Baconnaise!

Learn how to make bacon mayonnaise with my easy recipe! The bacon grease lends this the ultimate flavor!

Have you ever heard of baconnaise before? Mayonnaise made with bacon grease = baconnaise.

I’ll bet you’re going, “Why have I never thought of this before?!” It’s a little bit of brilliance.

The smoky flavors from the bacon translate so well to a mayonnaise (or aioli sauce). Especially when you add a bit of sweetness as a counterbalance.

Let me show you how this bacon mayo is made!

First, let’s talk leftover bacon grease. 

I like to keep my leftover bacon fat in a little jar in the refrigerator. I build up my store slowly and either use it in my day-to-day cooking, or use it all at once in this bacon grease mayo.

For more ideas about how to use bacon grease, check out my post on The Pioneer Woman’s blog: 20 Ways to Use Bacon Grease

Ingredients:

Let’s got over the simple ingredients real quick!

• 1 whole egg: I like to use organic or pastured eggs when possible. Conventional eggs will still work, of course.
• 1 egg yolk: I like to add the extra egg to help ensure the mayo sets up properly. 
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar: Adding a bit of acid helps to balance out the richness of the bacon fat. You can use another kind of vinegar such as white vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, etc. Or you could even use lemon juice instead.
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt: I use unrefined sea salt (you can find it on Amazon or Thrive Market). Make sure to read the note at the end about how much salt to use!
• 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar: Adding a touch of sweetness helps to balance out the richness further. Feel free to leave this out for a more keto-friendly condiment, or substitute a sweetener of choice.
• 1 cup melted bacon grease: This is what you’ll be using in place of the vegetable oil that’s commonly used in store-bought mayonnaise or even homemade mayonnaise recipes.

Making Mayonnaise with Bacon Grease…

Start by measuring out your rendered bacon fat (AKA bacon drippings).

You can simply pour off the bacon grease from the pan that you used to cook your bacon. No need to strain out any bacon pieces!

Don’t worry if you don’t have a full cup of bacon grease – you can top it off with some avocado oil.

Place the remaining ingredients in the measuring cup.

 

Blend everything together using an immersion blender (sometimes called a stick blender).

You can do this in a regular blender as well, but I highly highly recommend using a stick blender: it’s such an easy way to make your own mayonnaise! Plus it’s super fast, and you don’t have to dirty up your blender. Win-win!

I haven’t personally tried it, but I’m sure you could use a food processor as well.

You could also blend it in a wide mouth mason jar that has cup markings on the side if you’re not planning to use the mayonnaise right away. That’s one less dish you have to clean while making this mayonnaise! You can thank me later.

Just make sure that you blend all the way to the bottom of jar so the eggs do their work of emulsifying everything!

By the way, if you’re having trouble getting the mayo to emulsify and thicken, you can try adding an extra egg and blending again!

Where to Use Bacon Mayonnaise:

• Ugh, I’ll bet this would be so good mixed with a bit of ketchup for dipping French fries into!
• It’s also flavorful spread on toast to take your BLT to the next level!
• Use it in chicken salad for a bit of bacon goodness.
• Add to German Potato Salad for extra bacon flavor.
• Mix into egg salad to add that flavor of bacon to your sandwiches.

Storing:

Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

If you use 100% bacon grease in this recipe, it will solidify some in the fridge. It won’t get as hard as coconut oil or butter mayonnaise, though. Simply set the mayonnaise out at room temp for a while and it will get soft again.

You can also substitute avocado oil  or olive for half of the bacon grease to get a softer mayo.

Or use half butter, half bacon grease for a bacon butter mayonnaise!

Notes:

• I wrote this recipe without mustard since I wanted the bacon flavor to shine. If you’re partial to mustard in your mayonnaise, go ahead and add a teaspoon or two of dijon mustard or a pinch of mustard powder.
• Start with the smaller amount of salt. Bacon grease contains some salt, so it’s better to add more as needed than discover that you’ve over salted your mayonnaise.
• You could add a few grinds of black pepper for an added layer of flavor.
• Add a bit of fresh garlic to make this into a bacon aioli.

So that’s my bacon fat mayo recipe! If you make it for yourself, please come back and leave a 5-star rating! It really helps Buttered Side Up out!

Originally published on Jun 20, 2019 at 13:44. Post updated on August 11, 2023