Bacon Onion Jam: Bacon is crisped and made into the ultimate breakfast spread with maple syrup, onions, coffee, brown sugar and pepper. It is salty, meaty, chewy, sweet, savoury, smoky, bacon-y goodness. And you’re going to want it all the time.
There is simply nothing better than this on toast with a fried egg on top! Trust me.
My love of bacon has been pretty well documented {See here for proof of my bacon-obsession}. Even so, I can honestly tell you that Bacon Jam is the my most favorite way to eat it and has been for years.
This unusual-sounding-yet-divine-tasting bacon jam recipe is pretty powerful. How so?
I included little containers of Bacon Onion Jam, some homemade fruit preserves, crackers, and cheese in charcuterie board gift baskets for eight friends this past Christmas. Before the day was up, two of them had already asked me for the recipe.
Before the next day was over, five of the others had asked for the recipe. The other friend doesn’t cook.
You can join our Bacon Jam Club; it isn’t exclusive. We want the whole world to know this joy.
Just be warned, once you try it, it’s like the mob. There’s no going back.
What is Bacon Jam?
There’s nothing in Bacon Onion Jam that you shouldn’t be able to find at a reasonably decently stocked grocery store. The list is easy; bacon, onions, garlic, brown sugar, maple syrup, strong brewed coffee, black pepper, and dried thyme.
The truth is it’s kind of a Willy Wonka type of dish made from every-day, common ingredients. I mean, Bacon Jam sounds odd, doesn’t it?
It reminds me a little of the Three Course Dinner gum from the movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory when Violet chews the gum. Shortly before turning into a human blueberry, Violet raved ecstatically about how she could taste the tomato soup, roast beef, baked potato, and blueberry pie all clearly.
You definitely taste the bacon, maple syrup, onion, and brown sugar in Bacon Onion Jam, but there’s nothing weird about it at all. It’s just plain amazing.
The only thing you can’t really make out when you’re thinking about it is the coffee. It adds a little counterpoint to the sweetness without screaming “I’m coffee!” This is my solemn guarantee as someone who doesn’t drink coffee.
If you dislike maple syrup for some reason, you can substitute Lyle’s Golden Syrup or a dark honey. I, however, am a maple syrup junkie and prefer dark maple syrup for my bacon jam but amber syrup will also work.
Recipe for Bacon Jam
As far as which bacon you should use for bacon jam, this is mostly a matter of personal preference. Because you’re adding so many other flavours to it, I don’t advise you to use expensive bacon. Any reasonably good bacon will suffice.
I tend to use Wegman’s or Aldi thick-cut maple or hickory smoked bacon most often. Just remember that whatever flavour you taste in a slice of the cooked bacon will be concentrated in the Bacon Jam, so choose one you like to eat on its own.
Every time I post about cider vinegar, I inevitably get questions. I guess maybe there are some regional differences in what this particular vinegar is called.
Apple Cider Vinegar is another way to refer to it. There are Heinz, Bragg’s, Wegman’s, ShurFine, and so many more brands I cannot even fathom naming them all. {If you want to read some hilarious heated comments about apple cider vinegar, click that link.}
Bragg’s is my favourite for bacon onion jam because I love raw apple cider vinegar with the mother still in it. If, however, you cannot find apple cider vinegar, you can substitute rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
How to Make Bacon Jam
There are a great many recipes floating around that suggest you use a slow-cooker to make your bacon jam recipe, but I prefer a dutch oven. The slow cooker doesn’t allow for as much evaporation as I think needs to occur to concentrate all of the amazing flavour for the ultimate Bacon Onion Jam.
Years ago, my friend and I had a conversation about this; she tried making it with a slow cooker and I opted for the dutch oven. She converted to the dutch oven for subsequent makings of the bacon onion jam.
This recipe obviously makes quite a lot since it starts with 3 pounds of bacon. Equally obviously, you’re going to want to think about your storage options.
My preferred storage method for Bacon Onion Jam is to divide the finished batch into several small 8 ounce jars or containers with tight fitting lids. I label them clearly and pop all but one into the freezer.
The reason for this is that bacon onion jam is powerful stuff (as mentioned before) and a stretches further than you might think it would. Because of this, I love to stick it in the freezer for longer storage.
This way, that one batch of bacon jam can last me all of the spring and summer for tossing with roasted asparagus, topping toast, and spreading on endless grilled burgers. Then in fall, I make another batch to get me through autumn and winter and all of my baked potatoes, toast (it’s a year-round thing for me!), pizzas, and sandwiches.
Bacon Jam
It goes without saying that Bacon Jam is a natural at the breakfast table. Top toast with it and a fried egg. Don’t stop there, though.
If you want the ultimate base for your Bacon Onion Jam, try a slice of toasted braided sesame semolina bread, no knead cottage cheese dill bread, Pretzel Bread, Jalapeno Cheddar Bread, or Ham and Cheddar Onion Cornbread.
Bacon Jam is amazing spread on toasted buns for hamburgers or on Bacon Cheeseburgers. It’s also wonderful tossed with roasted potatoes, cooked pasta, or on a Fancy Pants Bacon Jam, Spinach, and Egg Pizza or Elvis Sandwich (Bacon Jam, Avocado, and Gorgonzola Toasted Waffle Sandwich.
You can use bacon onion jam straight from the refrigerator if you’re spreading it on something that is hot, but it is much easier to spread if you warm it gently in the microwave or in a saucepan first.
If you want to use your frozen bacon jam, I advise thawing overnight in the refrigerator or defrosting in the microwave first.
Bacon Onion Jam
- Cut the bacon slices into one inch strips. Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic.
- Stir well and reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent.
- Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.
- Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.
- Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding 1/4 cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the Bacon Jam is a spreadable consistency.
- Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month or the freezer for up to six months. You can serve this cold, room temperature, or warm.
Bacon Onion Jam
Ingredients
- 3 pounds bacon
- 4 large yellow onions peeled and thinly sliced
- 8 cloves garlic smashed with the flat side of a knife or a pan and peeled
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 cups very strong brewed black coffee
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Cut the bacon slices into one inch strips. Add the bacon to a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings into a heat-proof jar with a tight-fitting lid.*
- *Save the bacon drippings in the refrigerator. That’s too much flavor to trash!
- Place the Dutch oven back over the medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Stir well and reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are mostly translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well, and drop heat again, this time to low.
- Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil hard for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, stir the browned bacon into the onions and liquid.
- Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to make sure things aren’t sticking, adding 1/4 cup of water if it seems to be drying out. When the onions are meltingly soft and the liquid is thick and syrupy, remove the dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the contents of the Dutch oven to the work bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with a blade. Fit the lid in place and pulse several times or until the Bacon Jam is a spreadable consistency. Scrape into a jar (or jars) or a container with a tight fitting lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to one month or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Can be served cold, room temperature or warmed.
Notes
Nutrition
I originally published this Bacon Jam post January 17, 2011. I updated it with new photos and improved notes in April 2019 and again in March of 2022.
