Spinach Bacon Salad

This Spinach Bacon Salad is an easy, yet impressive salad recipe. Made with tender spinach, hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and a warm bacon dressing, this spinach salad is packed with incredible flavor.

I love spinach salads of any size, shape, or variety. But my all-time favorite spinach salad is this Bacon Spinach Salad.

It has EVERYTHING! From the fresh, bright spinach to the creamy, rich eggs, to the sharp pickled onions, to the sweet tangy, warm dressing, this Spinach Bacon Salad is full of flavor, texture, and temperatures.

But besides being absolutely delicious, it is fairly simple to prepare. Even better, the components can be prepped several days in advance, making this Warmed Spinach Salad perfect to entertain with.

Notes on Ingredients

There are endless varieties of Spinach Bacon Salad out there. Some add fruit, some add onions, some add mushrooms, but all varieties include spinach, salty, crispy bacon, a warm tangy dressing, and hard-boiled eggs.

• Spinach: Spinach is the perfect base for this hearty, flavorful salad as it can stand up to other ingredients in the salad. Baby spinach is best, as it is already bite size, however, you can use regular spinach, just be sure to remove the stems if large and woody, and give the spinach a rough chop.
• Hard-Boiled Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs are a key component for a Bacon Spinach Salad, as the richness and creaminess of the eggs will balance out salad. I rely on my Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs to make perfect hard-boiled eggs every time. If you don't have an Instant Pot, I have included for directions for preparing hard boiled eggs on the stove as well.
• Bacon: This is one recipe that you do not want to use lean turkey or chicken bacon. Pork bacon will produce the drippings needed to make the warm bacon dressing. You can bake bacon and reserve the grease, or pan-fry the bacon if desired.
• Warm Bacon Dressing: Instead of oil, this dressing uses bacon drippings. The drippings add saltiness and richness to the dressing. It is paired with apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and mustard to make a balanced dressing.
• Red Onions: To add sharpness that helps cut through the richness of the salad, I love adding slices of red onions or pickled red onions. Feel free to omit.
• Mushrooms (Optional): Sliced button mushrooms are often traditional on classic spinach bacon salads, however, I don't care for the texture of the mushrooms when they absorb the warm dressing. Feel free to add them if desired.

How to Make Spinach Bacon Salad

• Begin this recipe by prepare hard-boiled eggs using my recipe for Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs or prepare them on the stove-top, by placing the eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to a rapid boil, cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 1 minute. Remove the saucepan from heat and leave covered for 14 minutes. After 14 minutes, transfer the eggs to an ice bath to chill completely.

• While the eggs are cooking, thinly slice the onion and place the slices in a shallow dish. Cover with water and set them aside to soak until everything else is prepared. Soaking the onions will help take away the sharp bite of the onion, but leave a mild sharpness to flavor the salad.
• Pan-fry chopped bacon in a dry skillet over medium-high heat until it is nice and crispy. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the frying pan and place it on paper towel-lined plate to absorb the excess grease.

• Reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the skillet to use for the Warm Bacon Dressing. Alternatively, you can bake the bacon and then crumble the slices into bite-size pieces, just be sure to still reserve 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
• To the same skillet that the bacon was prepared in combine the the drippings with the vinegar, maple syrup, mustard and pepper. Whisk together until slightly thickened and creamy. Remove from the heat and taste to see if you need to add a pinch of salt--that will depend upon how salty your bacon is.
• To assemble the salad, drain the onions and peel and slice the eggs. Arrange both the sliced eggs and onions over a shallow serving dish filled with spinach. Top the salad with the crumbled bacon.
• Drizzle the salad with the Warm Bacon Dressing and toss to coat.
• Serve immediately.

Advance Preparation

Spinach Bacon Salad is best if assembled and served immediately before serving for best results.

However, you can prepare the components up to 3 days in advance to get a jump start on this salad, making it a perfect salad for entertaining or busy weeknights.

• Bake or pan-fry the bacon as directed, reserving some of the bacon grease for the salad dressing. Once the bacon is cooled slightly, place it into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator.
• Use the bacon grease to prepare the salad dressing and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Hard-boil the eggs up to 3 days in advance. Peel the hard-boiled eggs, but do not slice them. Store the cooled, peeled eggs in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
• Place the sliced onions in a glass jar and cover with cold water, or prepare Quick-Pickled Red Onions. Store the jar in the refrigerator.
• When ready to prepare the salad, toss together the spinach, crumbled bacon, and sliced eggs together. Add onions if using.
• Reheat the bacon dressing, by microwaving for 20 second-intervals until smooth and warmed through. Alternatively, you can warm the dressing in a small saucepan over low heat.

Serving Suggestions

Warm Bacon Spinach Salad is so rich in flavor, making it a great dish to serve with dishes that can stand up to bold flavor, or when you want to really make an impression. It is a classic at steakhouses and it is absolutely delicious served alongside a New York Strip Roast or Pan-Seared Steak.

More Delicious Salad Recipes

• BLT Salad
• Mandarin Orange Salad
• Caprese Salad
• Copycat Panera Greek Salad
• Strawberry Spinach Salad

If you enjoyed this recipe for Spinach Bacon Salad, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.