Looking for ways to use leftover bacon grease? We cook a lot of bacon in our house and I’m always looking for ways to use leftover bacon grease. So I asked you guys, which resulted in this epic Facebook thread. (I love my readers — this is the best group of people!)

There are some fabulous ideas in this list. I knew about some of them, like cooking greens and Brussels sprouts, making refried beans and carnitas. But there are lots of things I never thought of… And some things that are definitely going to have me recipe testing (1, 2, 14, 15, 23, 34, 35, 36, 38, 63, 71, 73 and 74).

Move over butter, bacon grease is in the house.

75 Ways to Use Leftover Bacon Grease

1. Baconnaise – Bacon mayonnaise
2. Biscuits – Use the bacon grease instead of lard
3. Roasted Brussels sprouts
4. Fried potatoes or hash browns
5. Add to cat food
6. Green beans
7. Cauliflower rice
8. Use it to cook greens like kale or beet greens
9. Sautée onions and celery in bacon grease for soup or for starting any possible dish, stew or casserole
10. Use bacon grease and some raw cacao and just a touch of honey to make a really good chocolate bar
11. Asian stir fries
12. Caramelized onions
13. Refried beans
14. Sausage gravy
15. Use bacon grease to pop popcorn
16. Filter it out to make an emergency candle (My note: I personally want to save my bacon grease for eating… but this is a fabulous idea for my “bad” grease… the grease I’ve used for frying multiple times and need to toss)
17. Wilted salad with warm bacon vinaigrette
18. Corn chowder
19. Sautée spinach, garlic and tomatoes in bacon grease and pour over pasta or zucchini noodles
20. Mix it in with ground beef for burgers
21. Add it to black beans or pinto beans
22. Cornbread
23. Sprouted chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies using bacon grease instead of butter
24. Having immediate uses is one thing, having it later when other ideas come along is another. We use candy molds (which hold about 1. tsp in each shape); we fill ’em with bacon grease, freeze, pop out the goodies, and store them in a big freezer bag. When a good use comes up later, we just take out as many pieces as we need!
25. I put it on asparagus with a sprinkle of garlic powder and pop in the oven
26. The other day I roasted chickpeas with it. Heavenly!
27. I use bacon grease in my maple bacon cupcakes
28. Milk gravy for biscuits and gravy
29. Fried cabbage
30. Cheeseslave recipe for carnitas
31. Scrambled or fried eggs
32. Fried chicken
33. FRIES! Which I do in the oven, not in a fryer
34. Ginger Snap Cookies!
35. Bacon fudge
36. Bacon fudge cake
37. I roast/bake veggies in the same pan after the bacon comes out and the drippings stay
38. Mac and cheese!!!! Use 3. tbsp of the grease to make the roux instead of butter
39. Rubbing it on a chicken or turkey before roasting
40. Replace butter or shortening in recipes
41. Fried corn. Seriously, Southern fried corn.
42. Grease cast iron pans with it
43. Make avocado fries
44. PA Dutch bacon dressing!
45. I add mine to my dog biscuit recipe
46. I love putting it in my loaded smashed potatoes
47. Pie Crust… very Southern. And very delicious. Make sure you add cream and sugar to your pie crust recipe. And you might as well make a Sweet Potato Pie while you’re at it.
48. Make chili with it
49. I love mashing sweet potatoes, coconut milk, bacon grease, herbs/spices and salt. My kids gobble it up!
50. When the craving for home-made crispy tacos or taquitos hits, we fry them in bacon grease.
51. Roasted potato or sweet potato (cubes or fries cut) well rubbed with bacon grease in the oven in a baking sheet under the broil
52. German potato salad
53. I use it to grease the griddle for quesadillas
54. Husband once made caramel from scratch using bacon grease as an ingredient, drizzled it over bacon brownies. He won a $50. prize for it. Lol
55. Frying hash browns
56. Heat it up and toss it over an arugula salad. with Feta ..it’s good
57. Fried rice
58. Maple bacon & Dijon dressing drizzled over anything from pork to chicken to potatoes crepes, etc.
59. Lima beans with crumbled bacon, a little grease, juice from a lemon and some zest.
60. Use it to make my own tortilla chips & fry up taco shells
61. Sautée mushrooms in it
62. Smear it on your bread like in Eastern/Central Europe
63. Liver pate: cook chicken livers in the grease with onion & herbs and purée
64. Salmon rillete: cook wild salmon in grease and flake salmon into fat. Top with more fat to seal, serve at room temp like a pate.
65. Use it to make the manliest soap ever (My note: Ha! This would make a cute Christmas gift)
66. It’s amazing when you fry pancakes in it! That’s how I make all my pancakes now.
67. Cabbage noodles. Sautée shredded cabbage in bacon fat and then mix in cooked noodles for an yummy side dish.
68. Fried bread. Crazy amazing!
69. Yorkshire pudding!
70. Suet treats for birds
71. French toast tastes better when I use bacon grease
72. I always fry onions in it and then make a quiche! So tasty
73. Do you have a fire pit or wood burning stove? I soak corncobs from the garden in bacon grease, they make excellent fire starters. They burn like rocket fuel.
74. Bacon brownies
75. Use it for all the things!

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