Everyone loves eating bacon, but when you overcook it, it’s not nearly as good. Fortunately, there are things you can do with overcooked bacon and ways you can fix it.
Overcooked bacon can be reheated in the oven with water to soften it up, mixed into a dip, salad or dressing or even be chopped up to make jalapeno poppers.
This article will explore 6 things you can do with overcooked bacon, as well as 6 ways to save it after it has been cooked too long.
6 Things to Do with Overcooked Bacon
While crispy bacon is delicious, overcooked bacon can taste dry and tough. Here are some things you can do with overcooked bacon:
1. Make a Dip
You can easily make a dip by combining bacon bits you chopped up yourself from overcooked bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and some cream cheese. It hides the taste of the overcooked bacon and makes for a very tasty dip.
2. Use Bacon in Salads and Dressings
Chop up your overcooked bacon into tiny pieces and add it to salad dressings and even the salads themselves. It will add some flavor to those dishes and you won’t have to throw the bacon away.
3. Make Jalapeno Poppers
If you love jalapeno poppers, add some chopped bacon to the cream cheese before making the poppers for some extra yummy flavors. It almost tastes like bacon-wrapped poppers but without the hassle of wrapping them in bacon!
4. Sprinkle it on Top of Pizza
Chopped bacon also tastes great on top of pizza, especially if it’s a meat-lover’s pizza!
5. Make a Snack Out of It
Some people have been known to sprinkle a little powdered sugar and cinnamon on top of the chopped bacon and then eat this as a snack. The sweetness of the sugar and saltiness of the bacon go together well for a great-tasting snack.
6. Add it to dishes for seasoning
Chop up overcooked bacon finely and add to tons of dishes to make them taste better, including soups, stews, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and so much more.
6 Ways to Fix Overcooked Bacon
There are a few easy ways to fix overcooked bacon at home so you can still use it.
1. Keep the Bacon Warm
The more the bacon cools off, the more tough and dry it will be. If you keep the meat nice and warm until you’re ready to eat it, it hides the dryness and makes it taste a little more moist.
2. Simmer It in Broth
If your bacon is especially tough, try simmering it on a low setting in a tiny bit of broth. The flavor from the broth helps make the bacon taste better, and the slow simmering and moisture helps relieve some of the dryness.
You can even add a few tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to live it up some more.
3. Add a Sauce
When your bacon is overcooked, you don’t want to add anymore spices to it because that can dry it out more.
Instead, add some sauce that goes well with bacon and mix the two ingredients together well. It should do a great job of adding moisture back into the meat.
4. Put It in a Beef Stew
You can also chop up your overcooked bacon and put it in a beef stew or similar dish.
Because it’s mixed in with the stew, you won’t notice if the taste of the bacon is a little different. Plus, it adds a lot of flavor to any stew you put it in.
5. Use It as Bacon Bits
If you chop up your overcooked bacon, you can use it as bacon bits on a salad, baked potato, or anything else you put bacon bits on. The bacon bits will blend in nicely with any of these dishes.
6. Put It in the Oven
Yet another way to salvage your overcooked bacon is to bake it.
Put it in a baking dish, drizzle some sauce or even a little water over it, cover it with aluminum foil, and place it in a 400-degree oven for 5-10 minutes. This is an easy method of bringing overcooked bacon back to life.
How to Know if Bacon Is Overcooked
It can be difficult to tell exactly when bacon is overcooked because most people want to make sure the bacon isn’t undercooked, which is unhealthy for you.
But overcooked bacon is unhealthy as well, so you don’t want your bacon to turn out either way. The best way to describe bacon that is cooked too long is to describe what bacon looks like when it’s just right and ready to remove from the heat. These include:
- The texture: make sure it isn’t too soft or too hard
- The shape: look for ends that are slightly curled and therefore done
- The moisture: look for no moisture but just a slight bit of oil on each slice
- The color: look for a golden brown color and not a dark-brown color
Keep in mind that your bacon will keep cooking even after you remove it from the heat. Some people find cooking bacon in an oven works best because they can control the temperature better and it’s easier not to overcook it.
Is It Better to Cook Bacon Fast or Slow?
It is almost always better to cook bacon slowly rather than too fast. Cooking bacon too fast usually burns it, and most people don’t like it this way.
The best thing you can do is cook your bacon on a low to medium heat and cook it slowly rather than cooking it at a high temperature for a shorter period of time. It helps the bacon cook more evenly so that it tastes better when you’re done.
Conclusion
Overcooked bacon, for all practical purposes, should be discarded. It can have a bitter taste and be hard and chewy. If you’re a bacon lover and don’t want to get rid of it, at least now you know there are numerous things you can do with it.
I am an accredited practicing dietitian, experienced gardener and a dedicated cook. I love writing and sharing my experience so you can learn from my successes and mistakes.