish, ready in about 45 minutes.
Jump to RecipeSpinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 3 large eggs
- 7 slices thick-cut peppered bacon
- 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 (8-oz.) package white button mushrooms, sliced
- 8 oz. fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
For the Hot Bacon Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp. reserved bacon grease
- 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
- 1 dash of salt
How To Make Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing
- Prepare the Toppings: First, hard-boil the eggs. Place them in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let them sit, covered, for 15-20 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath to cool. While the eggs cook, fry the bacon in a large skillet until it’s crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, but reserve about 5 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the skillet.
- Caramelize the Vegetables: In the skillet with the bacon grease over medium heat, add the thinly sliced onions. Cook slowly, stirring, until the onions are caramelized and reduced. Remove them to a plate. In the same skillet, add the sliced mushrooms and cook slowly until they are caramelized and brown. Remove them to a plate.
- Make the Hot Bacon Dressing: To make the dressing, add 3 tablespoons of the reserved bacon grease, the red wine vinegar, sugar, and mustard to a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk the mixture together and heat it thoroughly until it is warm and the sugar has dissolved.
- Assemble and Serve: Place the fresh spinach in a large bowl. Arrange the caramelized onions, mushrooms, and the crumbled cooked bacon on top.
- Dress and Serve: Just before serving, pour the hot dressing over the salad and toss everything together to gently wilt the spinach. Peel and slice the hard-boiled eggs and arrange them over the top. Serve immediately while the dressing is warm.
Recipe Tips
- How to get perfectly caramelized vegetables? The most important secret is to cook the onions and mushrooms low and slow in the bacon grease. Don’t rush this step! Allowing them to cook down is what brings out their deep, sweet flavor.
- Why use a hot dressing? This is the key to a classic “wilted” spinach salad. The hot bacon dressing gently wilts the fresh, raw spinach, softening its texture slightly and allowing it to absorb all the delicious, smoky flavor.
- Can I make this ahead of time? This salad is at its absolute best when assembled and served immediately. However, you can save a huge amount of time by pre-cooking the eggs, bacon, and vegetables up to a day in advance. Just make and heat the dressing right before you toss and serve.
- What’s the best way to hard-boil eggs? For perfectly cooked yolks that aren’t chalky or green, the “hot start, hot finish” method is key. Gently lowering eggs into already boiling water, cooking for your desired time (about 10-12 minutes for firm yolks), and then immediately transferring them to an ice bath yields the best results and makes them easier to peel.
What To Serve With This Salad
This is a hearty, classic steakhouse-style salad that is a complete meal on its own for lunch. It is also a fantastic side dish for:
- A perfectly seared steak or a pork chop.
- A simple roasted chicken.
- A slice of crusty bread to soak up any extra dressing at the bottom of the bowl.
How To Store Leftovers
- Best Eaten Fresh: A dressed and wilted spinach salad is best eaten immediately, as it will become soggy in the refrigerator. It is highly recommended to only make as much as you plan to eat.
Spinach Salad Nutrition Facts
- Serving: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Protein: 18g
- Fat: 35g
- Saturated Fat: 12g
- Sodium: 950mg
Nutrition information is estimated and may vary based on ingredients and cooking methods used.
FAQs
Yes. To make a vegetarian version, you can omit the bacon. For the dressing, gently warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of smoked paprika to mimic the smoky flavor, then proceed with the vinegar and mustard. Sauté the vegetables in a separate 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
This can happen if too much bacon grease is used. The recipe calls for reserving a specific amount for the dressing and for cooking the vegetables, so be sure to pour off and discard any extra fat from the skillet after the bacon is cooked.
Yes, this recipe is designed for the texture and volume of fresh, raw baby spinach. Frozen spinach would not work for this type of wilted salad.
Try More Recipes:
Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe
Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes30
minutes450
kcalA classic steakhouse-style salad featuring fresh spinach, hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and caramelized mushrooms, all tossed in a warm and tangy hot bacon dressing.
Ingredients
8 oz. baby spinach
7 slices thick-cut peppered bacon
3 eggs, hard-boiled
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
Dressing: 3 Tbsp. reserved bacon grease, 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, 2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard.
Directions
- Hard-boil the eggs; cool, peel, and slice them.
- In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon, reserving about 5 tablespoons of the grease in the pan.
- In the same skillet, slowly caramelize the onions, then the mushrooms. Remove from the pan.
- Make the hot dressing by warming 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease with the vinegar, sugar, and mustard in a small pan.
- In a large bowl, place the fresh spinach. Top with the caramelized onions, mushrooms, and crumbled bacon.
- Pour the hot dressing over the top and toss to gently wilt the spinach.
- Garnish with the sliced hard-boiled eggs and serve immediately.
Notes
- Hot Dressing is Key: The most important tip is to pour the dressing over the salad while it is still hot. This is the non-negotiable secret to a perfectly wilted, not raw, spinach salad.
- Use the Bacon Grease: Don’t discard all the bacon fat! Using the rendered fat to cook the vegetables and as the base for the dressing is what gives this salad its signature deep, savory flavor.
- Low and Slow for Veggies: For the sweetest, most flavorful onions and mushrooms, be patient and cook them slowly in the bacon fat until they are deeply golden and caramelized.
- Assemble Just Before Serving: To maintain the best texture contrast between the crisp bacon and the tender spinach, toss and serve this salad immediately after dressing it.
