How many reasons do you need for saving your bacon grease? Really, the first one should be the only one needed. Saving and then reusing bacon grease adds that delicious bacon flavor to other dishes that can’t be beat. Bacon lovers, you know what I’m talking about.
There are a couple of ingredients that always make things taste better. For me, those foods are butter, bacon, bacon grease, cream, coconut milk or coconut cream. My husband and kids would add tamari to that list.
Bacon grease – especially when it’s not from the cheap bacon – can add a subtle bacon or smoky flavor to dishes that would otherwise be plain Jane.
The second reason to save it is an obvious one – why waste food that makes everything taste so wonderful? I think people only stopped saving bacon grease when fears about animal fats appeared. (You can read about that controversy here.) Since we choose to eat a more traditional diet (including animal fats) and research is not pointing to animal fats not being a problem, it’s time to bring back the bacon grease!
All you need to do is have a designated bacon grease jar. I just keep adding the liquid gold to the jar, and then putting it back into the refrigerator. I even keep a spoon in the jar for easy scooping when I need a spoonful for a dish. You can strain the bacon bits out of the grease, and that’s probably a good practice (but I never bother because #whohastimeforthat). I find that this method works quite well for me, but you can buy something like this stainless steel bacon grease container (affiliate link) that comes with a strainer to use for it. However you choose to save it, here are some great ways to use it.
6 Delicious Ways to Use Bacon Grease
Fried Rice
Now we like this best with bacon bits in the fried rice, but even without, it’s delicious. My husband showed me how to make it as it was a family dish he had growing up. You re-fry rice with shredded carrots, thinly sliced celery, and thinly sliced green onions with bacon grease, and then add some crumbled bacon and peas in the last couple minutes of cooking. It’s so good! I want to make a cauliflower rice version soon for a grain-free version. Yum.
Yummy Veggies
I still think that the reason that so many people don’t like vegetables is that they’ve had steamed frozen vegetables served to them one too many times. There are many delicious ways to enjoy vegetables. They can be fancy, like this Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Butter Sauce, or they can be simple – like a simple one vegetable sauté. But when you sauté your vegetables, try using bacon grease! Vegetables that are cooked in a touch of bacon grease are delicious and have a much richer flavor.
Gingery Broccoli and Mushroom Beef Stir-Fry
There are many main dishes that are even better when you use bacon grease. For example, I love it when I have bacon grease on hand when I make this dish. It adds a great smoky touch to the dish.
Eggs
Scramble or fry your eggs in bacon grease. Because bacon and eggs just go together.
Wilted Spinach Salad
Spinach salad never tasted so good! This old fashioned salad is a great way to use bacon grease. You can get my version in my cookbook, Fresh: Nourishing Salads for all Seasons.
Baked Goods
I have tried this yet, but you can also use bacon grease as the fat in pie crusts, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, etc. It could be delicious if used in the right recipe. Think of corn muffins made with bacon grease instead of oil served with hot chili. Yum!