This maple bacon salad starts with a pillowy bed of fresh baby spinach. Then it’s topped with fresh creeeeamy, tangy goat cheese, salty bacon, chewy craisins, sweet, crunchy candied pecans, hard boiled eggs, and paper thin red onions.
Ohhhhhh my gosh. I think this is the best salad I’ve ever made. I mean, holy yummy it’s good! I’ve never been so excited in my life! Other than the day Trevor and I got married, or when we got Teddy, or…never mind, I’m just really excited.
You know I like a lot goin’ on in my salads (hellllooo warm bacon spinach salad) , and this one is no exception! This maple bacon salad starts with a pillowy bed of fresh baby spinach. Then it’s topped with fresh creeeeamy, tangy goat cheese, salty bacon, chewy craisins, sweet, crunchy candied pecans, hard boiled eggs, and paper thin red onions. And then, and then, and then!!!! It’s smothered in a Maple… Bacon… Dressing. Yes please!
Maple bacon salad. I just like saying it. I may even start having dreams about it. Maybe. This recipe originally started as a riff off of my favorite salad from the Irish Democrat (the ID). This is my second post talking about the ID, the first being about these cheese wontons. So obviously, I love the ID. Aside from their ridiculously amazing cheese wontons, they have this really unique maple pecan salad. I took it one step further by using goat cheese instead of blue and adding bacon fat to my dressing.[ad1]
Start by frying up some bacon! I start out by placing my bacon strips on a cold skillet and warming it up over medium heat. Cook until desired crispness! I’d definitely recommend cooking it until crispy, because after it’s cooked we’ll crumble it up as a garnish for the salad!
Don’t forget, we’re using the bacon fat in the dressing, so PLEASE reserve it (save it)! Or if you forget, just make more bacon. That’s the definition of a win-win situation.
Take the bacon fat and place it into a blender along with a little extra virgin olive oil, real maple syrup (sorry Mrs. Butterworth!), balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and salt. Blend until well combined. Taste test and re-season with salt if necessary. Set aside.
Next, you’re going to make some candied pecans. For the instructions on how to do this, just skim through my pear, blue cheese, and candied pecan salad post! It’s really easy, trust me. 🙂 Set these aside for later.
Now you can assemble the salad.
Place baby spinach in a large bowl and top with goat cheese – I just bought a log and crumbled it myself, bacon, craisins, candied pecans, hard boiled eggs, and very thinly sliced red onions!
Gently toss together and serve in individual bowls! As I’ve said before, I always serve the dressing on the side, so people can add as little (or as much, like me) as they like!
The best thing about this salad is that it’s so customizable! Add as much or as little of each ingredient to suit your taste bud needs! Don’t like goat cheese? Go for blue. Do you go crazy for craisins? Then just add more! You could even make this vegetarian by losing the bacon and just use olive oil! Although, what really could be better than a maple bacon salad?
The possibilities are endless! Make it so you think this salad is as perfect as I do, because the flavors just work so well together! The goat cheese is so tangy compared to the sweet pecans which have the perfect textural contrast to the chewy craisins and the red onions add a sweet, yet sharp flavor to round it all out! Not to mention that the bacon maple vinaigrette is just a little bit sweet, a little smoky, and a whoooole lotta yummy!
Seriously, I’m obsessed with this maple bacon salad and I can’t be stopped!
– Jennifer
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Maple Bacon Salad
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup bacon fat
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Salad
- 1 (5 oz) bag baby spinach
- 1 (4 oz) log goat cheese crumbled
- 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 (1 oz) box craisins
- ½ cup candied pecans
- 4 large hard boiled eggs
- ¼ small red onion thinly sliced
Instructions
Dressing
- Take the bacon fat (from cooked bacon) and place it into a blender along with a little extra virgin olive oil (if necessary), real maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and salt.
- Blend until well combined.
- Taste test and re-season with salt if necessary. Set aside.
Salad
- Place baby spinach in a large bowl and top with goat cheese, bacon, craisins, candied pecans, hard boiled eggs, and very thinly sliced red onions!
- Gently toss together and serve in individual bowls! As I've said before, I always serve the dressing on the side, so people can add as little (or as much, like me) as they like!
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
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