Paleo is so liberating! Before Paleo, I used to shun away from fat and gave into the whole “low-fat” culture. I hung that up 2 years ago when I began my journey into eating whole, real, unprocessed foods and realized that saturated fat is not what’s killing us. And the best thing Paleo has done for me is given me a love for BACON! Oh I heart bacon…and I no longer feel bad about eating it, as long as I do in moderation. I’ve continued to lose weight and I continue to feel amazing all the while eating bacon a few times a week. We cook it on our griddle which cooks it perfectly. We prefer thick sliced bacon and try to get bacon that comes from pastured pigs.
A few years ago, I would just throw the bacon fat away, but as I was becoming more aware that bacon fat is not bad for your body and it makes food taste even more delicious, I started saving it and using it in various ways.
How to Save the Fat: once the bacon fat has cooled, pour it into a little jar and store it in the fridge. Some people recommend straining it to prevent any larger clumps of bacon or fat from going into the jar. Scoop it out as needed.
In the fridge, bacon fat will last for months and months (especially if you are careful about making sure all the chunks of bacon are out of it) and even several YEARS! Ask your grandparents! Just give it the “whiff” test before using. If you have large amounts of bacon fat to save, you can toss it in your freezer.
On the countertop, bacon fat will last for several weeks. It’s best to put it in the fridge to prevent it from becoming rancid.
20 Delicious Recipes Using Bacon Fat
1. Roasted Beet & Basil Salad with Hot Bacon Vinaigrette – Oh my!
3. Make Bacon Mayo.
4. Use it to fry my Fishy Bites in…or anything else!
5. Make these Silver Dollar Pancakes with it, subbing out the grapeseed oil for bacon fat! (We order our almond flour from here)
6. Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits – these are from my FAVORITE cookbook right now, Beyond Bacon! It’s a beautiful cookbook dedicating to the hog! Use bacon fat in place of lard (it’s really the same thing).
7. Stir Fried Eggs!
8. Bacon Fat Vinaigrette Dressing – we make this all the time and it’s delicious!
9. Maple Bacon Aioli to dip Sweet Potato Fries in!
10. “Cornbread” – follow this recipe, BUT while putting the batter together, add a few TB of bacon fat to the 9″ baking square and melt in the oven. Then add the batter and bake according to directions. No joke…this tastes like cornbread and it’s a staple in our house. (We buy this almond flour)
11. Bacon Cookies – substitute some bacon fat for the coconut oil!
12. Fry your steak in it!!! OMG!
13. Yellow Lard Cupcakes (or Cake) – I made these and LOVED them. We substituted bacon fat for lard and it was incredible!
14. Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms – if you do dairy, this is amazing!
15. Bacon Deviled Eggs – I have had these a few times and they are sooooooo good!
16. Paleo Roasted Stuffed Tenderloin – doesn’t this look beautiful!
17. Saute your spinach, in bacon fat!
18. Saute your cabbage in bacon fat!
19. Saute your kale in bacon fat!
20. Spinach Bacon Potato Frittato – eliminate feta if dairy-free. This is on the menu!
So, don’t throw another drop of that delicious bacon fat away! You have no excuse now…eat up and enjoy!
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You can find some of the ingredients for these recipes here:
- raw honey
- wild caught salmon
- shredded coconut
- almond flour
- coconut flour
- vanilla extract
- celtic sea salt
- real maple syrup
- good olive oil
Shared at Real Food Forager
Nice round up.
I always have loads of bacon fat… and I even rendered down the fat from the ham I cooked the other week – to make a kind of baconny/hammy lard…
yumm…good idea!
I always save my bacon grease I used it in making my bread and I love to fry my potatoes in it to they are so good
If you don’t have bacon grease saved you can buy it on amazon.com. The name of it is: hot belly bacon grease. They have a site to order it, too. It’s a lot more convenient for me, and less messy. Great recipes!
I save bacon fat in the fridge in a mason jar but how long is it good for before you should throw it out?
It’s good for a few months! Just check for mold.