Sautéed Spinach with Bacon is a popular side dish that combines crispy bacon with cooked spinach. This is an easy and quick way to cook spinach and a delicious combination of sweet and salty.
The recipe features bacon, brown sugar and cranberries or raisins. It is a perfect side dish to serve next to mashed potatoes, and your favorite roasted meats.
The dish is usually prepared by cooking bacon in a pan until crispy, then removing it from the pan and setting it aside.
The bacon fat is used to saute the spinach, which is seasoned with different spices. My recipe adds a little bit of brown sugar to the dish and a splash of apple cider vinegar to balance the flavors.
The cooked bacon and cranberries are added back to the pan to mix with the sauteed spinach before serving.
The dish is quick and easy to make, and the combination of salty, sweet and smoky bacon with the slightly bitter spinach creates a delicious and satisfying side dish.
What ingredients do you need for this sautéed spinach?
- Bacon: There are various types of bacon you can use. Some of my favorites are American-style bacon (made from pork belly, cured in salt and spices, and then smoked), uncured bacon, and lardons (which are cuts of pork belly or loin that are cured in salt and seasonings, then cut into cubes). You can also replace the bacon with ham, Canadian bacon, or even sausages.
- Fresh baby spinach leaves: To feed four people, you will need about 2 pounds of fresh spinach leaves. Also, you can use frozen spinach. You will need about a pound.
- Brown sugar: I would go with dark brown sugar, just to add another layer of flavor to the spinach.
- Cranberries: These dried little fruits add sweetness and texture to the dish. You can replace them with your favorite raisins. I like golden raisins.
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Apple cider vinegar: we use this vinegar to balance the flavors in this sauteed spinach.
You can replace the spinach with either:
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Collard greens
- Beet greens
- Bok choy
- Turnip greens
- Mustard greens
- Rapini
How to make this recipe of cooked spinach with bacon:
Step 1. Cook the bacon. Chop the bacon slices and add them to a large skillet. Cook on medium-high heat the chopped bacon until brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon bits and set them aside to drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
Step 2. Cook the spinach. Use the same pan, and cook the spinach in the bacon grease, on medium heat. If you use fresh baby spinach, you will notice that the leaves are going to shrink and loose volume. This is normal. If the leaves take too much space, work them in batches.
Step 3. Add spices. Add salt, black pepper and sugar, turning the spinach frequently to wilt the leaves and melt the sugar.
Step 4. Add cranberries.
Return the bacon pieces to the pan. Add the apple cider vinegar and mix everything to combine.
Step 5. Serve right away.
How to store leftovers:
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days. Heat them up on the stove or in the microwave.
The total time to prepare this easy wilted spinach with bacon dish should not be more than 15 minutes. This allows you to put dinner on the table relatively quick without missing on flavors and textures. I am sure this side dish will soon become a favorite recipe to put on repeat.
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Sautéed Spinach with Bacon Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon chopped
- 2 pounds baby spinach leaves or 1 pound frozen spinach
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup cranberries or raisins
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon until brown, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon from the pan and set aside to drain.
- Reduce heat to medium and add freshly washed spinach to the pan.
- Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and sugar. Turn often to wilt the leaves and melt the sugar. This step will take about 3-4 minutes.
- Return bacon to the pan, add raisins and apple cider vinegar and combine.
- Serve right away.
Notes
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Collard greens
- Beet greens
- Bok choy
- Turnip greens
- Mustard greens
- Rapini