Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Dressing

Hot bacon dressing may sound difficult, but it’s easy to prepare and makes the perfect salad dressing for a hearty spinach salad. This spinach salad with hot bacon dressing makes a memorable dinner. It’s filling enough to enjoy as a whole meal, especially if served with some crusty French bread to mop up the delicious juices.

overhead view of spinach salad and a bowl of hot bacon dressing.


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Best Warm Bacon Dressing for Salads

Maybe you have dined out at Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s, or remember Bennigan’s hot bacon dressing and spinach salad. However, you really don’t need to go out for this delicious spinach salad with warm bacon dressing; it’s really easy to make it at home.

This homemade spinach salad dressing may have its origins in Pennsylvania Dutch country where German-based food often combines the flavors of sweet and sour. This salad dressing is tangy, sweet, and rich with the smokiness, crispiness, and taste of the bacon. What’s more, it’s ready in minutes.

This is the best hot bacon dressing recipe. Try it on your family if they don’t normally eat spinach, and you might be surprised!

Hot Bacon Dressing Recipe Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Bacon
  • Baby spinach leaves
  • Tomatoes
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Red onion
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Sugar
  • Dijon mustard
spinach salad with hot bacon dressing ingredients on a tray.

I like cooking bacon in the oven and retaining the bacon drippings for the salad. By using a wire rack resting on top of a jellyroll pan, the bacon drippings end up in the bottom of the pan so you can easily use them.

Ingredient Substitutions

  • If you like using honey or maple syrup, either can be substituted for the sugar.
  • If you don’t want to use anything sugary, Stevia or another sugarless sweetener can be used.
  • Switch up the red wine vinegar called with champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, or even balsamic vinegar for a bolder flavor.
  • If for some reason, you don’t want to use eggs (maybe someone has an egg allergy), you could substitute them with crumbled blue or feta cheese and olives.

How to Make Hot Bacon Salad Dressing and Spinach Salad

  1. Cook bacon in the oven until browned and crispy.
baked bacon on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
  1. Chop the cooked bacon into pieces.
  2. Reserve bacon grease for the dressing.
  3. Place the spinach in a bowl and top with tomatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, sliced red onion, and bacon.
  4. Place the bacon grease, vinegar, sugar, and mustard in a saucepan.
hot bacon dressing cooking in a pan.
  1. Heat to medium and whisk the salad dressing until it beings to boil and turns into a uniform mixture.
  2. Pour the hot bacon salad dressing over the salad.
  3. Toss the salad and enjoy!
spinach salad and a small bowl of hot bacon dressing.

Where Can You Buy Hot Bacon Salad Dressing?

I didn’t think you could buy bacon dressing for spinach salad, but a reader pointed me to Wos-Wit, a company that makes Pennsylvania Dutch foods. However, the best salad dressing does not come out of a bottle but rather is made fresh just before serving. 

This salad dressing actually gets cooked just before it is served, but don’t worry, there is minimal cooking time, and this is an easy salad dressing to put together.

Types of Greens to Use for this Salad

Growing up, my great-grandmother would serve up a wilted salad with a hot bacon dressing over whatever lettuce was in season. This salad was served up during the spring and summer. The flavor of the bacon dressing was out of this world when drizzled over a pile of greens.

This recipe is perfect for salad greens that are a little bitter. Often this salad is made with spinach (the classic), but you can use romaine or iceberg lettuce. It also works well with baby kale or even dandelion leaves early in the spring when the plants are small and the leaves are not too bitter.

It’s also tasty to add in some endive, cooked mushrooms, or roasted red peppers. 

Other Uses for Hot Bacon Dressing

This warm bacon dressing is so tasty it doesn’t just have to be reserved for salads. Here are some other ideas:

How to Store Warm Bacon Salad Dressing

If you know you aren’t going to use up all of the dressing at once, allow the extra to cool to room temperature and transfer to an airtight container (minus the bacon). The dressing can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store the bacon in a separate container.

How to Reheat Cold Bacon Dressing

To reheat your dressing, microwave it on high power in 20-second increments until warmed through.

Alternatively, you can warm the dressing in a small saucepan over low heat.

Warm the bacon in the microwave for 10 seconds on a paper towel-lined plate until crisp.

How to Freeze Salad Dressings

The best way to freeze salad dressing is to make it into ice cubes. When the cubes are completely frozen, pop them out, place them in a freezer bag, press out the air, seal, and return to the freezer.

To freeze a large batch of salad dressing, pour it into a freezer-safe plastic container, leaving space at the top to allow for expansion. 

FAQ About Bacon Dressing for Spinach Salad

Is bacon fat good for you?

You might be interested to learn that bacon fat is higher in monounsaturated fat (the so-called “good fat”) than butter. Unlike margarine, it also contains no trans fat (“bad fat”).

What if I don’t end up with enough bacon fat for the recipe?

Simple – just add some olive oil until you reach the required amount.

Can you make bacon dressing in advance?

Yes, remove the bacon from the skillet when cooked and make the dressing in the same pan. Allow the dressing to cool to room temperature and transfer it to an airtight container. Store the bacon in a separate container.

hot bacon salad dressing and a spinach salad.

More Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

Favorite Salad Recipes

Check out more of my easy salad dressing recipes and the best salad recipes here on CopyKat!

overhead view of spinach salad and a bowl of hot bacon dressing.

Hot Bacon Dressing and Spinach Salad

Hot Bacon Salad Dressing may seem difficult, it is easy to prepare, and it makes the perfect dressing for this hearty spinach salad. 
5 from 13 votes
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Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Hot Bacon Dressing, Hot bacon salad dressing, Low Carb, Spinach Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 409kcal

Ingredients

Spinach Salad

  • 8 ounces bacon reserve drippings
  • 16 ounces baby spinach leaves
  • 6 ounces tomatoes
  • 3 hard boiled eggs
  • 1/2 cup sliced red onion

Hot Bacon Salad Dressing

  • 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions

Spinach Salad

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • Pace a wire rack inside of a rimmed baking sheet and lay the bacon slices over the wire rack.
  • Cook the bacon in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned and crispy.
  • Chop the bacon and reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings.
  • Place the spinach in a bowl and top with the tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, red onion, and bacon.

Hot Bacon Salad Dressing

  • To make the dressing, place the reserved bacon drippings in a saucepan along with the red wine vinegar, sugar, and Dijon mustard.
  • Turn the heat to medium and whisk until the dressing begins to bubble and becomes uniform.
  • Pour the hot bacon dressing over the spinach salad, and toss.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 183mg | Sodium: 539mg | Potassium: 922mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 11205IU | Vitamin C: 39.2mg | Calcium: 143mg | Iron: 3.9mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nikki

    Has anyone tried this using apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar? I have interstitial cystitis and for some reason apple cider vinegar is the only vinegar that doesn’t cause a Flare up.

  2. Pam

    5 stars
    This sounds so good, but I absolutely detest mustard. Is there any substitute for that? Or would it still work if I just leave that out?
    Thanks!

  3. Anthony Chappell

    You actually can buy hot bacon dressing, a Pennsylvania Dutch company wos-wit. Gonna make this one and see if it’s better I’m sure being made fresh it will be.

  4. Tina

    5 stars
    I grew up eating this delicious dressing. Another green we ate it over was Dandelion. Early in spring when the plants are small and the leaves are not too bitter it is a perfect combination. Thank you for this recipe, my Grandmother passed away several years ago and it just brought back the most wonderful memories.

  5. SaraTalyor

    5 stars
    I made this for dinner, and my family doesn’t normally eat spinach, but this stuff was gone. I almost lost a digit trying to get some seconds.

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