This delicious Spinach and Bacon Salad is a breeze to prepare! The sweet dressing with the salty bacon keeps you wanting more. Served for lunch or as a light dinner, it’s the best way to get your daily greens.
We eat a lot of salads around here, but they’re never boring. This Watermelon Salad is a summertime staple and I never show up to a picnic without a bowl of The Best Potato Salad.
Why this Recipe is Best
While I love salads that have all the colors of the rainbow, sometimes you just don’t have time to chop a ton of veggies.
- This Spinach and Bacon Salad recipe comes together in no time. Even with homemade dressing and freshly cooked bacon, it’s ready to eat in just 10 minutes!
- We kept the ingredients for this salad simple: just fresh spinach, bacon and croutons. It’s the dressing that really makes this salad stand out. Tangy and sweet, it’s the perfect compliment to salty bacon.
- Since it’s made with pantry staples, chances are you won’t need to make a special grocery trip for this recipe either!
Ingredient Notes
- Bacon. Either fresh cooked crumbled bacon or leftover cooked bacon can be used.
- Croutons. Any croutons you enjoy, plain or seasoned, taste great in this salad.
- Ketchup. Sound weird? Just try it! The ketchup adds the hint of sweetness to the dressing that ties all the flavors together.
Serving Suggestions
Spinach and Bacon Salad is wonderful enjoyed as a meal on its own, especially for a summer lunch or light dinner.
Smaller portions can be served as a side dish to a heartier main dish, too. Serve it as a starter or side to Caprese Chicken Skillet or this Instant Pot Balsamic Beef.
This salad is also perfect stuffed into a wrap! Leave off the croutons and roll the salad in an herb garlic tortilla for an on-the-go lunch.
Of course it’s also delicious with meatloaf or stuffed peppers!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this salad would be delicious with turkey bacon instead of pork. My vegetarian family members enjoy this with meatless bacon substitutes too!
Spring mix salad greens or your other favorite dark, leafy salad greens make fine substitutes. If you like raw kale, that’s a great alternative to the spinach too. (Make sure to remove the tough bitter stems.)
You can make the dressing up to a couple of weeks ahead of time! It’s highly acidic so it’ll stay good for quite a while in the fridge.
Yes, you can! The extra time to let the dressing flavors mingle is optional.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Want other great dinner and salad ideas? This Mandarin Salad is one of our family’s favorites! Filled with romaine, sugar coated pecans and mandarin oranges.
- This Spicy Grilled Fish and Citrus Slaw is a meal on it’s own. And it’s so pretty and colorful too!
- These Turkey Meatballs are paired with a Bruschetta Sauce. No pasta required which keeps them on the healthy list! Can be your dinner or appetizer!
- Spinach lasagna
- Mississippi Pot Roast
Spinach and Bacon Salad
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
For the Salad:
- 10 oz fresh spinach washed and stemmed
- ¼ cup bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 ½ cup croutons any variety
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, ketchup, sugar and worcestershire sauce. Refrigerate overnight or several hours to allow the flavors to combine. (Not required, but makes a little difference).
- To serve, add spinach and bacon bits in a large bowl. Top with croutons and serve with dressing. ENJOY!
Notes
- Can I make this recipe with turkey bacon? Yes, this salad would be delicious with turkey bacon instead of pork. My vegetarian family members enjoy this with meatless "bacon" substitutes too!
- Dressing can be made up to a week in advance!
Nutrition
Spinach and Bacon Salad is full of fresh greens and salty bacon. A crunch of croutons and the best ever homemade dressing will get everyone begging for seconds!
This is one of my most favorite salads, Aimee! I was first introduced to it in college–my sorority had an amazing cook. The dressing sounds just like what she made. She added thinly sliced red onion and sliced hard boiled eggs to the spinach. So delicious! Thanks for sharing…I can’t believe I’d forgotten about this one!
We like bacon and it adds such a nice taste in a salad. Looks fresh and so Spring!
perfect timing on this recipe. we’re starting a weight loss challenge over the next three months in my little corner of IT … which can be super challenging when you’re uber picky like me. oddly, i love raw spinach, so this spinach salad would be a great alternative to sneaking across the street for skyline. will have to head out for provisions later. 🙂
We love eating big salads for dinner here too…I would just have to keep one bacon free for me!!!! LOL! You know my feelings on the stuff 😉
I’ve been looking for a tomato based dressing for Spinach and Bacon Salad for some time! I will have to try it out and see if it’s close to a neighbor hood restaurants we love! Have a fabulous weekend!
Now this is the kind of salad I can have for dinner with nothing else and be totally satisfied!
Yep, I do that often!! I have occasionally taken out the bacon (Gasp!!!) and added some grilled chicken breast. Tastes great too!
Simple, hearty and satisfying!!
Amen!!!
This salad looks perfect! I love spinach but I LOVE bacon 🙂
Haha, yes, I love bacon too. And it pairs so nicely with the spinach!
I love how simple and delicious this looks. We are all huge spinach fans here, even the little ones
That’s so awesome you have great eaters! Although you make such delicious food I want to be your kid 🙂
This looks delish Amy! Anything with bacon is good for me!
Yeah, me too 🙂
I love a good salad, especially one that has a good dressing! And this has bacon! Bonus!
Thank Tanya!!!
Funny how I love spinach…the only green leaf out there that I’ll eat. But with bacon –Winner! (=
I’m not a picky eater at all, and bacon really does make everything better!!
Love the sound of the salad! Great idea to use the dressing with pasta!
Bacon makes everything better! This salad sounds fantastic!
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH AIMEE AND HER FABULOUS FUDGES??
Heehee jk. It’s probably for the best to have salad once in a while. And it does have bacon in it, so I guesssss I approve. 😉
Enjoy your weekend!
Jess, your comments crack me up EVERY TIME. And seriously, it has bacon, right, I’m still me…. 🙂
Spinach and bacon are a match made on heaven, and that sweet dressing can only make it better! Sounds great, Aimee!
Thanks Marcie. All the flavors work quite nicely together 🙂
This makes me not want to wait for our spinach to pop up out of the ground! We eat fresh spinach all summer long. So good adding the bacon!! Very interesting salad dressing! Will have to give it a try. I smother all of my salads with balsamic vinegar!
I love spinach salad! The dressing sounds intriguing… I’ve never heard of adding ketchup! But I am definitely willing to give it a try. 🙂
The salad looks amazing and everything is better with bacon! The ketchup in the dressing threw me for a moment but it’s intriguing enough for me to want to try this! Of course, I will be the lone eater of this as none of the other family members like an oil/vinegar dressing…they’re addicted to the creamy calorie filled ones. But they do like pasta salads, so there is hope!!
I’ve kept this dressing in a jar for up to 2 weeks, shake and use! ENJOY.
This is my kind of salad and the photos are gorgeous!
Thanks Jen! Salad with bacon, it’s like the best of both worlds!