Bacon Jam

Bacon. Jam. This is the best thing to happen to bacon since eggs. What is bacon jam? It’s essentially bacon, garlic, onions, and a bunch of other delicious ingredients simmered down to create the most amazing jam ever. We honestly put this stuff on everything now. Eggs? Yes. Burgers? Of course. Toast? Obviously. Salads? Why not. It’s still a salad right?

What you’ll need: 

• 1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Makes ~12oz. jar.

Step 1: Prep all of your ingredients. Dice the onion, mince the garlic and shallot, and cut your bacon into 1/2-inch pieces.

Step 2: In a large dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat, add in the bacon and cook for 10 minutes or until most of the fat has rendered off and you are left with crispy bacon bits. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and place on a paper towel lined plate. Drain half the grease from the pot.

Step 3: In the same pan over medium heat, add in the onions, shallots and garlic and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Step 4: Once the onions start turning translucent, add in the brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, honey, coffee, water and paprika. Bring to a boil and stir until everything is combined.   

Step 5: Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1-1.5 hours or until you get a thick, jam like consistency.

Step 6: Let it cool completely and then either transfer to a jar as is or toss it in a food processor for a finer texture. We liked the rustic chunky texture so we left it as is.

This can be refrigerated for a few weeks but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finishing it off in a few days. It goes great with anything you’d normally put bacon on so try it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

And with that, happy hump day and thanks for reading!