When I was left to make dinner with only bacon, cheese, and spinach left in the fridge I had to think of something that would blow all of my other bacon recipes out of the water. This one did it for sure, and then some. Presenting the cheddar bacon explosion!
The leftovers are EVEN better. You can cut the slices thin, pan fry them to get a crisp outer shell on both sides, and stick it between 2 slices of Focaccia Bread. Absolutely delicious.
I use Tone’s Southwest Chipotle Seasoning in this which gives a reminiscing taste of smoking it on a barbecue. It has deep notes of smoke and spice that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere that pairs perfectly with heavy handed amounts of bacon.
From meatballs to hamburgers to meals made entirely of bacon, this is a seasoning that is a must-have for your pantry.
Make sure you do NOT use thick sliced bacon when making this. The bacon won’t cook properly on the inside if you use a thick cut, rather than a normal cut, which will lead to a soggy and fat filled mess. It will be under cooked on the inside, and nobody wants to eat under cooked pork.
We’re using the convection option again, to cook this in the oven. This helps cook the bacon through and also add a crisp layer on the outside of the whole roll. Don’t have a convection option? You can cook it at 400°F in a regular oven. Though it won’t turn out as crispy as if you do it on convection. To get it crispy on the outside, you can broil the bacon at the very end for about 4-5 minutes.
Yields 5 Servings of Cheddar Bacon Explosion.
The Preparation
- 30 slices bacon
- 2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 5 cups raw spinach
- 2 tablespoons Tones Southwest Chipotle Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Table Seasoning
The Execution
1. Preheat your oven on CONVECTION at 375°F. If you don’t have a convection option, you can do 400°F on bake. Though it won’t turn out as crispy.
2. Start weaving! This step is the most crucial of all the steps. When you place your bacon down, make sure it is all facing the same way. This ensures an even cook when we put it in the oven. You want to do 15 strips that are vertical, and then 12 strips horizontally, to over the whole span of the rest of the bacon. With the remaining 3 strips, you will cut them in half and use them as the remainder of the horizontal strips, to cover any gaps you might have.
3. You want your bacon weave to be tight, and not have holes in it when it’s finished. It will create holes on its own when you start to roll it, so try to get it as tight as possible at the beginning. You’ll be weaving it under and over each slice of bacon, alternating the weave on each slice you pass.
4. Once your bacon weave is finished, season it up with your favorite seasoning. I love getting a barbecue type of taste when I do this type of thing, so I am using Tones Southwest Chipotle Seasoning. Spread it well onto the bacon and rub it into the bacon.
5. Add all of your cheese to the bacon. Make sure it’s spread out well and evenly covers the bacon weave. You want to leave about a 1 1/2 inch border around the edges so that the cheese doesn’t leak out too much.
6. Add all of your spinach to the top of the cheese. Use the palm of your hands to compress the spinach a little bit. This will help out when rolling it. You have to roll it tight, so having the bacon compressed makes it a lot easier to roll.
7. Use the edge of your foil to get the beginning of the roll started. If you’ve ever rolled a cigarette, it will be a similar fasion to how this is done. Though conversely from a cigarette, you want a very tight roll from the beginning. You want it to be compressed as much as you can get it.
8. Once you roll your bacon out, make sure you season it on the outside. Don’t go overboard on the seasoning since this will be sitting in your hot oven, which could lean toward some burnt spices. You might have some excess cheese the started to fall out of the rollup. I picked some of the extra cheese off and left the rest to melt and fall out on its own.
9. Get some foil and cover a baking sheet. Add plenty of salt to the baking sheet. This absorbs the grease that will drip off of all of the bacon, making sure that it doesn’t burn and stops smoke from occurring in your oven.
10. Put your bacon roll on a cooling rack and put the cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Put this in your oven for 60-70 minutes (It will be longer if you are not using convection bake, about 90 minutes).
11. Once you take it out of the oven, you should notice a very crisp top layer. You want to let this cool for about 10-15 minutes before you try to transfer it off of the cooling rack.
12. Transfer your bacon to a cutting board and slice to your desired thickness. Enjoy!
This will make 5 total servings that are extremely filling. Per serving, it comes out to 415.2 Calories, 32.44g Fats, 2.69g Net Carbs, and 25.97g Protein.
| Cheddar Bacon Explosion | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 30 slices bacon | 1332 | 105.15 | 3.28 | 0 | 3.28 | 86.82 |
| 2 ½ cups (169.5 g) shredded cheddar cheese |
685 | 56.46 | 5.24 | 0 | 5.24 | 38.76 |
| 5 cups (150 g) raw spinach | 34 | 0.58 | 5.45 | 3.3 | 2.15 | 4.29 |
| 2 tablespoons Tones Southwest Chipotle Seasoning |
20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Table Seasoning | 5 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Totals | 2076 | 162.19 | 16.77 | 3.3 | 13.47 | 129.87 |
| Per Serving(/5) | 415.2 | 32.44 | 3.35 | 0.66 | 2.69 | 25.97 |
Cheddar Bacon Explosion
Ingredients
- 30 slices bacon
- 2 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 5 cups raw spinach
- 2 tablespoons Tones Southwest Chipotle Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Table Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F convection bake.
- Weave the bacon. 15 pieces that are vertical, 12 pieces horizontal, and the extra 3 cut in half to fill in rest, horizontally.
- Season your bacon with your favorite seasoning mix.
- Add your cheese to the bacon, leaving about 1 1/2 inch gaps between the edges.
- Add your spinach and press down on it to compress it some. This will help when you roll it up.
- Roll your weave slowly, making sure it stays tight and not too much falls through. You may have some cheese fall out, but don't worry about it. Add your seasoning to the outside here, if you'd like.
- Foil a baking sheet and add plenty of salt to it. This will help catch excess grease from the bacon and not let your oven smoke.
- Put your bacon on top of a cooling rack and put that on top of your baking sheet.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes, without opening the oven door. Your bacon should be very crisp on the top when finished.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes before trying to take it off the cooling rack. Slice into pieces, and serve!
