The sugar in a warm bacon dressing is easy to leave out.

A warm bacon dressing usually gets its balance from sugar cut with vinegar. This one swaps the sugar for Splenda, so the acidity and the rendered bacon fat do the work without adding carbohydrate. Hard-boiled eggs add protein to what would otherwise be a light plate of greens, and there's no crouton or candied topping standing in for what the dressing already provides.

Spinach Salad, Warm Bacon Dressing

Baby spinach, hard-boiled egg and crumbled bacon in a warm vinegar dressing.

Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, close up
Serves2
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 bag fresh baby spinach
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs
  • 0.25 cup chopped onion
  • 0.25 cup vinegar
  • 1 packet Splenda, or a low-carb sweetener of choice
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. 1

    Cook the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. Drain it on a paper towel, but keep the rendered bacon grease in the pan.

  2. 2

    Arrange the spinach and chopped onion in a salad bowl.

  3. 3

    Slice the hard-boiled eggs and arrange them over the spinach.

  4. 4

    Crumble the bacon into bite-sized pieces.

  5. 5

    Once the bacon grease has cooled slightly, stir in the vinegar, Splenda and pepper. Heat slowly until it comes to a boil.

  6. 6

    Pour the hot dressing over the spinach salad, then toss with the crumbled bacon.

Nutrition per serving

5 g total carbohydrate

Total carbohydrate is the only figure the original recipe records. Calories, protein, fat and fiber weren't recorded, so net carbs can't be calculated and none of those figures are shown here rather than guessed.

Nutrition will vary with the exact bacon and vinegar used. Treat the 5g figure as a guide, not exact.

Sweetener swap. Splenda is what the original recipe calls for. A low-carb sweetener such as erythritol or stevia works the same way if that's what you keep on hand.

Watch the pan once it's on the heat. The dressing only needs to reach a boil, not reduce, or the vinegar's sharpness cooks off.

Extra protein. A third hard-boiled egg turns this into more of a full meal without changing the method. See egg and bacon cups for another way to use the rest of a carton.

Ania, founder of Low-Carb Diet Solutions

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