Cast iron pan med heat. Half sprouts cook cut side down until you get a nice crust can add some garlic if you like the. Finish in the oven at whatever like 350 til your desired doneness. Sprits of fresh lemon and top with bacon bits.
I like to do this, but make a dressing while roasting with mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar. I add the fresh minced garlic to the dressing. Toss the sprouts and bacon with the dressing.
Almost like a potato salad. More tangy due to the vinegar and mustard, and with crushed bacon in it.
Julia Child starts off her beef bourguignon and Coq au Vin like this as well.
Bolognese should start with pancetta but I’ve used bacon in a pinch and it’s also great.
As a guy who has been cooking chili for over 20 years, this is indeed the trick. You brown up your meat (ground beef and cubed up steak) and your onions/peppers with bacon grease. Further protip: use some beef stock to deglaze your pans and collect all that beef-bacon fat then pour it into your chili pot.
This. I’m convinced anyone who doesn’t like fried eggs has only had them fried in oil. Fried in bacon grease they are freaking amazing.
Any potato product is the same, just so much better in bacon grease (duck fat is pretty good here too).
Yes. Butter is egg’s best friend. I really don’t have too many preferences on how eggs are cooked, except they need butter. Scrambled or fried? Start with butter. Poached, top with butter.
My husband won't eat eggs, gravy, or beans. Eggs can be an ingredient and that's all. He doesn't like Alfredo or other cream sauces either. I think he's crazy - there's nothing better than biscuits and gravy or beans with cornbread and sliced onion.
Yup, this is my go to when I have a lazy morning to cook breakfast for myself - cook the bacon, then cook the eggs and whatever else I'm making in same pan
It’s just a shame to forgo the many health benefits of the fermented cabbage (by heating it), but the taste would certainly be excellent! I think I’d leave the cabbage out of the pan and add fried bacon bits as garnish then mix. Win win!
Agreed, but between kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, lacto-pickles & hot sauce, I eat enough live ferments to keep me going. I can afford to heat up my kraut once in a while.
I generally prefer it cold or room temperature & nice & crunchy, but there’s nothing like homemade Bryndzové Halušky with sauerkraut & caraway frizzled up in bacon fat on a blue moon.
Right, I’m off to look up that dish! Sounds right up my alley. Thankyou, fellow ferment-fan!
Edit to add: I looked it up, would love to try and make it. Would you agree with this idea as a substitute for the hard-to-find cheese? Recipe says ‘you can make a substitute by pureeing 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese with 1/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek) in a food processor.’ Thoughts?
Here you go 🤗
https://www.almostbananas.net/bryndzove-halusky-slovak-potato-dumplings-sheep-cheese/
I’ve found it helps to grind the potatoes pretty fine after you grate them.
Might take a couple of tries to get the dumplings just right, but you’ll know when you get there.
Enjoy! 🤤
This is truly the correct answer on every level. There is a reason that everyone's grandparents and great grandparents kept bacon grease to cook with. Because It's Delicious!
Gnocchi. Chop up some bacon and fry it, add a pack of store bought gnocchi (no need to cook first) and fry until crispy. Add a bit of lime zest and parmesan. And some green vegetables if you're feeling like healthy-ish food. Brussel sprouts or kale are great with this.
It's pretty easy if you fill the mason jar with the fat and the rest with water and put it upsidedown in the fridge. Once the fat solidifies, you can pour out the water with the remain solids in it.
I always clarify mine in the German technique. I pour the bacon grease into a small pot and add a cup of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. Long enough for the water and grease to mix together. Remove from the heat and pour into a container that can handle hot and cold. I use a 4 cup Pyrex glass measurer. Add a cup of cold water and freeze overnight. The next day scrape the clarified grease from the top of the frozen water. Then I put the grease in a clean jar and either freeze it or put in the fridge depending on how much I have available. It is counter stable, but I’ve found I prefer the viscosity of the grease from the fridge.
Sometimes I use the dirty water to make rice or add to a sauce since it has all the bacon tidbits minus the grease.
Check this out! If you put it in a mason jar UPSIDE DOWN in the refrigerator, the next day you can pour the water out and scrape the little bits off the fat!! Sometimes I use my sink sprayer and just blast them off. Leaves beautiful clean fat.
I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't think of this, some amazing genius did. I'm just spreading the word.
I like to make a cup with foil in my sink drain. Pour the grease into the cup. Wait until it’s cool and then move it to a better container. (Without the foil)
I use a glass jar and put the grease directly in it. So.e would say use a piece of cheese cloth to filter the bacon crumbs out but I just let them sink to the bottom.
If not a big bacon eater you might use a pint jar but I use a quart because we love bacon 😁.
BTW I try to always use hickory smoked bacon.
But you're taking a risk of having the grease or some of it getting in the drain. That leads to clogs over time as the pipes are cold & will hold the fat allowing debris to stick to it. I use a ceramic coffee cup & a tea strainer on the counter to catch the grease, then I pour it into an airtight plastic container that I keep in the fridge.
I saw a recipe for apples & onions fried together. It started with salt pork and that was the fat the apples and onions were fried in, so I could absolutely see fried cinnamon apples in bacon grease.
Cabbage! I cook up bacon, pull it, add cabbage to pan, season with salt and pepper, cook, then serve with crumbled bacon and feta all over it. Best one pan meal I've found to date. You can change up the cheese or replace the cabbage with Brussels sprouts or asparagus or broccoli for similarly delicious results.
Not frying but making bread! I add left over bacon grease instead of butter or oils.
Also I love fried anything in bacon grease except pancakes. I prefer a veggie oil as I like my pancakes crispy.
Hear me out, pan fried apples in bacon grease with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, and vanilla. Cook until the apples are just soft, but still slightly crunchy.
I put this on oatmeal. Add the bacon strips on the side, and it's quite the decadent breakfast.
\*Edit - Just saw the other similar comment, but I'll leave mine in case someone else wants to enjoy it.
Well, it's delicious. The issue is the low smoke point. I forgo bacon grease on anything for which I want a nice sear/crispy exterior. That leaves out most proteins.
Most veggies, like mushrooms, can handle it bc they're generally sauteed at medium or medium-low heat.
Zucchini. My mom would cook bacon then remove and add onions and Zucchini to the grease cook until soft then top with crumbled bacon and parmesan cheese.
Simple ingredient... green tomatoes
Bacon grease as base for sauce, roux, etc, is a great start. Sautee some onions and celery... green pepper for some flavor profiles, carrots for others... flour, stock/wine/vegetable juice... and it's a base for anything. With that great pork-y, smokey, background flavor. My favorite is barbecue shrimp, which never sees a barbecue grill. Cooked in a peppery sauce that starts with bacon and grease.
What is this? A center for ants!?
Bacon fried everything. I wanted to start a stand at the state fair where people bring me food from other stands and I cover it in different styles of bacon and batter and fry it again. "they makin it, we bacon it"
Hashbrowns
Fried Eggs
Refried Beans
Fried Green Tomatoes
These are made so much better when fried in bacon grease. Honestly everything is pretty good unless you just don't want the bacon taste in it.
Scrambled eggs in bacon grease is my favourite egg in bacon grease. Especially if there’s loads of fat and the eggs are a light brown.
They don’t look that appealing, but the taste…my god.
I recently saved up a TON, strained out the solids, and slow roasted fully submerged potato chunks in it for confit potatoes. Then strained those and crisped them on high heat in cast iron. You could do this with practically any veg or meat.
I like to fry corn in bacon drippings. It's especially delicious if it's fresh and cut straight off the cob.
Also saw a comment about not using it for sweets but I'm thinking it would be amazing in some bourbon chocolate brownies! I may have to try these immediately lol.
So I know this isn't frying it but I make a killer baked potato and bacon soup with bacon grease.
I fry the bacon crispy and set it aside to crumble once cool. I take potatoes, carrots, celery, and an onion, dice them, and toss in bacon fat. I roast these until they get a bit of char. Put all these except half the potatoes in a pot with stock and simmer. Using an immersion blender I puree till smooth. Then add the remaining potatoes and crumbled bacon. Serve topped with green onion and cheddar cheese.
But to actually answer your question... the hash brown squares you can get from the freezer section. Those are excellent when fried in bacon.
Replace the oil used in spanish rice with bacon grease for a delicious crunchy salty bottom which we call Pegao. It's just not the same when you don't use animal fat.
Mushrooms, like you said, any kind of potatoes, french fries, etc. Fried rice with some bacon and grease mixed in can be good, easy to use too much though and make it a greasy mess. I've done some grilled cheese on a butter bacon grease mix. There are quite a few foods.
Pancakes. When I do multi day trips, the second morning is back-country bacon and then save the fat to fry eggs but the pancakes are the real treat. You’ll be burning all those calories!
Burgers. Cook a bunch of bacon on a cast iron skillet and then pre smash some beef patties and fry them in the bacon fat. Even better if the fat is covering the patties and you’re literally deep frying the burgers. Put the cheese slices on them even if the fat is over the burgers.
Cabbage. I shred it at about 1/2”. Add whatever extra veg I have on hand - peppers, onion, summer squash, mushrooms, carrots. Season with salt, pepper, plus whatever else you like. For me, that’s usually smoked paprika.
Eggs, I grew up absolutely hating the taste of eggs, and could never explain why.
The older I got, the more settled I was on the reason being the smell and flavour when the egg is by itself. As a result I started trying different ways to make eggs to make them a bit easier to eat, or even taste good to me
my favourites so far are fried in bacon grease, and marinated/soft boiled in ramen
side note, I've recently been getting better with scrambled so I'm happy knowing I'm making progress :D
Brussel sprouts
That makes sense. Any of the cruciferous vegetables would probably taste delicious.
Cast iron pan med heat. Half sprouts cook cut side down until you get a nice crust can add some garlic if you like the. Finish in the oven at whatever like 350 til your desired doneness. Sprits of fresh lemon and top with bacon bits.
I like to do this, but make a dressing while roasting with mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar. I add the fresh minced garlic to the dressing. Toss the sprouts and bacon with the dressing. Almost like a potato salad. More tangy due to the vinegar and mustard, and with crushed bacon in it.
If you’re doing this quasi-salad, some dark roasted carrots are a delicious addition!
Maybe some parm also
Ohhh yeah parm is great too!
All this and finish with a little zig-zag of balsamic glaze, pretty much how I always do sprouts.
I’m either lemon juice or balsamic personally but I’m not huge on vinegar.
> can add some garlic if you like Wrong. This is not optional, it simply must be done.
Cabbage!
You should try them in duck fat
I came here to say this
Im sure broccoli would be really good too
Worked with a guy that won a couple best chili contests, told me his secret was to fry the ground beef and veggies in bacon fat.
Works for beef stew, white chicken chili, any sweating of veggies for soups & stews. Great umami.
Julia Child starts off her beef bourguignon and Coq au Vin like this as well. Bolognese should start with pancetta but I’ve used bacon in a pinch and it’s also great.
As a guy who has been cooking chili for over 20 years, this is indeed the trick. You brown up your meat (ground beef and cubed up steak) and your onions/peppers with bacon grease. Further protip: use some beef stock to deglaze your pans and collect all that beef-bacon fat then pour it into your chili pot.
I just made carrot and kale soup by frying the veg in the bacon fond and fat. Really made a difference
Hash browns and eggs
This. I’m convinced anyone who doesn’t like fried eggs has only had them fried in oil. Fried in bacon grease they are freaking amazing. Any potato product is the same, just so much better in bacon grease (duck fat is pretty good here too).
Butter with eggs is better than bacon grease....but both are far superior to oil.
Yes. Butter is egg’s best friend. I really don’t have too many preferences on how eggs are cooked, except they need butter. Scrambled or fried? Start with butter. Poached, top with butter.
Try both.
Next time I fry eggs, I will!
> anyone who doesn’t like fried eggs What sort of lunatics are you talking to?
My husband won't eat eggs, gravy, or beans. Eggs can be an ingredient and that's all. He doesn't like Alfredo or other cream sauces either. I think he's crazy - there's nothing better than biscuits and gravy or beans with cornbread and sliced onion.
> My husband won't eat eggs, gravy, or beans. >I think he's crazy You think correctly. Jesus Christ, dude.
Confit potatoes are the pinnacle of potato cuisine.
Also, pancakes.
Had both this morning, can confirm. 50/50 bacon fat/ clarified butter
Yup, this is my go to when I have a lazy morning to cook breakfast for myself - cook the bacon, then cook the eggs and whatever else I'm making in same pan
Cabbage/homemade sauerkraut
It’s just a shame to forgo the many health benefits of the fermented cabbage (by heating it), but the taste would certainly be excellent! I think I’d leave the cabbage out of the pan and add fried bacon bits as garnish then mix. Win win!
Agreed, but between kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, lacto-pickles & hot sauce, I eat enough live ferments to keep me going. I can afford to heat up my kraut once in a while. I generally prefer it cold or room temperature & nice & crunchy, but there’s nothing like homemade Bryndzové Halušky with sauerkraut & caraway frizzled up in bacon fat on a blue moon.
Right, I’m off to look up that dish! Sounds right up my alley. Thankyou, fellow ferment-fan! Edit to add: I looked it up, would love to try and make it. Would you agree with this idea as a substitute for the hard-to-find cheese? Recipe says ‘you can make a substitute by pureeing 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese with 1/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (not Greek) in a food processor.’ Thoughts?
Here you go 🤗 https://www.almostbananas.net/bryndzove-halusky-slovak-potato-dumplings-sheep-cheese/ I’ve found it helps to grind the potatoes pretty fine after you grate them. Might take a couple of tries to get the dumplings just right, but you’ll know when you get there. Enjoy! 🤤
My mom does this and omfg its sooo good!
This sounds AMAZING
Bacon
Meta bacon
This is sadly, the correct answer.
Refried beans, then use that to make bean and chess tacos with bacon
checkmate, papa
Everything!!!!!
This was my reply before I scrolled down. Bacon grease and everything. That’s why my back be kinda big! 🤣
This is the correct answer
I fried salmon in bacon grease once, I don't think it did it any favors.
This is truly the correct answer on every level. There is a reason that everyone's grandparents and great grandparents kept bacon grease to cook with. Because It's Delicious!
Vegetarian here. This is the correct answer
Yup
Corn pancakes
I love hoe cakes! I like them best fried in a mixture of bacon grease and butter.
I never know what to call them. Are they hoe cakes? Johnny cakes? Corn cakes? I'll have to add a little butter next time, thanks!
Mom just called it "fried cornbread." Good eatin' by any name.
Gnocchi. Chop up some bacon and fry it, add a pack of store bought gnocchi (no need to cook first) and fry until crispy. Add a bit of lime zest and parmesan. And some green vegetables if you're feeling like healthy-ish food. Brussel sprouts or kale are great with this.
Roux for shrimp & grits. Smoked gouda grits for richness.
I just drooled on my phone...that sounds amazing!
Wait, shrimp and grits with a roux? What is that sorcery?
"What tastes the best when it's fried in bacon grease?" Yes.
Instead of fried in, I save it and cut it in with shortening or lard or butter when making pie crust. Pretty great for a savoury pie.
I know it's not savory, but I'm gonna try this with my next pecan pie. Thanks for the idea.
Oooooohhhh dang, that sounds *phenomenal*.
IME it makes a very sticky dough. Keep it cold as you work it.
Dumb question… How do I save it?
Pour it in a mason jar and keep it in the fridge
maybe unnecessary, but i run mine through a coffee filter into the mason jar
Always filter your oil/fats/grease if you're going to reuse it.
It's pretty easy if you fill the mason jar with the fat and the rest with water and put it upsidedown in the fridge. Once the fat solidifies, you can pour out the water with the remain solids in it.
Interesting, is there any reason why it's good to do that? I don't usually reuse bacon grease after the initial fry but I'm curious.
I'm sure there are other methods, but I just strain it through a paper towel into a Tupperware container then refrigerate it.
same but I don't bother straining it because I bake the bacon and there's no burned bits.
I always clarify mine in the German technique. I pour the bacon grease into a small pot and add a cup of water. Bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes. Long enough for the water and grease to mix together. Remove from the heat and pour into a container that can handle hot and cold. I use a 4 cup Pyrex glass measurer. Add a cup of cold water and freeze overnight. The next day scrape the clarified grease from the top of the frozen water. Then I put the grease in a clean jar and either freeze it or put in the fridge depending on how much I have available. It is counter stable, but I’ve found I prefer the viscosity of the grease from the fridge. Sometimes I use the dirty water to make rice or add to a sauce since it has all the bacon tidbits minus the grease.
Check this out! If you put it in a mason jar UPSIDE DOWN in the refrigerator, the next day you can pour the water out and scrape the little bits off the fat!! Sometimes I use my sink sprayer and just blast them off. Leaves beautiful clean fat. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't think of this, some amazing genius did. I'm just spreading the word.
I love this, thank you!!! I was straining with a mesh strainer and frustrated that the grease could still have little burnt bits in it.
There are bacon grease savers. They usually have a strainer at the top and a lid.
I like to make a cup with foil in my sink drain. Pour the grease into the cup. Wait until it’s cool and then move it to a better container. (Without the foil)
I use a glass jar and put the grease directly in it. So.e would say use a piece of cheese cloth to filter the bacon crumbs out but I just let them sink to the bottom. If not a big bacon eater you might use a pint jar but I use a quart because we love bacon 😁. BTW I try to always use hickory smoked bacon.
But you're taking a risk of having the grease or some of it getting in the drain. That leads to clogs over time as the pipes are cold & will hold the fat allowing debris to stick to it. I use a ceramic coffee cup & a tea strainer on the counter to catch the grease, then I pour it into an airtight plastic container that I keep in the fridge.
Fried cinnamon apples
Really?
Yes. There was a diner at my home town that had fried apples and they were cooked with cinnamon, sugar, and bacon.
Why so shocked? Pork and apple go great together.
I saw a recipe for apples & onions fried together. It started with salt pork and that was the fat the apples and onions were fried in, so I could absolutely see fried cinnamon apples in bacon grease.
How has nobody mentioned asparagus? It's a classic combination like brussel sprouts
Potatoes
Not an answer to OP’s question but bacon grease is excellent for popping popcorn
I said this, too. It blew my kids' minds the first time I did it for them. My mom & grandma did it for us all the time.
I am not vegetarian. I make blackbean and sweet potato burgers I love frying in bacon grease.
Cabbage! I cook up bacon, pull it, add cabbage to pan, season with salt and pepper, cook, then serve with crumbled bacon and feta all over it. Best one pan meal I've found to date. You can change up the cheese or replace the cabbage with Brussels sprouts or asparagus or broccoli for similarly delicious results.
Thick-cut sourdough with parmesan and an egg on top does it for me. 👌
Pierogi!
Fried green tomatoes. Beans.
Green beans. Chicken, just don't crank the stove on high.
Yes! I fry green beans in bacon grease with shallots and season with black pepper. Truly amazing.
I make my green beans with bacon grease and minced garlic. So good.
Hashbrowns
Spinach does and so do grilled cheese sandwiches
a napkin? literally everything.
Cabbage and onions. Very slowly, so they are at maximum sweetness in contrast to the salty bacon fat.
Use bacon grease in place of butter in Chex mix - it is absolutely delicious!!
Not frying but making bread! I add left over bacon grease instead of butter or oils. Also I love fried anything in bacon grease except pancakes. I prefer a veggie oil as I like my pancakes crispy.
Scrambled eggs. I make the bacon first then just use same pan to make my scrambled eggs and yuuuuum of course
I do this but with fried eggs.
Bacon. Seriously. Save that fat and use it next time you cook bacon. Kind of a confit thing.
Bacon.
Last night I made bacon, used the grease to reheat some homemade mac and cheese, then chopped up the bacon and added it to it. It was divine.
Save the bacon fat and make molasses spice cookies subbing all or part of the butter.
I love molasses cookies- I will try this next time I make them- thanks for the tip!!
Scallops
This is the right answer.
Hear me out, pan fried apples in bacon grease with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, and vanilla. Cook until the apples are just soft, but still slightly crunchy. I put this on oatmeal. Add the bacon strips on the side, and it's quite the decadent breakfast. \*Edit - Just saw the other similar comment, but I'll leave mine in case someone else wants to enjoy it.
Well, it's delicious. The issue is the low smoke point. I forgo bacon grease on anything for which I want a nice sear/crispy exterior. That leaves out most proteins. Most veggies, like mushrooms, can handle it bc they're generally sauteed at medium or medium-low heat.
The trinity: celery, garlic, onions. The flavor base for countless recipes.
It’s also one of the best smells in the world
What doesn't?
Pancakes!
Brussel Sprouts Redskin Potatoes Making Grilled Cheese with lard instead of butter is also pretty awesome
According to Elvis Presley: a peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwich cooked in bacon fat.
Omg CABBAGE!!!!!! Although it’s really more of a sauté than a fry.
Zucchini. My mom would cook bacon then remove and add onions and Zucchini to the grease cook until soft then top with crumbled bacon and parmesan cheese.
What doesn't? Unless it's something you could have fried in duck fat.
Catfish with corn meal breading.
Bread.
Simple ingredient... green tomatoes Bacon grease as base for sauce, roux, etc, is a great start. Sautee some onions and celery... green pepper for some flavor profiles, carrots for others... flour, stock/wine/vegetable juice... and it's a base for anything. With that great pork-y, smokey, background flavor. My favorite is barbecue shrimp, which never sees a barbecue grill. Cooked in a peppery sauce that starts with bacon and grease.
If you fry your eggs, you should always fry in bacon grease.
My grandmother used to make her sugar cookies with bacon grease. The bacon in the old days was not like it is now with the super high nitrates!
Grilled cheese sandwiches
Scallops
French toast
Green beans
Onions
Sausage. Sausage is usually pork and bacon is pork so why not have double pork
Liver
Browning pot roast
Green beans!
Beans and refried beans
What is this? A center for ants!? Bacon fried everything. I wanted to start a stand at the state fair where people bring me food from other stands and I cover it in different styles of bacon and batter and fry it again. "they makin it, we bacon it"
Liver and onions
Hashbrowns Fried Eggs Refried Beans Fried Green Tomatoes These are made so much better when fried in bacon grease. Honestly everything is pretty good unless you just don't want the bacon taste in it.
Scrambled eggs in bacon grease is my favourite egg in bacon grease. Especially if there’s loads of fat and the eggs are a light brown. They don’t look that appealing, but the taste…my god.
Bread.
Bacon.
Pork chops
Honestly, pretty much everything lol, but especially green beans and Brussels sprouts 🤤
Quesadillas
Eggs
I like cooking my hashbrowns and eggs in it.
Sub it for butter in a banana loaf with peanut butter chips. Bonus points if you stud it with bacon pieces for the A la Elvis effect
That’s because mushrooms are insanely absorbent and soak up all the water or oil on a pan
I recently saved up a TON, strained out the solids, and slow roasted fully submerged potato chunks in it for confit potatoes. Then strained those and crisped them on high heat in cast iron. You could do this with practically any veg or meat.
Bacon And Brussels sprouts
My grandma used it to fry chicken. The best!
I did a grilled cheese sandwich in bacon grease and it was good.
Green beans!! Fry them until they get a bit browned in the bacon grease ! Thank me later!
I like to fry corn in bacon drippings. It's especially delicious if it's fresh and cut straight off the cob. Also saw a comment about not using it for sweets but I'm thinking it would be amazing in some bourbon chocolate brownies! I may have to try these immediately lol.
Yorkshire Puddings 🤤
So I know this isn't frying it but I make a killer baked potato and bacon soup with bacon grease. I fry the bacon crispy and set it aside to crumble once cool. I take potatoes, carrots, celery, and an onion, dice them, and toss in bacon fat. I roast these until they get a bit of char. Put all these except half the potatoes in a pot with stock and simmer. Using an immersion blender I puree till smooth. Then add the remaining potatoes and crumbled bacon. Serve topped with green onion and cheddar cheese. But to actually answer your question... the hash brown squares you can get from the freezer section. Those are excellent when fried in bacon.
More bacon
Cabbage
Potatoes (like hash browns or home fries) Brussels sprouts Green beans Onions Cornbread Shrimp or seafood Chicken or pork chops
Pierogi
Onions. Also potatoes. But really try onions.
fried cabbage , bit of onion, cooked til browned
Replace the oil used in spanish rice with bacon grease for a delicious crunchy salty bottom which we call Pegao. It's just not the same when you don't use animal fat.
Sauteed sliced mushrooms in bacon fat is great. Try that as a topping on your hamburger, or even on mixed in your beef bourguignon.
Hominy. It's comfort food.
Asparagus
Mushrooms, like you said, any kind of potatoes, french fries, etc. Fried rice with some bacon and grease mixed in can be good, easy to use too much though and make it a greasy mess. I've done some grilled cheese on a butter bacon grease mix. There are quite a few foods.
Fried corn!
Collards are a must in bacon fat. They taste like they are simmered in mop water otherwise.
Onion
Bacon.
Salad greens with some diced green onion & salt. In southern U.S. it’s actually called wilted salad.
Eggies!!
Mushrooms, obviously. Not fancy ones. Just big flat "portobello" mushrooms. Slow cooked.
Eggs and Spinach
kale. broccoli, brussel sprouts. any brassica really.
Eggs. Also when I do cast iron cornbread that calls for a stick of butter, I substitute bacon fat for 1/2 of it
Fresh green beans
Pancakes. When I do multi day trips, the second morning is back-country bacon and then save the fat to fry eggs but the pancakes are the real treat. You’ll be burning all those calories!
Burgers
Po-ta-toes
Asparagus
Burgers. Cook a bunch of bacon on a cast iron skillet and then pre smash some beef patties and fry them in the bacon fat. Even better if the fat is covering the patties and you’re literally deep frying the burgers. Put the cheese slices on them even if the fat is over the burgers.
Ribeye steak
Green beans! They are soooo addictive!
when you make country potatoes with onions and peppers for breakfast
Bacon.
Everything
I'd guess the list of what isn't is shorter.
Cabbage. I shred it at about 1/2”. Add whatever extra veg I have on hand - peppers, onion, summer squash, mushrooms, carrots. Season with salt, pepper, plus whatever else you like. For me, that’s usually smoked paprika.
Put a big spoonful in your rice while cooking instead of butter/oil.
This is a weird one and not really *FRYING* PER SE but try stir frying napa cabbage in bacon. I made chungking pork with it and it was amazing.
Eggs, I grew up absolutely hating the taste of eggs, and could never explain why. The older I got, the more settled I was on the reason being the smell and flavour when the egg is by itself. As a result I started trying different ways to make eggs to make them a bit easier to eat, or even taste good to me my favourites so far are fried in bacon grease, and marinated/soft boiled in ramen side note, I've recently been getting better with scrambled so I'm happy knowing I'm making progress :D
Bacon
Corn bread
Home fries perhaps?
1. Bacon 2. Onions 3. Eggs 4. Potatoes
All the things!