Summer’s not over yet! There’s still plenty of grilling season left and plenty of time to make up some Bacon Salt! Hello, Kenarry: Ideas for the Home friends! I’m Pam from The Birch Cottage and I’m back again this month to share with you an easy recipe for Bacon Salt that I’m sure your family will love.
Bacon. It’s the one food that calls to so many of us! But, did you know that you can literally throw three simple ingredients together and create a food sensation?! When you find out how easy it is to make and how fantastic it tastes on all sorts of foods, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t tried this tasty bacon salt recipe sooner!
Easy Homemade Gift Idea for Men
I actually first made Bacon Salt last year when I was trying to come up with a handmade or homemade Father’s Day gift idea for my husband. I really enjoy giving handmade or homemade gifts – no matter the gift giving occasion.
Handmade gifts are priceless, unique and can be customized specifically for the gift recipient. However, Father’s Day poses some challenges because, well, Dads can be difficult to make gifts for (kinda hard to “make a power tool”). There is one thing, however, that all the men in my family absolutely love – bacon!
The Bacon Salt was a big hit with my guys. In fact, it was such a big hit that I also put gift jars of Bacon Salt in each of our sons’ and my husband’s Christmas stocking. I have to tell you, it was hard just trying to keep our sons from eating the bacon salt right out of the jar!
Before I share this recipe with you, I wanted to mention that if you search for “bacon salt recipe” online, you’ll find a ton of recipes; most of which have added ingredients like garlic powder, but I really like the simplicity of bacon and salt with maybe just a touch of fresh ground black pepper.
How to Make Bacon Salt
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You’ll need just three ingredients to make this bacon salt: bacon, salt and pepper.
- 1 - 12 oz package of bacon
- 3/4 cup coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Cook bacon strips in the oven until they’re crispy (slightly overcooked). Remove from oven, let cool.
- In a food processor, blend the bacon strips into small pieces (until a paste begins to form). You can also put them in a freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- Combine bacon, sea salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to blend well. Transfer to an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator when not in use.
Supplies Used to Store the Bacon Salt and Create Gift Jars
How to Store Bacon Salt
Once you’ve cooked the bacon, blended/chopped it into really small pieces and mixed all the ingredients together, you simply put the Bacon Salt into an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator. I like to use Mason jars along with these Ball Herb Shaker Plastic lids. But, you could definitely use a regular canning jar lid. And for gift giving, I love using these Weck Jars.
Salt has an indefinite shelf life. Cooked bacon has a 6-week shelf life if properly stored. So once the two ingredients are combined, it takes on a shelf life of the lesser – or about 6 weeks. I’ve read that this could actually have a longer shelf life because of the cured bacon and salt’s natural preservative properties. Honestly, I think once you make it, it won’t last that long because you’ll find all sorts of uses for this bacon-infused salt.
Where to Use Bacon Salt
Any place you would like the extra flavor of bacon, you can use this Bacon Salt. Use it on:
- steaks
- burgers
- eggs
- baked potatoes
- vegetables
- chicken
- macaroni and cheese
- chocolate chip cookies
- popcorn
- caramel sundaes
- and the list goes on!
Don’t you think this would taste amazing sprinkled over baked macaroni and cheese?! By the way, once you’ve cooled the bacon, even the kiddos can help you with this fun and tasty recipe and homemade gift!
Free Printable Bacon Salt Labels
To make your gift giving easier, I created two sets of bacon salt labels. These labels were designed for use with Avery labels. However, you can also print them on nice cardstock, cut them out, punch a hole in the label/tag and then wrap it around the jar with twine. The first set of labels were designed to fit Avery 22806 2″ square labels. The second set of labels were designed for use with Avery 22817 2″ round labels. With these two labels, you’ll be ready to add labels to your gift jars!
In fact, when I made Bacon Salt as Christmas stocking stuffers for our boys, I used the square labels, printed them out using my favorite bright white cardstock, punched a hole in the top of the tags (square labels) and then attached them to the Weck jars with jute twine. The Bacon Salt labels are available as a free download when you sign-up below!
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What’s next?
If you’re looking for more grilling related recipes or homemade gift ideas, you might be interested in:
In fact, you’ll find a whole slew of handmade and homemade gift ideas and, not to mention, some family favorite recipes on The Birch Cottage blog!
Til next time…
For more delicious grilling ideas check out these Kenarry favorites.
- Barbecued Teriyaki Chicken Marinade: Easy Grilling Idea
- Grilled Pineapple: Honey, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Glaze
- Meatloaf Burger: A Recipe for the Best Grilled Hamburger
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Pam is the creative behind The Birch Cottage, a lifestyle blog with an emphasis on family-friendly DIY projects, recipes, tutorials and family. An accounting clerk by day and a self-proclaimed Pinterest addict by night, you are sure to find creative ideas and meal inspirations at The Birch Cottage.
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I love this!! It will be wonderful mixed into ground beef just before making into patties for grilling! When you use it for other meats for cooking, do you put it on before cooking it or afterwards as a seasoning?
Thanks, Kay! I typically add it as a seasoning afterwards, but it is great blended in ground beef.
It has fresh ground pepper in it, so you just need to be sure you don’t burn the pepper.
I have used it as a sort of rub on pork loin and that turned out amazing; same thing with chicken. The possibilities are endless! I hope you enjoy!
Please let us know how you use it. I’m always looking for new ideas!
Pam Baker
The Birch Cottage