This simple and hearty salad is a classic and a delicious combination of sweet and savory flavors! I used to love this salad growing up and was recently reintroduced to it. I love the combination of meaty, smoky bacon with tender spinach in a sweet and tangy vinaigrette!
With this salad, the vinaigrette is made on the stove. There is no oil. However, the rendered bacon fat gets emulsified with the vinegar and syrup to make a rich, sweet and tangy warm dressing that ever so slightly wilts the spinach as it is tossed!
Here’s what you need:
Start by boiling the eggs.
Sounds easy enough, right? The important thing here is not to overcook the eggs. The yolks needs to be slightly soft. So, when you toss the whole thing, the egg yolk will emulsify with the warm vinaigrette, making it super luscious and creamy!
Here’s my method for making the most perfect, easy-to-peel, hard boiled eggs:
- Place the eggs in a medium sauce pan and fill it with enough cold water to just submerge them.
- Place the pot on the stove and turn it on as high as it will go. (Don’t go too far. Timing is important here.)
- The very moment the water reaches a rolling boil, turn the heat off and place the lid on the saucepan. Set a timer for 6 minutes. While waiting, prepare a bowl of icy water with lots of ice.
- When the timer goes off, grab the eggs out of the water with tongs and plunge them in the water. Let them hang out in the ice bath for at least 5 minutes so they cool all the way through.
- Finally, gently tap the eggs all over on the kitchen counter, then peel away the shell. Give them a rinse and chop them into bite-sized pieces.
Make the warm bacon vinaigrette.
The amount of bacon you use is up to you. I recommend 3 if the slices are quite thick, and 4 if they are thin-cut. It really depends on how bacon-y you want the salad to be. It has a strong smoky flavor that can easily wash out all of the other flavors. But if you love a lot of bacon, go for it!
Render the bacon slowly, on medium-low heat. This will melt away the fat, leaving meaty pieces of bacon.
Once the bacon is mostly rendered, toss in the shallot and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes to soften.
Add the maple and vinegar and use a wooden spoon to lift any bits of bacon stuck to the bottom of the pan and stir the dressing until combined. Turn off the heat.
Immediately pour the warm vinaigrette over the salad.
The heat of the dressing will very slightly wilt the spinach, making it tender and sweet. Quickly add the eggs and give the whole thing a good toss!
This post contains the most basic example of this classic salad. However, there are lots of ingredients that can be added to jazz it up!
Here are a few examples of possible tasty, nutritious additions:
- Tangy cheeses, such as bleu cheese, goat cheese or feta
- Toasted almonds
- Crusty homemade croutons
- Avocado
Other recipes to try:
Warm Spinach and Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 1 5 ounce box baby spinach
- 3 eggs
- 3-4 slices bacon cut into 1/4 inch lardons
- 1/2 cup cremini mushrooms destemmed and sliced thin
- 2 tbsp shallot minced
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp maple
- sea salt (optional)
Instructions
Hard boil the eggs.
- Place the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with just enough cold water to submerge the eggs. Place the pan on the stove and turn the heat to high. As soon as the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and place the lid on the pan. Set a timer for 6 minutes. Once six minutes is up, immediately plunge the eggs in a bowl of icy water with lots of ice. Let the eggs cool down completely, which will take at least 5 minutes. Finally, tap the eggs gently on the countertop all over then peel back the shell. Rinse off the eggs to remove any bits of leftover shell, then chop them and set aside.
- Place the spinach, sliced mushrooms and chopped eggs in a large mixing bowl.
Make the bacon dressing and finish the salad.
- Combine the maple and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside. Render the bacon on medium-low heat until most of the fat has melted off and the bacon is about medium-well in doneness. Turn the heat to medium. Add the shallots and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until soft and fragrant. Pour in the vinegar and maple. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the bits of bacon from the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat. Immediately pour the hot dressing over the spinach and mushrooms. Add the chopped hard boiled eggs and give the salad a good toss until all of the spinach is well coated in the dressing. Serve immediately.