The Pioneer Woman Salad That Uses Bacon In Every Step

If you, like many, love bacon, you probably stand by the saying that bacon makes everything taste better. While might not be literally true, it's certainly pretty close. From waking up to the sound and smell of bacon sizzling on the frying pan to indulging in a bacon cheeseburger for supper, bacon can enhance every dining experience from morning to night. This pork product is one of the few savory ingredients that even tastes delicious in a dessert. While the notion of a bacon-flavored sweet treat may seem intense, the flavor combination of an apple-bacon galette or bacon-pineapple upside-down cake is perfect for sweet and salty lovers (via Food Network).

You'll be hard-pressed to find a meat eater who doesn't love bacon. In fact, according to NPR, this crispy and smoky meat is one of the foods that vegetarians tend to pine for the most after giving up meat. Another member of the bacon lovers club? The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond has too many bacon recipes in her repertoire to count, from her bacon-shrimp skewers to her maple bacon Brussel sprouts to her twice-baked potato casserole. In one simple salad dish, the TV personality manages to incorporate bacon into almost every step of the recipe. If you are ever craving bacon, you might just need to try Drummond's Perfect Spinach Salad (via Food Network). 

Ree Drummond uses bacon in not one, not two, but three different ways when cooking up her perfect spinach salad (via Food Network). First, chopped pepper bacon is used as one of the salad's toppings. After cooking up the bacon, Drummond preserves the bacon fat for two other stages in her recipe. Next, the Pioneer Woman shells out a splash of bacon fat into the pan to cook some of her other salad fixings. The bacon fat is used to caramelize onions, as well as fry up white button mushrooms.

To complete the salad trifecta, bacon is also heavily featured in Drummond's spinach salad dressing. Drummond uses the remaining bacon fat, combined with red wine vinegar, sugar, and Dijon mustard to brew a hot bacon dressing in a skillet.

Drummond's bacon-heavy salad is similar to other spinach salads, including Alton Brown's (via Food Network). The main difference between the two? The Oklahoma native likes to cook the onion and mushrooms in the bacon fat, before placing the ingredients on top of her salad, whereas Brown incorporates raw onions and mushrooms into his salad. The Pioneer Woman refers to her deviation as a "nice little twist to the standard spinach salad." If you are a fan of this leafy dish but are in a bit of a time crunch, it takes less than five minutes to cook Rachael Ray's spinach salad.