Bacon

Potatoes cooked in chicken broth are mashed with just the right amount of butter, cream, chives and bacon to make an irresistible side dish.

Company coming? Here’s an easy and elegant breakfast or brunch idea that your guests will really enjoy. It features puff pastry shells filled with egg, cheese, bacon and chopped chives!

Potatoes cooked in chicken broth are mashed with just the right amount of butter, cream, chives and bacon to make an irresistible side dish.

Wild mushrooms add depth of flavor to this take on the French classic. Make sure your bacon isn't too smoky; it could overwhelm the dish.

Iceberg-wedge salads have been a restaurant staple, but this simple starter begs to be made at home. Hot pepper sauce adds zing to the blue cheese dressing, which is easy and delicious enough that you’ll want to save any extra and use as a dip for veggies or toss with cold cooked pasta for lunch. Serve with a grilled fillet of fish or steak, and you’ve got yourself an at-home meal that trumps anything you’d find on a menu.

Forty-five minutes is all the time you’ll need to make this hearty, creamy chowder with bacon, salmon, and corn. A family-pleasing favorite for a winter night, the recipe also holds up to health-conscious variations. Sub in turkey bacon and low-fat milk, or swap in yams for the red potatoes for an extra dose of beta-carotene.

Eggs Benedict with a dash of Worcestershire sauce? Trust us—and Epicurious member Gromney—on this one: it lends a compelling touch to this brunch classic. To make this dish a touch healthier, substitute turkey bacon or smoked salmon and reach for whole-wheat English muffins instead of the plain old white.

Can’t believe that bacon could get any better? Brown sugar and a pinch of cayenne add both sweet and hot components to the meat’s smoky flavor. As the bacon sizzles in the oven, the spicy mixture forms a glaze over each strip, packing even more flavor and crunch. Serve this traditionally, with scrambled eggs and an English muffin, or go rogue and pile this crispy treat onto a club sandwich with turkey and avocado for an extra-special lunch break.

Created by Epicurious member Kathe Miller from Chelan, Washington, this beautiful salad has a wonderful presentation as well as a rich taste. Try it as a starter, or as a satisfying lunch. Miller recommends pears that are tender but crisp, giving the salad a divine texture and bite that is at once crunchy and juicy.

Leave it to bad-boy bacon to show no-nonsense arugula a good time. This savory treat towers with layers of flavor and texture, from the deliciously runny yolks melding with the cool tomato and tangy vinaigrette, to the chewy bacon and crisp Italian bread. Add breakfast potatoes for a nice Sunday morning brunch.

What makes this frittata so easy, according to Epicurious member Carla Joy Zambelli of Haverford, Pennsylvania, is that there’s practically no shopping required. The frittata can be made with whatever produce you have on hand. Some easy add-ins include caramelized onions, mushrooms, diced kale, or collards. “It’s an Italian version of a quiche—just without the fuss and crust,” she says. Served with a lightly dressed arugula salad, it makes for a perfect start—or finish—to the day.

This lightly fried, fleshy white fish paired with crisp bacon and cauliflower is surprisingly hearty. Cream of Wheat gives the rice-flour crust an airy texture that won’t drown the fish, and the bacon drippings infuse the cauliflower with a smoky flavor. To cut the fat, drain the drippings and sauté the vegetables in olive oil instead. Dover sole is a suitable flat-fish substitute.

Inside this beautiful pork roast is a sweet and savory fruit surprise: apricots, prunes, and apples. A coat of bacon keeps the meat moist as it cooks. Stuff and wrap the pork a day ahead to let the flavors marinate. The port sauce not only provides a lovely glaze for the meat but is also a great topper for side dishes like mashed potatoes and green beans.

“This recipe will prove all meatloaf doubters wrong!” says Epicurious member Jamie Monahan, of Martinez, California. She has perfected it over the years and it combines sweet and smoky flavors harmoniously. Serve with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots—and if you have leftovers, slice onto crusty bread for a stick-to-your-ribs sandwich.

Perfect with roast chicken on a casual Monday night with family, this seven-ingredient dish is great to throw together at the last minute. Steam the potatoes instead of boiling—this will keep them fluffy and light. Then, taking inspiration from German-style potato salad, smash them with a hot and smoky bacon dressing and toss with fresh dill, cider vinegar, and sugar. Planning an elegant winter spread? Serve this hearty side with pork chops.

From Southern food aficionado John T. Edge, this recipe calls for bitters such as collards, mustard greens, and kale and then amps up the flavor with red pepper flakes, garlic, and crunchy bacon. Homemade béchamel sauce sends it over the top. Serve this as a savory addition to any winter feast in place of the usual creamed spinach; it’s a spectacular pledge-of-undying-love-to-the-chef kind of dish.

Coffee and burgers are not your everyday combination, but you’ll be surprised at the depth and complexity that freshly ground beans deliver when combined with brown sugar, pepper, coriander, and oregano. Bacon, along with the smoked cheese, is added to the patties while they finish up on the grill. Spoon on the Texas Barbecue Sauce, and crack open a brew.

This classic potato salad is from the grandmother of Epicurious member Beatlebailey: “The flavor of this potato salad always brings back the wonderful memories of all the times we spent together.”

Here’s a restaurant-quality sauce that is rich and luxurious but easy enough to make at home. Professional cook and Epicurious member Thomas Campbell of New London, Connecticut, invented it, and his favorite part of the recipe is the bacon-flavored liquid; it adds a slightly sweet but smoky flavor to the sauce, and tastes even better after the flavors have time to mingle.

Amazingly, the New York Times fashion critic, Cathy Horyn, is also an accomplished cook and intrepid baker. The equivalent would be if I, a food writer, were also a sleek fashion plate with a deep bench of vintage and modern pieces. This is certainly not the case, so I find her extremely impressive. She claims that these cookies are a Swedish-American tradition in her hometown of Coshocton, Ohio, but I feel they are the cookie equivalent of Paris Fashion Week: a modern, edgy take on a classic. They are truly remarkable, with a robust and smoky undertone that sets them apart from other gingersnaps.