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Our Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing combines baby spinach, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and red onion, all tossed in a warm bacon dressing.
The Most Delicious Spinach Salad Recipe!
Today we’re sharing a recipe for one of my all-time favorite salads – Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing.
Fresh baby spinach is combined with slices of hard-boiled eggs, sliced fresh mushrooms, slivers of red onion, and crumbled bacon.
But the dressing – oh the hot bacon dressing! – is really the best part of this fabulous salad! It’s warm, rich, sweet, tart and salty all at the same time and is the perfect complement to the fresh spinach and other ingredients. We’ve used a maple-flavored bacon in the warm bacon dressing which adds an extra boost of sweetness and maple flavor.
Reader Review
“I have been looking for a spinach salad with bacon dressing. We lived in California for a short time and while we were there we found a place that had the best Spinach Salad we had ever had. After we moved to Oregon we longed for the Spinach Salad but nothing was the same UNTIL we found you (yeah) we LOVE it so much. Thank you Thank You so much for your posting….happy face:)” -Diane
Why You’ll Love Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
- There is a wonderful combination of flavors, temperatures, and textures in every bite.
- The sweet and tangy dressing complements the fresh spinach, smokey bacon, and creamy eggs so perfectly. The mushrooms add an earthy flavor and the red onion adds brightness.
- This salad (and dressing) can be made in advance. Just warm the dressing before serving.
Special Tools You’ll Need
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Various Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Saucepan – To hard-boil the eggs.
- Kitchen Timer
- Skillet – To cook the bacon and make the dressing.
- Paper Towels
- Serving Bowl
- Small Pitcher or Bottle – To serve the warm bacon dressing.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Baby Spinach – We think fresh baby spinach is the best option for this salad as the leaves are tender and sweeter than full-grown spinach leaves.
- Maple-Flavored Bacon
- Eggs
- White Button Mushrooms
- Red Onion – This is used in both the warm bacon dressing as well as sliced on the salad.
- White Balsamic Vinegar – White balsamic is milder than the dark balsamic vinegar. Red or white wine vinegar can also be used for a slightly different flavor.
- Granulated Sugar
- Dijon Mustard
- Water
How do I make Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing?
- Cook the eggs following this recipe. Cool, peel, and slice into 4 to 5 slices per egg.
- Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels, then rough chop.
- Reserve some of the bacon fat. Use that to sauté chopped red onion until translucent. Add vinegar and de-glaze the skillet. Then add sugar, mustard, and water. Mix to combine.
- Layer salad ingredients in serving bowls or on a platter.
- Spoon warm bacon dressing over the salad and toss to coat the spinach.
- Serve immediately while the bacon dressing is still warm.
Serving Suggestions
This spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is very versatile. It can be served many different ways:
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- It’s impressive served on a large platter – then let everyone help themselves as you pass the platter around the dinner table.
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- You can also make individual salads – layering each bowl with fresh spinach and each of the toppings.
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- This spinach salad can also be served as a layered spinach salad in a clear, deep-sided bowl (such as a trifle bowl). Layer the various toppings along the outer edge of the glass bowl so your guests can see the different ingredients in the salad.
Regardless of how you serve this Spinach Salad, just make sure the bacon dressing is nice and hot (it will cool fairly quickly) and well-mixed when served.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing ahead of time? Yes – you can boil the eggs, prepare the dressing, and chop the other ingredients. When ready to eat, slice the eggs, heat the dressing, and assemble the salad.
- How long can I keep any extra bacon dressing? It should be fine for up to a week in the refrigerator.
- How do I reheat the dressing? We reheat in small saucepan, whisking to recombine the ingredients.
This Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in July 2013. We’ve updated the post and photos, but the delicious recipe remains the same.
You might like these other Spinach Recipes
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Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Our Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing combines baby spinach, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and red onion, all tossed in a warm bacon dressing.
Ingredients
6 uncooked eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 pound maple-flavored bacon
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
8 ounce package of button mushrooms, sliced very thin
1 small red onion (half chopped and half thinly sliced, divided)
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
Instructions
- In a medium to large saucepan, fill ¾ full with water and add the one tablespoon of white vinegar. Bring to a boil and gently spoon in the six room temperature raw eggs in shells, being careful not to break the shells. When the water comes back to a boil, time five minutes and shut off burner. Leave the eggs in the hot water for 15 more minutes. Pour off water, shake pan to crack shells and under cool running water, peel the shells from eggs. Slice cooled eggs into about 4-5 slices per egg.
- In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels and crumble or rough chop and set aside. Reserve two tablespoons of the bacon fat and discard the rest.
- Heat the bacon fat over medium heat and sauté the chopped red onion until translucent, about five minutes. Add the white balsamic vinegar and scrape down pan of any brown bits. Add sugar, mustard and water and stir to combine. Remove from heat until ready to serve.
- In one large bowl layer all ingredients or in six individual serving bowls, dividing the ingredients between each. (Spinach, sliced red onion, sliced mushroom, sliced cooked eggs and crisp crumpled bacon)
- To serve, heat dressing to hot and serve over salad or on the side.
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This salad is delicious. I made it for the first time today and took it to a family Easter dinner. People were fighting to take home the leftovers!
Thank you so much Betsy!
Hi Martha, it’s Pam, the hygienist -i -Im in Texas now and after looking for this recipe- yours was the first to pop up on pintrest, i looooovvved this and it tastes amazing!! Simple and savory- reminds me of your beautiful heirloom tomatoes!!!! Missing you! P
Pam!! Jack and I miss you too! I hope all is well with you and your family – I’m sure you are enjoying more time with your grand kids!
So nice to hear from you!! Martha
I made it for one (hubby was at work) so I guessed on quantities of each ingredient but it turned out delicious.
Glad you liked the salad Cynthia!
Very interesting, my recipe for dressing was ketchup in place of balsamic vinegar. And salad always had dried off water chestnuts for more crunch.
Interesting! Thanks for the suggestions!
Made this for my husband and I last night for dinner, along with a comforting cup of tomato dill soup.
The salad is the BOMB…..perfect in everyway……everything needs to be fresh! Thanks
Thank you Laura – so glad you enjoyed the salad!
Made it last night and got rave reviews! Simple and yet so good!
Thank you Peg!