Have you ever tried a salad dressed with a warm vinaigrette? If not, this Warm Bacon Vinaigrette Salad is a must-try. It’s a flavorful, impressive starter that works beautifully for holiday dinners, dinner parties, or any meal when you want a salad that feels special.
This salad balances warm, savory dressing with crisp, cool greens. The base is little gem or romaine hearts for tender crunch, combined with radicchio for color and a hint of pleasant bitterness. The warm vinaigrette—built from crisp bacon, sautéed shallot and garlic, chopped walnuts, Dijon, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and honey—coats the leaves and softens them slightly, creating a comforting contrast to the fresh greens.
Toppings of creamy, tangy gorgonzola and sweet chopped dried mission figs add texture and depth: the cheese brings richness while the figs provide a chewy, fruity bite. The final result is layered and satisfying, pairing particularly well with roasted or seared red meats but also standing on its own as a robust side salad. It’s perfect alongside a roast, steak, or a simple holiday main course.
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Warm Bacon Vinaigrette Salad
25 mins
8 People
Ingredients
- 3 heads romaine hearts or little gem lettuce
- ½ head radicchio, thinly sliced
- 4 strips bacon, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup chopped dried mission figs
- ¼ cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Arrange the little gem lettuces and radicchio across a large serving platter or in a large serving bowl. Keep the leaves whole or halved so they hold some texture under the warm dressing.
- Make the dressing: in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the diced bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp, about 4–6 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel–lined plate and leave the rendered bacon fat in the skillet.
- Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the thinly sliced shallots and minced garlic to the bacon fat, stirring until the shallots soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chopped walnuts and cook, stirring, until they are lightly toasted and fragrant, about 2 more minutes.
- Stir in the Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and honey. Whisk continuously until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture slightly thickens, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice. Season the vinaigrette with a pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, adjusting to taste.
- To assemble the salad, spoon the warm vinaigrette evenly over the lettuces so the leaves wilt just slightly and pick up the warm flavors. Scatter the crispy bacon bits, chopped dried figs and crumbled gorgonzola over the top. Finish with a few turns of freshly ground black pepper if desired.
- Serve immediately while the dressing is still warm. This salad holds up well for a short time but is at its best right after tossing.
Notes
This recipe makes eight side-salad servings. For a smaller gathering, halve the ingredients. Use toasted pecans or almonds instead of walnuts for a different nutty profile, and swap blue cheese for gorgonzola if preferred. If you don’t have dried figs, chopped dates or dried cherries offer a similar sweet contrast.
Nutrition information is provided as an estimate and will vary by ingredients and portion size.
Additional Info
8 People
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