When you want yummy things to do with your bacon grease!
If you’re truly a bacon lover like we are, then you just might run into the problem (not really) of what to do with your leftover bacon grease. Yes, it can add up quickly. And there’s just no way I’d ever dispose of my bacon grease! So instead, I’m always on the lookout for great tasting ways to use it. Even if it isn’t always for me.
So below are a bunch of ideas I’ve come up with that I know are delicious. This way if you run into a jam, you’ll know exactly how to use all those bacon drippings.
Lets start with what I think is the most obvious, Eggs.
Breakfast
Cook your eggs with it! There’s nothing like simple bacon and eggs. Just cook your bacon first and then use the bacon grease in the pan to cook your eggs. This way your saving from using any additional butter or oils, you’re keeping the flavor consistent, and eggs fried in bacon grease taste WAY better than any other way of cooking eggs, fact!
And of course it doesn’t matter if you’re cooking an omelet or just eggs over easy. They will all come out yummy! Just think of a bacon omelet cooked in bacon grease, makes my heart melt.
Or make your breakfast a super great meal by making some home fries, obviously fried up in the grease. For this cook your bacon first, then the homefries then the eggs. You’ll have the perfect breakfast and the meal can keep any lumber jack’s motor running on full for the whole morning.
Use it to fry french toast or even pancakes rather than using butter. Pretty much any breakfast food does better with bacon.
Here are a few recipes to get you going on the right path to flavorful freedom 😉
Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet
Enjoy a hearty breakfast made with bacon grease, sweet potatoes, zucchini, onion, bell pepper and eggs. Perfect for those chilly climates.
Caramelized Banana French Toast
First off, just the idea of caramelized bananas makes my mouth water. But then add French toast bathed in bacon grease and you’ve got one of my favorite breakfast meals.
Use it as you would olive or any other oil.
Everything tastes better with bacon flavor. Personally I always collect my extra bacon grease in some sort of container and then throw it in the refrigerator. It lasts forever. Then when I want to cook something, especially if it is basically flavorless (like chicken), I use the grease to add some yummy flavor.
You can cook just about anything in bacon grease. Same as olive oil. It just turns up the flavor in a great way. Here are a few foods to give you an idea…
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Asian stir fries, especially a pork one. Use instead of peanut oil.
Fried rice – same as above, gives your rice excellent flavor.
Another Asian type dish is cabbage, garlic and bacon. But rather than the normal way of using oil to fry it up and only get a little bacon flavor, skip the oil all together.
Green beans and bacon is a staple down south, and sooo yummy.
Don’t just think green beans, use it for ANY vegetable to give it a taste even the pickiest kids will have to give into. Think Kale, peas, cauliflower.
Or even bake vegetables the same way. Take some asparagus and add some bacon fat with some “Italian Seasoning” and roast for a bit. Simple but great flavors.
And if you bake your bacon, then leave the grease in the pan and throw in some potatoes, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower and keep roasting. The best vegetables you’ll ever have.
Cauliflower rice
Caramelized onions – add these to the top of a burger with a little cheese and watch as every morsel is gobbled up.
Refried beans – now the dull has some shine.
Spaghetti time – Do you like olive oil, a little hot flakes and some fresh garlic in a pan? Then frying some spaghetti up in your oil? Instead of just using olive oil, try using half olive and half bacon grease. It really super charges an already delicious and simple meal.
Or do the same with things like spinach, garlic and tomatoes and add it to your pasta. A little parmigiana cheese and you’re ready to give your family a serious pasta treat.
Mac and cheese – don’t use butter, or worse margarine, bacon grease is the perfect substitute. With the cheese flavor it’s something to remember.
Use it as a rub for basting or baking anything. Even your Thanksgiving turkey will be happy bathing in bacon grease.
Add it to your mashed potatoes instead of butter. And add it all, even the little “bits” on the bottom. With all that goodness you can even slip in some peas and the kids will never know!
Spicy Chicken and Bacon Stir Fry
I LOVE Asian food. Lived there for years. And using bacon in almost Asian food is most definitely a great idea. Combine that with a little spicy bite and you’ll be making this over and over and…
Fried Brussel Sprouts
With what you ask? Of course the yummy stuff. One of the best ways to get your kids liking the veggies they would normally turn their noses at.
Deep fry with it
Imagine fried chicken, only the oil you are using to deep fry it is bacon grease rather than the boring old vegetable oil. SOOOOO much better!
Deep fry mushrooms, home made chicken nuggets, fish (battered or whole) and french fries take on a whole new life. The things you can do are only limited by your imagination.
Let Fido and Whiskers enjoy some yummy food
If you have a cat or dog, adding some warmed bacon grease to their dry food is a sure way they will eat every single morsel of their otherwise boring dry food.
Make the ordinary, extraordinary. And it helps make their coats (fur) real shiny.
Is it the healthiest thing for you or your pet, probably not, but it just tastes so good.
Now this guy has some great imagination!!!
Bacon Fat Fried Chicken Wings
Actually I would love to try this recipe with a great wing sauce, the bacon flavors mingling with the zing of a wing sauce with bite would be heavenly.
Bacon Grease Deep-Fried Tortilla Chips
These would be amazing with some bacon and pork chilli and some melted cheese on top, yum!
Look cool Like John Travolta!
Remember the movie “Grease”? Yes, I am showing my age here. But let’s face it, Travolta looked pretty cool with his slicked back duck ass hair cut.
And how do you think he kept his hair looking so greasy and slicked back? Bacon grease baby!
In fact, the name of the movie was a code name for “Bacon Grease”. (okay, not really…nor would I put it in my hair, but it does make you think of the possibilities).
Use it in Soups
Split pea soup is a bit boring for me. But add some bacon grease to it and it just comes alive. Especially if you’re using something canned like the typical Campbell’s soup. It can make an otherwise boring meal into something memorable.
Split Pea & Smoky Bacon Soup
For me, regular split pea soup is a bit boring. But add some bacon and a little of their drippings and you’ve got a whole new scrumptious soup going on.
Bacon Cubes
No, we aren’t talking about a lardon, also called lardoon or larding. Those cubes are different than the ones I am talking about here. Here, we freeze our grease in an ice cube try or something similar. Throw them in the freezer and they’ll last (almost) forever. Okay, but at least a year, yes, really a year.
But here’s the trick to make these cubes extra special…
First, warm your grease in a deep pan. Then add Rosemary, Sage, a little fresh ground pepper and some sea salt. Warm it just enough to let the flavors go through a bit. Like 5 minutes.
Then let cool enough to pour into the ice tray. Cover with food film. This is so odors in the freezer do not get absorbed into our bacon cubes. Then freeze.
What’s great is that while these are frozen, the flavors are permeating throughout our cubes. And they are really convenient, just pop one out and add it to anything you want to kick the flavor of into high gear. Great for us busy people tired of eating the same boring meals.
Ride Free
Use it to power your motorcycle with it. It is a bio-fuel, maybe not plant based, but it’s still more environmentally friendly that gasoline. Check out the first truly bacon powered bike here.