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Home › Recipes › Salads
24 Comments

Hot Bacon Dressing for A Spinach Salad

Stacey Pirtle

by Stacey Updated: Jul 9, 2023

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This post may contain affiliate links.

Hot Bacon Dressing is a warm, tangy delight served warm over bright baby spinach, chopped bacon, sliced mushrooms, red onion, and boiled eggs.  Not quite like another other salad dressing, this bacon-ey vinaigrette transforms a  simple spinach salad into something more!  Perfect as side dish and as a crave-worthy, flavor packed lunch!

Hot bacon dressing tossed over a spinach salad

 

Maybe we should just let that sink in for a minute…  Hot. Bacon. Salad. Dressing.

I tease you not, my friends.  This tangy delight, served warm over those baby spinach greens is no ordinary salad dressing or bacon concoction.  It is something altogether different but still wonderful in that special bacon-ey way we’ve all come to love.  If possible, it’s pure comfort food in a salad bowl

A spinach salad with this hot bacon dressing is something that even my kiddos will eat, especially if I serve it alongside Cast Iron Skillet Steak or tender Roasted Buttermilk Chicken.  Even better, enjoy it with a bowl of Creamy Short Cut Parmesan Cauliflower Soup or Southern Sweet Potato Soup.  And while it is delightful over greens, it also adds pure joy to roasted baby potatoes, brussel sprouts or chopped cabbage.  There’s not much this tangy, smoky, savory dressing won’t make sing!

 

Hot Bacon Dressing and Tossed Spinach Salad Ingredients

What You Need To Make Hot Bacon Dressing & Tossed Spinach Salad

  • bacon
  • shallots or green onion and minced garlic
  • red wine vinegar
  • honey mustard
  • fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
  • white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • boiled eggs
  • red onion, thinly sliced
  • salt & coarse black pepper

 

Drizzling Hot Bacon Dressing over Spinach Salad with mushrooms, red onion and boiled egg

How to Make Hot Bacon Salad Dressing

This salad dressing recipe starts by cooking the bacon for the salad.  Why?  The oil base of this dressing is bacon fat and the renderings from the cooked bacon are used to amp up that salty, savory flavor we all love about bacon.  Cooking it in a skillet stovetop is a must since we are going to use the renderings.  I use thick sliced bacon for this (and every recipe) because I want to get just as much bacon in every bite as I can.  

Serving Hot Bacon Dressing and Spinach Salad in a bowl.

  • Cook bacon, rough chop it and set it aside for the salad.  Then pour off all but 2 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet, leaving all those good bits in the bottom of the skillet.
  • Return the skillet, 2 tablespoon of bacon fat and the “good bits” to the stovetop and heat over medium-high heat. 
  • Add the shallots. (Or green onions and garlic- A shallot is a small, usually 2 clove, bulb that is something like a cross between a sweet onion and garlic.  So if you can’t find shallots, a mixture of green onions or even Vidalias and garlic is a do-able substitute.) 
  • Whisk in the vinegar.  It will steam quite a bit, and all that yummy stuff on the bottom of the skillet will start to loosen up.  Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
  • Whisk in the honey mustard, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer while whisking.  Remove from heat and let cool a little before drizzling over your salad!

 

A bit of Spinach Salad tossed in hot bacon salad dressing.

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Making You Spinach Salad

In a large salad bowl, toss together the spinach, mushrooms, bacon, onion.  Drizzle with warm dressing.  Spinach and mushrooms will wilt a little as you toss.  Add sliced boiled eggs after you toss to keep their yellows from from breaking to pieces in the salad.  You might also want to sprinkle in croutons for extra crunch (oh, the bacon dressing in all those little crouton nooks and crannies!), chopped pecans or shaved Parmesan for another layer of flavor.

Here is a little mushroom tip:  When you buy mushrooms, make sure you choose mushrooms that have tight gills, not gills that are large, open, or pulled away from the stem.  This will ensure that your mushrooms stay fresh longer.

 

Upclose of mushroom for tips on how to choose a good mushroom at the grocery store.

 

Other Salad Recipes You’ll Love

  • Blueberry Spinach Salad with Orange Poppyseed Dressing
  • Bacon Tomato Pasta Salad
  • Catalina Taco Salad
  • Southern Tomato & Cucumber Salad
  • Berry Salad With Pork Tenderloin & Cherry Vinaigrette

IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW!

RATE IT, LEAVE A COMMENT OR SNAP A PHOTO.

Tag me on Instagram at #southerndiscourse

Drizzling Hot Bacon Dressing over Spinach Salad with mushrooms, red onion and boiled egg

Hot Bacon Dressing for Spinach Salad

Hot Bacon Dressing is a warm, tangy delight served warm over bright baby spinach, chopped bacon, sliced mushrooms, red onion, and boiled eggs. 
Print Pin Rate
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: salad dressing, Vinaigrette
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Author: Stacey | SouthernDiscourse.com

Ingredients

  • 5-7 slices thick cut bacon
  • 1.5 tablespoon shallots, or 1Tbsp finely chopped green onions + ½ tablespoon minced garlic
  • ½ C red wine vinegar
  • 2-3 tablespoon honey mustard
  • salt & coarse ground black pepper

Spinach Salad

  • 8 C fresh baby spinach, washed with stems removed
  • 8 oz white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • ½ med red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3-4 boiled eggs, sliced
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

  • Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp.  After the bacon is cooked, rough chop it and set it aside for the salad.  Then pour off all but 2 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet, leaving all those good bits in the bottom of the skillet.
  • Return the skillet, 2 tablespoon of bacon fat and the "good bits" to the stovetop and heat over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, or green onions and garlic. Sautee for 1-2 minutes.
  • Whisk in the vinegar and deglaze the pan. Whisk in honey mustard, and continue to whisk until bacon renderings, vinegar and mustard are all well incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon each) and bring to a simmer while whisking.  Remove from heat and let cool a little.
  • Assemble salad in a large salad bowl by tossing together the spinach, mushrooms, bacon, onion.  Drizzle with warm bacon dressing and toss. Add sliced boiled eggs last. Serve. See post for extras to add in your salad.
Drizzling Hot Bacon Dressing over Spinach Salad with mushrooms, red onion and boiled egg
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Hot Bacon Dressing is a tangy delight, served warm over bright spinach greens, chopped bacon, sliced mushrooms, red onion, and boiled eggs.

Originally published April 2, 2017.

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Filed Under: Recipes, Salads, Sauces & Dressings

Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Avatar photoPeggy Byars

    April 7, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    Yummo! Can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      April 7, 2015 at 4:52 pm

      Yea! I can’t wait to hear what you think about it.

      Reply
  2. Avatar photoCarol Neighbors

    April 6, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    Could you use this dressing over hot sliced potatoes, I.e. for hot German potato salad?

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      April 7, 2018 at 10:20 am

      Carol,

      I have never tried that, but it seems like it would go with potatoes nicely! Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
      • Avatar photoCarol Neighbors

        April 7, 2018 at 11:49 am

        I will Stacey, if my memory stays with me. It sounds SO good!

        Reply
        • Stacey Pirtlestacey

          April 7, 2018 at 12:14 pm

          Ha! I know how that is… with so many things on our minds, it’s hard to keep up!

          Reply
          • Avatar photoCarol Neighbors

            April 7, 2018 at 3:10 pm

            Especially at 76+. I love to cook, always have. Especially for my family. These websites are phenomenal. My husband complains what happened to meat, mashed potatoes and gravy? Kids and grandkids don’t agree with him. ????

          • Stacey Pirtlestacey

            April 7, 2018 at 5:10 pm

            Wow,Carol! 76+! That’s awesome! Yes, I love all of the wonderful food that can be found on the internet these days. Maybe your husband will like this meat and potatoes dish. It’s a family favorite around here. https://southerndiscourse.com/southern-cottage-pie/

  3. Avatar photoJulie @ Back To My Southern Roots

    April 7, 2018 at 8:19 am

    Oh my goodness, hot bacon dressing. It really doesn’t get any better than this!

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      April 7, 2018 at 10:19 am

      Julie,

      It doesn’t, does it?! It is so yum!

      Reply
  4. Avatar photoCarol Neighbors

    April 8, 2018 at 9:00 am

    Stacey, referring to your Southern Cottage Pie, with just the two of us I was wondering 1) if you halved the recipe would it work ok with a 10” skillet? 2) is that heavy cream you use?
    I really need to try this recipe. It looks and sounds like a real keeper!

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      April 8, 2018 at 6:42 pm

      Carol, yes! It is one of my family’s favorites. It will absolutely work as you suggest, halved and in a 10″ skillet or 9″ deep dish pie plate. For this recipe I have used heavy cream, half and half, and whole milk (Ha! The whole gambit!). I prefer the half and half, honestly.

      Reply
  5. Avatar photoAmy

    May 3, 2018 at 11:07 am

    What brand of honey mustard do you use?

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      May 3, 2018 at 6:44 pm

      I usually use one that is a sandwich spread, not a salad dressing. I haven’t had much luck with the store brand spreads, but all others have worked great! You can also make your own. I like that option- 2 parts brown mustard, 1 part honey.

      Reply
  6. Avatar photoKaren

    June 27, 2019 at 12:55 am

    Stacy, if your stilling checking this, could you use Dijon mustard alone with this? OR could you use Dijon WITH the honey?

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      June 27, 2019 at 11:23 am

      Hi, Karen!

      You sure can use Dijon. 2 TBSP Dijon mustard and 1 TBSP honey works great!

      Reply
  7. Avatar photoJaik

    November 28, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    Where is the printer version, please? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      November 30, 2019 at 11:31 am

      Hi, Jaik!

      This is an older post from the days before a printable recipe card. Wow! We are working on getting those updated as soon as we can.

      Reply
  8. Avatar photoNikki Moranville

    January 1, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    Hope you get that printer version soon! I’d like to offer this to a group birthday party in a couple of weeks.

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      January 6, 2020 at 1:45 pm

      Hi, Nikki! I am working on it now! I will send you an email when it’s updated.

      Reply
  9. Avatar photoAmanda

    November 17, 2020 at 10:25 am

    How long will this store? Can you refrigerate it and just reheat it before each use or does it need to be used immediately because of the grease?

    Reply
    • Stacey Pirtlestacey

      November 20, 2020 at 8:22 am

      Hi, Amanda! This dressing is usually served tossed into the salad to slightly wilt the salad and used all at once. But if you have some leftover, it can be stored for a week or so if covered tightly and refrigerated. The oils will separate, so the dressing will need to be reheated and whisked back into the right consistency. I wouldn’t reheat it more than once. Let me know if you try it and how it goes!

      Reply
  10. Avatar photoMs. Benny

    August 27, 2024 at 1:23 pm

    I am going to try this recipe soon. Looks delicious. Can’t wait to make it.

    Reply
    • Stacey PirtleStacey

      August 30, 2024 at 5:04 pm

      Hi, Ms. Benny! Can’t wait to hear all about it! I think you will love it!

      Reply

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