I’m here to tell you: this salad tastes like dessert.
Sure, it can be dinner — but look at the name. KILLER. Not just because it’s insanely good, but because it’s loaded with rich, indulgent ingredients your heart might grumble about. Sit back while I serve you a generous plate of cholesterol. Totally worth it.
This was Mother Lovett’s favorite salad. Maybe she skipped the avocado and sometimes added mushrooms, but whenever it was on the menu she would order it — or ask us to pick it up for her as a treat. For me, it’s never been just about the spinach, eggs and cheese. It’s all about one thing: the dressing.
Hot bacon dressing might be one of the world’s least photogenic foods — right up there with meatloaf and gravy — but what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in flavor. Apparently, the most delicious things often look like garbage to the human eye.
It’s also one of my mom’s go-to salads. Sometimes she’ll order another salad and request the warm bacon dressing on top. If I’m honest, while I once thought the first salad I loved was a Caesar, this spin on spinach with hot bacon dressing was probably the first salad I really enjoyed. It’s decadently comforting and unexpectedly wonderful.
Sidebar: if you don’t keep a jar of bacon fat in your fridge, start now. It’s useful for so many things. I briefly wondered whether it could go into brownies — but I didn’t go that far. Yet.
This isn’t a salad for every night, but it’s perfect when you want comfort food that still looks impressive. You can adapt it to be a bit lighter — swap in honey-roasted chicken, keep the avocado, add cherry tomatoes, or even toss on roasted garlic cloves. Those tweaks make it more weeknight-friendly while keeping the soul of the dish intact.
The essential element is that the dressing is warm. Keep it hot until serving. I also like the eggs fresh from the pot while they’re still slightly warm — or go for soft-boiled eggs if you want to live dangerously and deliciously. Cold spinach, hot bacon, warm dressing and slightly warm eggs — it’s a hug on a plate.
You look like you need a hug.
Killer Spinach Salads with Hot Bacon Dressing
2
is easily multiplied
30 minutes
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Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- 8 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 ounces gorgonzola cheese
- 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
Hot Bacon Dressing
- 1/4 cup bacon fat
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 slices bacon, crumbled
Instructions
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Begin by boiling the eggs so they finish around the same time as the dressing. Place the eggs in cold water, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, then increase to high. Once boiling, cook for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover the pot and let sit for 10 minutes. Cool under running cold water before peeling.
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon. Cooking over medium-low helps the bacon render evenly and crisp up. When the fat is rendered, remove the bacon to paper towels to drain and cool. Reserve the bacon fat by pouring it into a heatproof bowl or cup.
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Assemble the salads by piling spinach on each plate, topping with sliced hard-boiled eggs, avocado and gorgonzola. Crumble two slices of bacon over the top and add a pinch of pepper if desired. The salad usually needs little extra salt because the ingredients are naturally salty.
Hot Bacon Dressing
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Combine the reserved bacon fat, minced garlic, vinegar, brown sugar and Dijon mustard in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the dressing slightly emulsifies. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the crumbled bacon just before serving. Keep the dressing warm over very low heat and reheat gently if needed. Feel free to experiment with different vinegars or a touch more bacon fat to suit your taste.
Notes
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