Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
This classic spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is so easy to make! With sweet red onion, hard-boiled eggs, and tender mushrooms.
Are you asking yourself what you can eat for lunch, a snack, or a light dinner that is easy to make, satisfying, and tastes incredible?
Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is the answer!
It’s a year-round classic made with vibrant green spinach leaves, tender mushrooms, tissue-thin slices of sweet red onion, and hard-boiled eggs, tossed in a warm vinaigrette and topped with crunchy, meaty bacon.
You just can’t beat it!
I could seriously just eat nothing but salad recipes and be happy as a lark!
And I’ve been doing my best to show that here on the site, with as many salads as I can dream up! Be sure to check out my chicken salad, fall salad, and Cobb salad recipes if you’re a salad-lover like me!
Table of Contents
- What is spinach salad with warm bacon dressing?
- Why this is the best spinach bacon salad recipe
- What does hot bacon spinach salad taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make spinach salad with hot bacon dressing
- How to serve spinach salad with bacon dressing
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best savory recipes
What is spinach salad with warm bacon dressing?
This is a classic salad recipe consisting of raw spinach, mushrooms, red onion, and eggs, tossed together with crisp, smoky bacon and napped in a warm bacon dressing.
The vinaigrette is made with bacon drippings instead of oil, so it has a savory flavor like nothing else!
Why this is the best spinach bacon salad recipe
- Tastes amazing: The flavors here are so on point!
- Few ingredients: You’ll only need a few items to make it.
- Easy to make: It comes together in a matter of minutes.
- Satisfying: The meaty bacon and protein-rich eggs make this a salad that really sticks to your ribs!
What does hot bacon spinach salad taste like?
Take a bite of this salad and you’ll get a perfect balance of savory, smoky, sweet, tender, rich, crunchy, and tangy. It really has it all!
The dressing has a slightly smoky, savory quality from the bacon fat and seasonings, along with a sharp sweetness for balance.
Ingredients
Bacon: Cook up some smoked bacon. You’re going to use both the crispy bacon as well as the fat that’s rendered.
Dijon: Dijon mustard is made by combining ground mustard seeds and white wine. It has a sharp, distinctive flavor all its own. I like smooth Dijon mustard here but the grainy kind would work too.
Sugar: Granulated white sugar balances out all the savory flavors in the dressing. Any kind of sweetener will work, as long as it subs 1:1.
Vinegar: I like red wine vinegar here, but apple cider vinegar works well too!
Seasonings: Kosher salt and ground black pepper.
Spinach: Washed and dried spinach leaves or baby spinach are best.
Mushrooms: Thinly sliced white button mushrooms are classic, but feel free to get creative with more exotic kinds!
Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs that have been peeled and sliced give a richness to this salad that’s so satisfying! And they go great with the bacon!
Onion: Thinly sliced sweet red onion gives a pop of juicy sweetness to every bite.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide on how to measure ingredients.
- Skillet: In which to cook the bacon.
- Tongs: For removing the bacon from the pan.
- Paper towels: Transfer the cooked bacon from the pan to paper towels to drain.
- Bowl: A large salad bowl, so you have plenty of room for tossing.
- Whisk: For working the bacon dressing into a smooth emulsion.
How to make spinach salad with hot bacon dressing
This easy spinach salad recipe comes together in just 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Cook the bacon
Place your bacon in the skillet and cook it over medium-low heat (turning so it cooks evenly) until crisp.
Then use your tongs to remove the bacon from the pan and drain it on paper towels.
Step 2: Make the bacon vinaigrette
While the drippings in the skillet are still warm, measure the Dijon mustard, sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper into the salad bowl.
Whisk these ingredients together until blended, then start drizzling in the bacon fat in a slow, steady stream.
Whisk vigorously while drizzling, so you can really emulsify the vinaigrette smoothly.
Step 3: Assemble the salad
Add your spinach leaves to the bowl, along with the sliced mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, and ribbons of sweet red onion.
Step 4: Dress
Toss everything together so it’s all evenly coated with the hot bacon dressing.
Step 5: Garnish
The last step is just to crumble the bacon in!
How to serve spinach salad with bacon dressing
Serve this salad as soon as it’s been dressed. It’s great for lunch, a snack, or a light dinner.
To bulk up your meal, consider adding some homemade bread on the side. A slice or two of buttered Irish brown bread, rye bread, or beer bread would be fantastic!
So would a steamy bowl of soup! Cioppino, pumpkin soup, or creamy chicken and wild rice soup would make a great complement.
Expert tips
Use a hand blender: If you can’t get your bacon dressing to hold together without separating, break out the hand blender! It’s so powerful it will whip everything into a smooth, thick emulsion.
Use a mandoline: A mandoline slicer is great for consistently thin slices of red onion, mushrooms, and/or hard-boiled eggs. It gets things way thinner than a regular kitchen knife would!
Soak the onions: If you’re sensitive to the sharp sting that raw onion can have, slice it tissue-thin and then soak the slices in a bowl of ice-cold water. It takes the burn right out!
Frequently asked questions
It does a little bit, which is actually nice!
The spinach leaves go a little more tender, and the red onion loses some of its sting. Even the mushrooms cook slightly!
All of the components can be prepped ahead, and the salad can be assembled. You can also make the dressing up to a day or so ahead of time.
But I’d suggest waiting until the last minute to dress the salad. That way things don’t wilt down too much.
Fat doesn’t get along too well with more watery ingredients like vinegar! It likes to separate and rise to the top as it sits.
This is fine, it won’t hurt anything if your dressing splits. Just whisk it back up again!
But if you prefer a more smoothly homogenized vinaigrette, you really have to whisk it hard and long! Or you can follow my expert tip above and use a blender.
Bacon fat is liquid while warm, but it hardens as it cools down.
This is totally normal and fine!
Allow it to sit in a warm place for a few minutes, and it should whisk right back together again.
This bacon spinach salad serves 4 generously as a lunch or light dinner.
The nutritional info below reflects a serving size of 1/4th the whole recipe, and it includes the dressing.
A few more of my best savory recipes
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Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Ingredients
For the Warm Bacon Dressing
- 8 slices (176 g) bacon, should yield approx. 1/4 cup drippings
- 4 tablespoons (60 g) Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (79.67 g) red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) ground black pepper
For the Spinach Salad
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) spinach, fresh
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 9 (396 g) eggs, large, hardboiled & sliced
- 1 (110 g) red onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
To Make the Warm Bacon Dressing:
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, then remove it from the pan to drain on paper towels, leaving the fat behind.
- In a small bowl, whisk the Dijon mustard, sugar, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper together until smooth.
- Vigorously whisk in the warm bacon drippings in a slow, steady stream.
To Assemble the Salad
- Place the spinach, mushrooms, sliced hardboiled eggs, and red onion in a large salad bowl.
- Crumble the cooked bacon and sprinkle it on top.
- Just before serving, dress the salad with the warm bacon dressing.
