Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing Recipe

This spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is incredibly flavorful! Ready in 30 min with crispy bacon, tender spinach, and a tangy dressing.

📝 Ingredients

• 12 oz. Jones Dairy Farm Bacon
• 1 medium shallot (about 1/2 cup diced)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 12 oz. baby spinach
• 6 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 2 cups sliced)
• 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup sliced)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• freshly cracked black pepper

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crispy, about 5-8 minutes, flipping frequently. (Be careful to not let bacon or oil burn, turn down heat if necessary.) Transfer cooked bacon on paper towel to cool and reserve bacon grease in skillet. Lower heat to low and add minced shallot to the bacon grease in skillet and cook for about 1-2 minutes, until softened. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and transfer to blender.
2. 2While bacon is cooking, prep salad. Thinly slice mushrooms and red onion. Soak onions in cold water for 5-10 minutes to mellow them out a bit if desired. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to let them dry. Roughly chop or crumble bacon.
3. 3Blend dressing. To the bacon and shallot mixture in blender, add olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and honey. Blend until smooth. (Makes a little over 1 cup, may have a few small pieces left which is ok.)
4. 4Assemble salad. Add baby spinach to a large salad bowl, and toss with 1/3 of the warm dressing. (Gently warm in microwave if necessary in 15-20 second increments, we do want it to be hot so it can wilt the spinach a bit.) Top with sliced mushrooms red onions and another ⅓ of the dressing and toss together. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds. Top with freshly cracked black pepper and serve the remaining dressing on the side for additional dressing as desired.