This Spinach Bacon Salad is made with tender spinach, hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, and a warm bacon dressing for an easy, yet impressive, salad recipe.
1tablespoonwarm bacon greasereserved from cooked bacon
2tablespoonsapple cider vinegar
1tablespoonDijon mustard
1tablespoonmaple syrup
½teaspoonpepper
Instructions
Prepare hard-boiled eggs according to the directions below. While the eggs are cooking, place the thinly sliced red onion in a small bowl and cover it with cold water. Set aside to soak while the remainder of the salad is being prepared.
Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Place the chopped bacon in the pan and pan-fry for 3-4 minutes per side, or until bacon is crispy. Remove bacon from the frying pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon grease for the dressing.
To the same skillet that the bacon was prepared in combine 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 prepare the salad, drain off water from red onions and peel and slice the hard-boiled eggs. Toss the spinach with the cooked bacon, onions, and eggs. Toss with the warm dressing and serve immediately.
Stove-Top Hard-Boiled Eggs
Place 3 eggs into a saucepan and cover with water. Turn the heat to high and allow the water to come to a rapid boil. Once the water has reached 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.
Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs
Pour 1 cup of cold water into the inner pot of a 6-quart Instant Pot, or 1.5 cups of cold water into the inner pot of an 8-quart Instant Pot. Place a trivet or egg rack into the inner pot and add the eggs to the rack. Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. After the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then do a quick release of any remaining pressure. Place the eggs into an ice bath for 5 minutes, or until chilled.
Video
Notes
Dressing: Be sure your dressing is slightly warm when tossing it with the salad. If needed, warm slightly in the microwave. And if you like a lot of dressing DOUBLE the recipe! This salad is lightly dressed. Bacon: This is the time to use pork bacon, not lean turkey or chicken bacon. Onions: Feel free to omit the onions or use pickled onions in place of sliced onions. Storage/Preparing in Advance: This salad is best served assembled immediately before serving, however, you can prepare the components up to 3 days in advance. Pan-fry the bacon and prepare the dressing. Allow them to cool, and store them separately in airtight containers. Wash and dry the spinach and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Hard-boil and peel the eggs, and store them unsliced in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Slice the onion and place the slices into a deep container, cover with water, and store it in the refrigerator. To serve, warm the dressing slightly, slice the eggs, drain the onions, and then toss the components together and serve immediately.