Bacon-Onion Jam
- Total Time
- 90 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- ¾pound slab bacon, diced into cubes
- 4medium-size white or Spanish onions, peeled and diced
- 1½teaspoons mustard seed
- 2½tablespoons dark brown sugar
- ¼cup balsamic vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
213 calories; 16 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 325 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Set a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat, and add the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is completely rendered and the bacon has started to crisp, approximately 12 to 15 minutes.
- Step 2
Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pot, and add the onions, mustard seed, brown sugar, vinegar and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir to combine, then cover the pot, lower the heat and allow the mixture to cook undisturbed for 15 or 20 minutes. Remove the top, stir again and then partly cover the pot. Allow the mixture to cook until most of the liquid is gone and the onions have achieved a dark brown jamminess, approximately 60 to 70 minutes. (Add a little more water as needed.)
- Step 3
Taste the jam, and add salt and pepper if necessary.
- Step 4
Remove mixture from heat, and allow to cool slightly. Spoon the jam into a jar or bowl, then allow to cool completely. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Rebecca Love
Another use for bacon onion jam....beer cheese soup.
1/4 cup bacon onion jam
1 can or bottle of a not too hoppy beer....I used Tecate because I had a can in the refridgerator
1 cup stock
1 cup chopped up chedder cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of pepper flakes
I'm a SW desert dweller who knows its not real food without chile peppers!
Cook until the cheese is melted
Puree in the blender or food processor
Serve with toast on top
Made 2 big bowls of soup.
christina
Easy and solid. I've made *a lot* of bacon jams before; I loved how this one is cooked in a few parts so that it doesn't break. I made this exactly true to the recipe and the flavor was terrific as is. Will make again.
Notes to myself: cut bacon and onion into smaller bits for spreadable texture, chunkier = more of a thick sauce/compote application. Possible additions: bourbon, red chile flakes, ras al hanout, lots of black pepper, ground mustard in addition to mustard seeds, rosemary.
Rebecca Love
I made half of this recipe to go with Line Cook's Paté. I put half into a sterile 4 ounce jar, sealed it and refridgerated it. I rediscovered it 3 months later. Since it was still sealed I added it to a simple potato frittata. So there are two lessons. It keeps if sealed and its an excellent addition to eggs, potatoes and probably more.
Rebecca Love
I'm gradually figuring out other uses this delicious condiment. So far its a winner mixed with the meat for a burger, makes a simple potato frittata special and jazzed up beer cheese soup. I think I could put it in bread dough too. It would make very special hamburger rolls.
Yoko
I dilute it with some hot water for an instant onion soup!
ehsearcy
I used this as a topping for burgers as well as a kale-ramp tart. It was delicious! But I still have more than half of it remaining—and I only used 3 onions. I would recommend halving the recipe, unless you need 4+ cups of this condiment for a dinner party or a large dish.
aeise
I’ve made this recipe and canned it (sterile jars, etc) as holiday gifts, very positive response, and lasts months in the cupboard. Also great way to preserve the army of onions that come all at once from our garden in the summer. I’ve also varied the formula by adding balsamic vinegar to the recipe, which adds a little tang to the taste.
Nathalie
I made this without the bacon for friends who don’t eat pork. I just added a little butter as a replacement for the bacon fat and a bit more salt. Cooked for much longer than the 60 minutes recommended - very tasty
Kirsten
From the description, I expected this to be much jammier than it turned out to be. After an hour on the stove it tasted pretty bland. I ended up adding a few more tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and next time, I'd use more sugar and water too, to get something more resembling a jam.
Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor
I think you could for a few months. Make sure it's in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
ARC
Onions are a fickle thing. Sometimes your pan isn't heavy bottomed even though it's large enough to accommodate the ingredients, the heat is just a touch too high, or you may have cooked them a bit too much prior to adding the vinegar and water. Which, if so, would have evaporated almost immediately. Was there enough fat remaining? It's difficult to ascertain where they may have went off the rails without witnessing all the factors. It's a lovely recipe so for me, I'd just try again. Best wishes
Rob
Suggest a pinch of thyme and a splash of Balsamic at the end to cut the fat.
Katie Lynn
I made this as written, and I think next time I will try it with red wine vinegar. Just for a slightly warmer flavor than the balsamic. I looked this recipe up after eating a grilled cheese with a bacon and onion jam at a bar that was amazing. Trying it on that tonight!
dee from New Orleans
Can not stop tasting this ! Dark as a Oaxaca mole! I cooked it for a very long time off and on and only added a small amount of apple ginger juice just to see. It got lost in the overall complexity of the taste which is neither sweet nor sour but absolutely delicious.
JK
I was surprised by the lack of jam in this recipe. I think it’s more like a relish.
Sarah
Added this as a pizza topping, but could just as easily eat it with a spoon.
Ash
The best French Onion Soup I’ve ever made called for a mixture of red and yellow onions. I suspect such a mix would be good here, too!
taylor
Made this today - used 5 tbsp dark brown sugar, a third cup red wine vinegar, smoked pepper, salt and half shallots and onions. I am addicted 💕
Bill
I found if the bacon is left in the pot while the onions cooked, the bacon became overdone, losing much of its flavor in the final jam. I remove the bacon after cooking, then drain the bacon fat off to the appropriate amount and put the onions in the pot to sauté for the appropriate amount of time, and when the onions are about done add the bacon back to the pot to finish. I have also added some maple syrup to the completed dish at the end. It adds an excellent maple character to the jam.
Bill
I found leaving the bacon in the pan while the onions sauté may result in overcooked bacon and a potential burnt character to the bacon. I remove the bacon after cooking it, drain the bacon fat off to the proper amount, and add the bacon back to the jame shortly before the onions have been completed. It gives the jam a more profound bacon flavor without the potential burnt characteristic.
Home cook
I used a whole pound of bacon, four sweet onions, Dijon because I didn’t have mustard seeds, and white balsamic with a tablespoon of molasses. It does have to cook low and slow with the lid about halfway covering the pot for a long time, but suddenly you’ll have jammy onions! OMG delicious!
GauriS
An excellent recipe. I did make a couple of changes though: 3 tbsp of brown sugar instead of 2.5, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard instead of mustard seeds. My onions took exactly 75 minutes to become dark and jammy, after which I ran the mixture through an immersion blender to get it to become more spreadable. The end result is insanely delicious, sweet with a hint of tart from the vinegar and umami from the bacon (tip: buy lardons and save yourself the trouble of slicing bacons rashers).
BernardH
This is an excellent recipe. But you should really be making your own bacon and using that in all recipes. First of all, it tastes amazing and you will never go back to store bacon (ok maybe Nueske's), secondly, it's very easy (NYT has some very good recipes) and lastly, since you're making it yourself you control the ingredients as well as experiment.
Midwest Irish
This freezes beautifully, too.
eelvander
I added about a quarter cup of bourbon. That just added a bit of flavor that was really welcome.
PV
I doubled this, for gifts to my holiday hosts. I prepped the bacon the night before in a slightly larger quantity than listed. I made it twice. The first batch took an additional hour to caramelize, as noted elsewhere. I made the second batch exactly the same, except this time "partly cover" was interpreted as "halfway cover" and the timing was almost dead on. I used an immersion blender briefly. With the NYTs Parmesan Cream Crackers, I'm hoping this makes a good addition to a charcuterie board.
Linda
Rather thank dicing up raw bacon, which can be messy and difficult, just cook it on a sheet pan at 400 until crispy - around 15-20 minutes. Drain some of the fat from the pan into your dutch oven/heavy pot and proceed with the recipe. Save the rest of the bacon fat for cooking, roasting veggies, frying eggs, etc.
me
For spreadable consistency dice onions and bacon quite small.
seacook
Really good. I would have appreciated some measure for the amount of onions, which at my market range in size from golf balls to slow-pitch softballs.
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