Balsamic Spinach & Bacon Sauté

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I am undeniably a huge spinach lover! I love it raw and cooked. I have been forever cooking spinach in bacon grease, butter/ghee and/or tossing it in olive oil. The one thing I haven’t really cared to try, is using balsamic vinegar in my spinach (veggies). My husband made a simple spinach side one night (I was milking a foot injury – haha) ….and he added balsamic vinegar! Much to my surprise, I really liked it! So in the kitchen I went and made a few tweaks to what he made and came up with this super simple Balsamic Spinach & Bacon Sauté.

I happen to love balsamic vinegar but one night at a restaurant, I ordered roasted brussel sprouts. Brussel sprouts are my favorite vegetable so I was happy to see them on the menu! However, I didn’t notice that they were drizzled with a balsamic glaze. My first bite had me wanting to spit it back out on my plate. I just wasn’t expecting it and it took me back. Roasted brussels with garlic & simple seasonings is how I expected it (and how I prefer and make my own) so it really threw me off guard and I couldn’t eat it. In fact, it turned me off to any balsamic ‘dressing’, added to vegetables. Clearly that situation ruined my whole life! Kidding ….I know I am being melodramatic but it honestly put a bad taste in my mouth and I just couldn’t switch gears.

Taste Buds Don’t Lie

It reminds me of an “ice cream” story I will share with you! When I was a little, I had sleepovers with my grandma. One night, she was sitting there with a bowl of “ice cream”, as I had been playing in the other room. I walked in and said, “Grandma, can I have some?” She said, “Sure Meja!” and got me a bowl. I sat down and took a huge bite, only to find out that it was COTTAGE CHEESE! Omg ….talk about spitting it back into the bowl. I pretty much gagged. I had never even tried cottage cheese but to think it was ice cream and bite into ‘that’?? Ugh. To this day, I do not like cottage cheese and I’m sure that’s the reason why.

Ok, so maybe the story doesn’t align completely with the balsamic vinegar but I’m sure you can understand the point. It’s kinda like eating a chocolate chip cooke ….expecting to get a chocolate chip, only to find out that it’s a raisin! At least with this Balsamic Spinach & Bacon Sauté recipe I’m sharing, you’ll know what it is by the title.

My husband actually made this dish very similarly but he used pepperoni’s and it was very good! Just see the Notes in recipe if you’d like to try it with pepperoni’s.

Brussel fan???

Eggs and spinach are my usual ‘go-to’ for breakfasts so I loved adding this Balsamic Spinach & Bacon Sauté to the side of my eggs. But it’s equally as good for a dinner side. We ate this with some chicken thighs and it was DELISH. If you’re a fan of roasted veggies w/”ham”, give my Roasted Brussel Sprouts w/Prosciutto a try! They are a crowd pleaser for sure.

Vegetables are just as good to me as any protein but I won’t lie, when you add in crispy bacon, it’s even better! Spinach is good on its own (IMO) but the added balsamic vinegar & bacon takes it up a notch!

Let me know what you think of this Balsamic Spinach & Bacon Sauté! As you know, spinach cooks down a lot – so this recipe calls for 16 ounce container & will serve 4 comfortably as a side. However, if this is more of a “meal”, then I’d say 2 servings max. Heck, I could probably eat this whole recipe up, if it were the only thing I was eating for the meal. So keep that in mind. Happy eating!