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Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

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October 25, 2026

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing – paleo recipe

SERVES 4 Ingredients • 8 ounces (8 cups (1920 ml)) baby spinach, fresh • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) balsamic vinegar • ½ teaspoon honey • Sea salt and pepper to taste • 4 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces • ½ red onion, chopped fine • ¼ cup Chicken Broth or Stock (see page 236) • 1 small garlic clove, minced • 2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced (see page 7 for instructions on cooking and peeling eggs) Preparation 1. Place spinach in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk vinegar, honey, a pinch of sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together until honey dissolves; set aside. Cook bacon in a twelve-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes; transfer to paper towel–lined plate. 2. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat left in skillet and add onion and broth, cooking over medium heat until onion is softened and liquid is thick and syrupy, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 15 to 30 seconds. 3. Stir in vinegar mixture and warm through briefly, then pour over spinach; toss gently to coat. Divide salad among four plates and garnish with cooked bacon and eggs. Serve.

More Recipes You'll Love

Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing is the steakhouse classic, made paleo. Crisp bacon, red onion and garlic build a warm balsamic dressing that's poured straight over fresh baby spinach. Topped with sliced hard-cooked eggs, it's ready in fifteen minutes.

Pro Tips

  • Whisk the balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together first until the honey dissolves — it emulsifies into the warm fat more smoothly that way.
  • Cook the bacon until genuinely crisp, then pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat. That measured tablespoon is the dressing's backbone.
  • Cook the onion in the broth until the liquid reduces thick and syrupy — about 2 minutes — before the garlic goes in.
  • Give the garlic only 15-30 seconds in the pan; it should become fragrant and nothing more.
  • Warm the vinegar mixture through briefly, then pour it over the spinach immediately and toss gently — the residual heat wilts the leaves just slightly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why pour warm dressing over raw spinach?

The heat slightly wilts the leaves and softens their edge while keeping the salad fresh — that contrast is the whole point of a warm bacon dressing.

Can I make the dressing ahead?

It's designed to be made in the skillet and served immediately. Reheating gently works, but the fresh-warm pour is what makes the salad sing.

How do I cook the eggs?

Hard-cook, peel, and slice them for the garnish. Firm whites and fully set yolks give the salad its classic steakhouse look.

Can I use regular onion instead of red?

Red onion is the recipe's choice for its gentler bite once softened in the broth, but any onion works with the same two-minute soften.

Recipe Card

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing – paleo recipe
Stav Kogan

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

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Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz (8 cups) baby spinach, fresh
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp honey
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • ½ red onion, chopped fine
  • ¼ cup Chicken Broth or Stock (see page 236)
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced (see page 7 for instructions on cooking and peeling eggs)

Method
 

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