bacon fat Archives - The Paleo Mama

We often eat bacon. We often eat pancakes. So, I thought, “Hmm, how can I put these two delicious things together?” And this is what I came up with. Bacon in between the pancakes!!! And let me tell you, it’s like a bacon-y BOOM when you bite into them! I hope you love these Bacon Pancakes as much as I do.

Bacon Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

Your favorite pancake batter (this is our favorite)
Bacon
Butter or Ghee
Maple Syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook the bacon on a cast iron pan or griddle (could not live without my griddle!).

2. Remove the bacon and cut the strips in half. Scoop off some of the bacon fat and reserve it to make one of these 20 recipes using bacon fat. Repeat: DO NOT throw the bacon fat away. It’s good stuff! Leave a little bacon fat on the pan or griddle to coat the pancake batter. You could leave it all on if you want!

3. Pour a little pancake batter onto the pan or griddle. Push a piece of bacon into the batter. Cover the bacon with more pancake batter.

4. Flip when the bottom is lightly browned. Then cook the other side.

5. THAT’S IT! This is the easiest recipes every! Top with butter/or ghee and maple syrup!

baconfat

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!

baconbeetsalad

2. Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

brusselsprouts

3. Make Bacon Mayo.

4. Use it to fry my Fishy Bites in…or anything else!

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5. Make these Silver Dollar Pancakes with it, subbing out the grapeseed oil for bacon fat! (We order our almond flour from here)

gluten-free-pancakes-almond-board-california

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).

sweet-potato-drop-biscuits-from-BeyondBacon-by-PaleoParents-740

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)

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