This magical combination of tender sautéed spinach, crispy bacon bits, and thinly sliced mushrooms is the ultimate one-pan vegetable side dish. It also happens to be Whole30-compatible, paleo, and keto-friendly!
Once upon a time, you couldn’t eat bacon until your Whole30 was over. Nowadays, you can easily find Whole30-compatible —and delicious—bacon at most supermarkets, so you never need to take a break from bacon! All joking aside, you just need a few bacon slices to elevate a standard pan of sautéed spinach to company-worthy fare.
This 30-minute dish is a riff on a recipe from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food website for sautéed spinach and bacon. After surveying the contents of my crisper, I modified the dish by adding some sliced shallots and cremini mushrooms. After all, who can say no to more umami?
Ingredients
The best thing about this simple recipe is that you can make it with commonly found ingredients at the supermarket!
- Whole30-compatible bacon: some of my favorite brands include Pederson’s, Wellshire Farms, Keller Crafted Meats, and Applegate. No matter what brand you purchase, read the labels to make sure there’s no sugar or weird additives.
- Shallots: sliced onions or leeks also work!
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Cremini mushrooms: you can also use thinly sliced shiitake, oyster, or mixed mushrooms.
- Organic spinach or baby spinach: make sure you wash and spin dry the spinach!
- Aged balsamic vinegar: sherry, white balsamic, and red wine vinegar (Banyuls is especially nice) are all great in this dish.
Equipment
- All of my recommended kitchen tools are listed here.
How to make sautéed spinach with bacon and mushrooms
Toss the bacon bits into a cold 12-inch skillet and crank the heat to medium.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon bits are crispy, around 10 to 12 minutes.
Once the bacon bits are crispy, use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon bits to a paper towel-lined platter.
Toss the shallots in the pan with the reserved bacon grease. Sauté the sliced shallots until they’re translucent and softened.
Add sliced mushrooms to the pan.
Season with kosher salt and black pepper and cook until they’ve developed some brown bits and the liquid has cooked off.
Stir in handfuls of the spinach in batches, adding in more spinach as the previous batch wilts.
Once all the spinach has been added, season the dish salt and pepper.
Continue stir-frying the spinach until it has just wilted. Turn off the heat and mix in the vinegar.
Transfer the spinach to a plate and sprinkle the bacon bits on top.
Enjoy!
What main dish can you serve with this?
- Air Fryer Cracklin’ Chicken
- Umami Roast Chicken
- Spatchcocked Chicken with Herb Butter
- Instant Pot Magic Short Ribs
- Instant Pot Magic Pork
[Originally posted on January 29, 2011. Updated with new information and photos on April 25, 2021.]
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Sautéed Spinach with Bacon and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 3 bacon slices cut crosswise into ¼-inch slices
- 2 large shallots thinly sliced
- ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper divided
- ¾ pound cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 pound spinach washed and ends trimmed or baby spinach
- 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar or Banyuls vinegar
Instructions
- Toss the bacon bits into a cold 12-inch skillet and crank the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon bits are crispy, around 10 to 12 minutes.
- Once the bacon bits are crispy, use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon bits to a paper towel-lined platter.
- Toss the shallots in the pan with the reserved bacon grease. Sauté the sliced shallots until they’re translucent and softened, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms into the pan. Season with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper and cook until they've developed some brown bits and the liquid has evaporated, about 5 to 7 minutes
- Stir in handfuls of the spinach in batches, adding in more spinach as the previous batch wilts.
- Once all the spinach has been added, season the dish with ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Continue stir-frying the spinach until it has just wilted. Turn off the heat and mix in the vinegar.
- Transfer the spinach to a plate and sprinkle the bacon bits on top. Enjoy!
Cory says
Love this dish! So easy to make and so much flavour. I put a clove of garlic in with the shallots as I only had one shallot on hand.
Katie says
I don’t usually get excited about spinach but I’m trying to work in more leafy greens so I gave this a try. I could eat this breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sooooooooo amazing!
Paula says
Could I use Swiss Chard instead of spinach? I have a bumper crop of Swiss chard and need some ideas for a recipe.
Michelle Tam says
Yes!
Florence says
I’m always looking for a new spinach recipe and I found it! Just so happen to have fresh baby spinach and white button mushrooms on hand. Used 1/4 white onion instead of shallots. Used fat drippings instead of bacon. Still delicious.