Savory meets sweet in this straightforward from-scratch bacon jam. Learn how to make this caramelized bacon and onion spread for the ultimate addition to any burger, cheese board, or biscuit.

What is Bacon Jam?

This savory-sweet concoction is more like a relish made from slowly cooking bacon with onion, vinegar, sugars, and spices. In order to be dubbed a jam, the recipe uses a certain amount of sugars that cook down, giving the finished product more of a thick and jammy consistency.

It’s equal parts savory and sweet and is reliable for slathering on bread, toast, crackers, and more.

Why We Love It

If you are feeling a bit skeptical about making this bacon jam, fear not. There are many reasons to break out the bacon and get to jamming.

Bacon. Seriously, what’s not to love about something made from bacon??
Pairs with everything. This from-scratch bacon jam can be brought out at breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and even dessert! (Maybe dessert is a bit of a stretch… or is it??)
Great for gifting. It’s a great recipe to make for a hostess or holiday gift.
Supremely straightforward to mix. As an added bonus it cooks up in one pan making clean-up a breeze.

Serving Suggestions

While our favorite way to eat this from-scratch bacon jam is this slathered on plain bread, there are honestly a million uses for this little jar of deliciousness…

Top a juicy burger with some of this from-scratch bacon jam.
Serve it on an egg sandwich at breakfast.
Use it on a sandwich such as a BLT.
Spoon it over a freshly baked potato.
Coat from-scratch pierogies with this salty and sweet jam.
Slather it on some warm biscuits at brunch.
Add it to a cheese plate with fruit preserves and baked brie.
Dress it up in a fun glass jar with a label and gift it as a hostess gift.

Baker notes

We would not recommend trying to can this bacon jam for long-term storage the same way you would for a fruit preserve like from-scratch blueberry jam. Here are a standby ways to store this savory bacon jam.

Refrigerate: Keep freshly made bacon jam in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in a glass container. Serve at room temperature or warm a little before serving.
Freezing: For longer storage, freeze this savory jam. Leave some head space at the top of the jar when you fill it up and store it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Thawing: Transfer to the refrigerator to thaw and keep for up to 2 weeks after moving to the refrigerator.

Troubleshooting Bacon Jam

Bacon Recipes to Make Next

Savory, sticky, and sweet this from-scratch bacon jam has it all. Reliable for burgers, sandwiches, bread, and more, you will wonder why you haven’t been putting this jam on everything!

Photography by Lauren Grant.

Bacon Jam

Yield: 1 cups
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ( 454 g ) thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup ( 180 ml ) brewed coffee
½ cup ( 120 ml ) water
⅓ cup ( 80 ml ) cider vinegar
⅓ cup ( 104 g ) maple syrup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon chili powder

Method

Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, shallot and garlic to the rendered fat in the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is completely softened, about 10 minutes. Return the bacon to the pot, then stir in the coffee, water, vinegar, maple syrup, brown sugar, honey, allspice and chili powder. Bring the mixture to a simmer (lower the heat if you see that it’s actually boiling) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and a rubber spatula or wooden spoon leaves a distinct trail when dragged across the bottom of the pot, 1 to 1½ hours.
Remove from the heat and allow the bacon mixture to cool for 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mixture to the work bowl of a food processor. Discard any excess fat in the pot. Pulse the bacon mixture until finely chopped, about 5 pulses, or to desired consistency. Store the jam in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The jam is best served at room temperature.

Notes

Equipment: Dutch oven (or other heavy-bottomed pot) / Food processor

Food Processor Alternative: You can pulse in a high-powered blender, or chop/smash finely with a knife to get the correct consistency.

Bacon : THE most important ingredient in this recipe. We suggest using thick-cut bacon to make the jam.

Coffee Alternative: If you can’t have caffeine, decaf will work just fine. If you need to avoid coffee entirely, substitute the same amount of water.

Storage: Keep freshly made bacon jam in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in a glass container. Serve at room temperature or warm a little before serving.

Freezing: For longer storage, freeze this savory jam. Leave some headspace at the top of the jar when you fill it up and store it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Thawing: Transfer to the refrigerator to thaw and keep for up to 2 weeks after moving to the refrigerator.

Photography by Lauren Grant.