This Bacon Butter is a savory, smoky, and salty delight that's made with just 5 ingredients! This simple-to-make flavor enhancer goes great on everything from mashed potatoes, corn, vegetables, pasta, sandwiches, and proteins!
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Who doesn't love bacon?! When it comes to bacon, we're probably not alone in salivating at the thought of it. It really does add that extra "oomph" of umami to so many things!
Scoop some of this bacon butter onto a juicy cast iron ribeye, a baked potato, cornbread muffins, corn on the cob, and so much more.
❤️Why We Love This Recipe
- Made with just 5 ingredients. You probably have everything you need at home already, and if not, you can find the ingredients at any store.
- Quick and easy! This recipe comes together in about 30 minutes, and most of that time is spent cooking the bacon and cooling it off!
- Super versatile. Everything from toast, cornbread, eggs, veggies, corn, potatoes, pasta, seafood, beef, chicken, and more can be kicked up a notch with this seriously delicious butter!
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🥓Ingredients
Here are the ingredients we used for this recipe. You can find more information on substitutions below.
- Butter. The butter you choose will make all the difference in flavor, which is why we love to use Plugrà, a European-style butter that's 82% butterfat! It's super rich and creamy with excellent flavor. For this recipe, we strongly suggest using unsalted butter, as bacon is a very salty ingredient, so you'll want to be able to control the salt level completely. Also, make sure your butter is nice and soft at room temperature!
- Bacon. We're going to make sure it's cooked up nicely so it crumbles easily. We'd recommend using a bacon that's standard thickness so that it cooks quicker and crumbles better.
- Reserved bacon fat. Make sure to set aside a few tablespoons of bacon fat to add to the butter if it needs a little help getting extra smooth.
- Dijon. This is totally optional, but it adds a lovely hint of zing to the butter. Omit the Dijon if adding to something sweet like sweet potato cornbread.
- Black pepper. Really just complements everything and rounds out the rich flavors of this butter. Again, if you're going to use this butter with something sweet, we'd recommend omitting the black pepper.
- Kosher salt. To taste, and you may not need it depending on how salty your bacon is. We use Diamond Crystal Salt, and it has nice, large salt crystals. It's less salty than regular table salt, allowing you to control the salt level more easily.
Visit the recipe card for the full quantities and nutritional information.
✨Substitutions & Variations
- Brown butter bacon butter. Browning butter makes everything better! Just make sure to let it cool and re-solidify slightly while still remaining soft.
- Sweet. For sweet applications, add some honey to the butter and omit the Dijon mustard.
- Herbed. Herbs like thyme, parsley, rosemary, green onions, and chives would taste wonderful alongside this butter.
- Cheesy bacon butter. Add your favorite grated cheese, like Parmesan or even cheddar to the butter for cheesy deliciousness!
- Spicy. Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, or a spicy chili of some kind to make a spicy bacon butter.
- Add aromatics. Adding cooked garlic, onion, and/or shallots to the butter would add a whole new layer of delicious savory flavor to the butter.
This recipe hasn't been tested with any other substitutions or variations, so we can't guarantee any results. If you make a change, let us know how it goes in the comments below!
🔪Prep Work
- Soften butter by leaving it out at room temperature for a few hours.
- Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Alternatively, you can cook the bacon in the oven or air fryer.
How To Make Bacon Butter
Step 1
Add the bacon pieces to a skillet. Cook, stirring periodically to prevent sticking.
Step 2
Cook the bacon until it's nice and crispy, then drain away the excess fat (reserving a few tablespoons). Set the bacon aside to cool slightly before crumbling.
Pro Tip
You can reserve all of the bacon fat and filter out the bits of bacon. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-6 months, or in the freezer indefinitely. Use it to cook eggs, vegetables, proteins, and more.
Step 3
Add cooked bacon bits, softened butter, Dijon (optional), and pepper to a food processor and process until smooth. If needed, add reserved bacon grease to help it blend better.
Now, just serve and enjoy!
Pro Tip
Make sure to add the reserved bacon fat in slowly! Too much fat could cause the mixture to separate and break the emulsion.
There are so many ways to enjoy this bacon butter! We made a summery corn board that featured corn in various forms with five different butters.
We paired the bacon butter with pesto butter with tomato butter, whipped honey butter, and our viral cowboy butter!
Don't forget the corn ribs to add to this board!
Enhance dinner sides!
Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes and bacon are a match made in heaven! Swirl in this delicious butter with your mashed potatoes.
Storage
Fridge Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. Allow to sit out at room temperature for about an hour so the butter can soften up to be spreadable.
Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, gently in the microwave (at roughly 30% power) or in the fridge overnight.
We'd recommend slicing into individual servings before freezing so you can defrost as needed.
This butter will keep in the freezer for 3-6 months.
Make Ahead
The butter can be made up to 6 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
If you're planning a large menu and you need to break up some of the tasks, start by making the bacon and then storing it in the fridge for 4-5 days.
When it comes time to serve, reheat the bacon, then drain the excess bacon fat and combine the softened butter and bacon as usual to make the spread.
Add bacony flavor
Cowboy Cornbread Casserole
Add a generous dollop of bacon butter on top of cowboy cornbread casserole for even more flavor!
Expert Tips
- Use softened butter. Make sure the butter is nice and soft. This will ensure easy spreading and blending for a silky butter.
- Use high-quality butter. High-quality, European-style butter has a higher butterfat percentage than standard American-style butter. It makes this spread even more tasty!
- Make sure the bacon is nice and crispy. You want the bacon to crumble up nicely in the butter, so make sure it's cooked well until nice and soft.
- Add bacon fat to the butter slowly. Extra fat can break the emulsion of the butter and cause it to separate and become greasy. Add bacon fat slowly and as needed to create a silky smooth texture!
Bacon + steak!
Bavette Steak
Serve bacon butter with a beefy bavette steak to add tons of savory flavor!
💬Common Questions
There may be too much of a temperature difference between the butter and bacon. Make sure the butter is nice and soft, and that the bacon has cooled down a bit at room temperature. If the butter is too cold, it can break the emulsion.
There may also be too much bacon fat, which can break the emulsion. Add bacon fat slowly.
If it does separate, you can always add more butter!
Yes! Prepare the butter as usual, and then when you're done, transfer it to parchment paper or plastic wrap and roll it into a cylindrical shape. Place in the fridge to firm up for 1-2 hours until solid. To serve, cut into quarter-inch rounds and place over top of biscuits, proteins, veggies, and more!
Definitely, it will just have a chunkier texture!
🍴Main Course Pairings
Enhance these main courses by serving with this butter.
🥓More Bacon Recipes
Everything is better with bacon! Try out some of our favorite recipes that feature bacon as a star ingredient.
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📖 Recipe
Bacon Butter
Equipment
- food processor optional
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon about 8 ounces, cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick, softened
- 2-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard optional and to taste
- ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat as needed to create a silky smooth texture
- ⅛- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt if needed to season, depending on how salty the bacon is
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon pieces, and cook, stirring often, until crispy on all sides, about 6-9 minutes. Reserve a few tablespoons of the bacon fat, then set the bacon aside to cool before crumbling. Alternatively, you can cook the bacon in the air fryer or oven.8 slices bacon
- In a food processor, combine the softened butter, chopped bacon, reserved Dijon mustard (if using), and black pepper. Pulse until well combined. You can also mix the ingredients by hand in a bowl for a chunkier texture.½ cup unsalted butter, 2-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Add reserved bacon fat if needed to create a silkier texture, and pulse again. Taste, and add salt and seasonings to taste. You can also mix the ingredients by hand in a bowl for a chunkier texture.1-2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat, ⅛- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and serve right away, or shape it into a log using parchment paper or plastic wrap. If refrigerating, chill until firm, about 1-2 hours before cutting into ¼-inch thick disks and serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. Allow to sit out at room temperature for about an hour so the butter can soften up to be spreadable.
Save This Recipe! 💌
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
- Use softened butter. Make sure the butter is nice and soft. This will ensure easy spreading and blending for a silky butter.
- Use high-quality butter. High-quality, European-style butter has a higher butterfat percentage than standard American-style butter. It makes this spread even more tasty!
- Make sure the bacon is nice and crispy. You want the bacon to crumble up nicely in the butter, so make sure it's cooked well until nice and soft.
- Add bacon fat to the butter slowly. Extra fat can break the emulsion of the butter and cause it to separate and become greasy. Add bacon fat slowly and as needed to create a silky smooth texture!
Briana says
Bacon and butter are a match made in heaven, I don't know why we didn't think of this before!! You're going to love how easy and flavorful this recipe is!