This classic spinach salad is made with fresh baby spinach, sliced hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and red onions tossed in an easy delicious warm bacon dressing!
Love fresh easy salads? Be sure to try this strawberry spinach salad too. Or this classic cobb salad and Italian Panzanella salad.
Table of contents
Spinach Bacon Salad
I’m always looking for new ways to jazz up my salad recipes and when I’m on a mission to increase my veggie intake during the day, why not make it fun?
This spinach salad is always one of my favorite salads to make for any occasion. It’s healthy and light yet filling and satisfying thanks to the fiber and nutrients from the dark leafy greens and other simple ingredients.
Once the hard-boiled egg gets tossed in the homemade hot bacon dressing, the yolk adds creaminess to the salad!
I find it helps to reduce cravings throughout the day as well because it’s basically a bowl full of everything your body needs!
A warm spinach salad is great to have year-round. I keep mine as is for the most part but because it’s completely flexible it’s easy to make this simple salad your own. In the fall you can add things like nuts and dried fruit and in the summer you can add fresh berries!
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Baby Spinach: These days baby spinach leaves usually comes thoroughly washed in a package. If you want to wash your produce again, feel free, just make sure it’s completely dry before adding it to the salad bowl.
- Bacon & Bacon Drippings: cook regular or thick-cut bacon, rough chop the bacon strips and reserve the bacon grease! We’re using it in the dressing for not only flavor but richness. Feel free to use pre-cooked bacon as well.
- Red Onion: Thinly sliced onions is a nice flavor with mild pungency. Feel free to use vidalia onion, sweet onion or even a shallot. The slices add a nice crunch.
- Hard boiled Eggs: You’ll need 3 for the salad, but feel free to hard boil a few more! I love making Instant pot hardboiled eggs for perfect egg every time!
- For the Dressing: Red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt & black pepper. (feel free to use maple syrup in place of the honey)
Variations To Try
1. Nuts: Add some chopped pecans, walnuts, slivered almonds, or croutons for added crunch. If you have some extra time, toasting the nuts beforehand is a great idea.
2. Cheese: Shaved Parmesan or Romano cheese would be delicious. As would creamy goat cheese, blue cheese or feta cheese.
3. Fruit: Thinly sliced or diced apples, pears, pomegranate arils, or peaches for sweetness.
4. Berries: Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or dried cranberries. Raisins too!
5. A lighter dressing: Swap the bacon grease for olive oil or avocado oil instead.
6. A different dressing: Instead of this warm bacon vinaigrette, you can swap it with a homemade balsamic dressing, poppy seed dressing, ranch dressing, or your favorite kind.
7. Vinegar: use apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar if desired.
8. Veggies: add any other favorite veggies you’d like. Sliced avocado, cucumbers, fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, celery, etc.
How to Make this Spinach Salad Recipe
This recipe will come together in a few easy steps. It’s a meal on its own but also makes a great side dish for grilled meats, fish, and other main dishes.
Here’s how to make it:
Step 1: After cooking the bacon, soak up the grease on a paper towel.
Step 2: Place spinach, crisp bacon, sliced eggs, and onions to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
Step 3: Make the bacon dressing. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the reserved bacon drippings. Then, add the vinegar, honey, and Dijon mustard. Whisk together until everything is combined, and heated through.
Step 3: Pour the warm dressing over the salad and toss, making sure the entire salad is coated evenly. Serve immediately!
Tips
- Use fresh produce! Get rid of wilted spinach and make sure your onions are fresh as well.
- To remove the pungent aftertaste from the onions, soak the slices in water beforehand and dry with a paper towel.
- Add the dressing to the salad just before ready to serve. If it sits too long, the spinach may start to get soggy.
FAQ’s
If you’re storing it to use later on, you may find that the bacon grease causes it to solidify once chilled. Reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat, and then use it overtop your salad.
You can certainly make the salad without the dressing ahead of time. This comes in handy when you’re preparing a large meal for a crowd or family gathering. Cover it with plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated for up to 48 hours. Store the dressing separately, then heat the dressing, add it to the salad just before serving.
If possible, enjoy it the day it’s made. If not, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 days. The dressed salad may become a little more wilted but it is still edible.
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Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
- 8 cups baby spinach
- 10 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 3 tablespoons bacon drippings reserved
- 1 small red onion sliced thinly
- 3 hardboiled eggs sliced
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Making the salad:
- Add the spinach to a large bowl.8 cups baby spinach
- Add the crumbled bacon, sliced eggs and onion and toss.10 slices bacon, 1 small red onion, 3 hardboiled eggs
Make the warm dressing:
- In a small saucepan, add the reserved bacon drippings.3 tablespoons bacon drippings
- Then add in the red wine vinegar, honey, and dijon mustard and heat over medium heat, whisking until everything is combined and heated through.3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, Salt and pepper
- Add dressing to the salad and toss to coat well.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclosure
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
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