Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
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This spinach salad combines crispy thick-cut bacon, mushrooms, and soft-boiled eggs with a warm bacon vinaigrette. Pair with a rotisserie chicken and dinner is done!
If there’s one thing that gets everyone in my family circling the kitchen like sharks at dinnertime, asking “Whatcha makin’?” it’s the smell of bacon sizzling on the stovetop. This spinach salad with crispy thick-cut bacon, boiled eggs, mushrooms, and warm bacon vinaigrette pairs well with a store-bought rotisserie chicken or pan-seared salmon. It’s also wonderful with potato leek soup. To save time, use pre-washed baby spinach, pre-sliced mushrooms, and even pre-cooked boiled eggs, if you like — and pick up a fresh baguette to round out the meal.
What you’ll need to Make Spinach Salad with warm Bacon dressing
Step-by-Step Instructions
Before making the salad, you’ll need to boil the eggs. I especially love runny soft-boiled eggs for this salad, but hard-boiled eggs are also delicious.
Begin by frying the bacon in a nonstick skillet, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. While the bacon cooks, start the dressing: in a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
When the bacon is done, use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel–lined plate.
Pour the bacon fat into a heatproof bowl, then return 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat to the skillet. Add the shallots to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not brown.
Add the bacon fat and shallots from the skillet to the vinegar mixture and whisk to combine.
Add the spinach and mushrooms.
Toss to coat evenly, then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Divide the salad between 4 plates or bowls; evenly divide the egg and cooked bacon among them. Serve immediately.
YOu may also like
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- Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette
- BLT Salad with Chicken
- Baby Kale Salad with Lemon, Parmesan and Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
- Spinach Salad with Berries, Pecans, and Goat Cheese in Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Peaches, Burrata, and Prosciutto with White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
This spinach salad combines crispy thick-cut bacon, mushrooms, and soft-boiled eggs with a warm bacon vinaigrette. Pair with a rotisserie chicken and dinner is done!
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallots, from 1 to 2 shallots
- 2½ tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon salt
- Several grinds fresh black pepper
- 6 oz (about 8 cups) baby spinach
- 8 oz white button or baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 3 hard or soft boiled eggs, thinly sliced or cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place the bacon in a medium nonstick skillet and fry over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the bacon cooks, start the dressing: in a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel–lined plate.
- Pour the bacon fat into a heatproof bowl, then return 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat to the skillet. (You can discard the remaining bacon fat or save it if you'd like it for cooking.) Add the shallots to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the bacon fat and shallots from the skillet to the vinegar mixture and whisk to combine. Add the spinach and mushrooms and toss to coat evenly. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Divide the salad between 4 plates or bowls; evenly divide the egg and cooked bacon among them. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 338
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Sugar: 9 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Sodium: 505 mg
- Cholesterol: 157 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I ate this salad at a restaurant in Williamsburg, VA many years ago. I looked for the recipe online today. There are several. The lemon vinaigrette I made taste was off .I looked at your recipe ,you used dijon mustard. That was what i needed in my vinaigrette. Thanks for sharing. May 7,2024 .
Very delicious – reminds us of the salad we used to have at Marie Calender’s.
Yet another amazing recipe from your site! It was easy enough to make for a workweek lunch, and what a nice treat it was. Also, my salad-averse fiancé ate it without complaining AND took seconds! Thank you, Jenn.
This dressing recipe is awesome. Made ahead and rewarmed in the micro. Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks for so many good recipes. I look forward to your e-mails and have found multiple recipes of things I have never tried before. Today I printed out your Spinach Salad recipe and the Stuffed Peppers recipe as well. Am going to Amazon to order any cook books you might have. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for support! 🙂
I’m sick and holed up in my room and sent this to my non-kitchen-savvy husband to make for dinner. It was so good I almost cried. Not only is this going to be a go-to recipe, but my husband now has the confidence to make something really enjoyable! Thank you!
delicious! I like it tangy so I upped it to 3 T vinegar.
Loved it
Recipe is great. Dressing is very tasty and I will make it again. I would suggest one change though. Many, many years ago when I was a waiter and I made these salads tableside, I remember what was important was the dressing needed to be as hot as possible when you added it to the spinach. The idea is to wilt the spinach slightly with the hot fat and serve it immediately.
Here…we are adding the fat to the vinegar mixture which is at best room temperature which has a cooling effect. Rather, I suggest we microwave the vinegar mix for about a minute while the shallots are cooking to keep the temperature of the dressing up when it is added to the salad. Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I like the spinach slightly wilted too. To achieve that, I cooked everything in a wok and tossed the spinach with the dressing in the wok with the fire on low. The heat was enough to tenderize and slightly wilt the spinach as it absorbed the dressing. I added leftover grilled chicken cut up in chunks and split it with my Mom. She raved over it. It was excellent and light and the right amount of salad for 2 ppl looking to make this a meal.
I made my own version of a spinach salad, but this dressing was the best ever. Even the men asked their wives to get the recipe from me.
Jen, you have another winner! Thanks again.