How to Save and Use Bacon Grease

Do you love bacon? Most people do. If it’s something you regularly prepare for breakfast, you likely end up with a lot of bacon grease leftover in your skillet. So, what do you usually do with the bacon grease? If you’re getting rid of it, you’re doing yourself a significant disservice. You can add bacon grease to tons of different recipes!

It’s a great idea to save your leftover grease, store it in a suitable container, and use it when you need it. If you’re not sure how to save the bacon grease or even use it to make plenty of other meals, check out these helpful tips!

If you need a way to use your crispy bacon try my Breakfast Casserole with Bacon and Hash Browns recipe.

Let It Cool Down

Before storing your bacon grease, you need to let it cool down. It’s going to be extremely hot when you first finish preparing your bacon, and you don’t want to put yourself at risk of sustaining a burn injury. You can leave it in the skillet for at least an hour to give it some time to cool down.

Store the Bacon Grease in the Proper Container

Once your bacon grease is cool enough for you to touch it without burning a finger, you can work on pouring it into a good container. The correct container will offer enough space for the grease and come with an airtight lid attached to it. You need to have a cover on your container if you’re going to save your bacon grease!

I like to use mason jars for an affordable option but I love this container with built in mesh specifically designed for storing grease.

Put Your Bacon Grease in the Fridge

Some people leave their bacon grease out on their kitchen tables or place it inside a cabinet in the kitchen, but this isn’t the best idea. If you’d like to keep it fresh and usable, you should put it in the fridge. Bacon grease lasts an incredibly long time in the refrigerator. You can continue using it for up to three months if you decide to put it in your fridge.

Freeze Your Bacon Grease as Long as You Want To

The great thing about freezing bacon grease is that you can keep it in the freezer for as long as you want to. You might accumulate lots of bacon grease over several months, meaning you’ll have more than enough to put into different containers and freeze. Once it’s frozen, bacon grease stays good for lengthy periods, so you don’t have to worry about it going bad on you.

The Best Ways to Re-Use Bacon Grease

You’ll be surprised to know there are hundreds of different ways to use bacon grease. It adds flavor to so many foods. If you want to put your bacon grease to good use, consider using it as an ingredient in some of the following recipes.

Cast Iron Seasoning

One of the ways I use bacon grease in my home is to season my cast iron cookware. I have found it to be the best for keeping the cast iron rust free and non-stick.

Cast Iron Cooking
Awesome Cast Iron Products for Your Homestead Kitchen

Make a Bacon Grease Candle

You can actually make a candle and use your bacon grease as the base for an emergency candle. You don’t have to save it for an emergency of course! You’ll have a bacon scented candle, naturally.

How To Make a Bacon Grease Survival Candle
DIY Mason Jar Candles

Grilled Cheese

Who needs butter when you’ve got bacon grease? The next time you’re making grilled cheese, consider adding bacon grease to the pan, allowing it to get hot, and then frying your sandwich on both sides. It’s going to taste like the best-grilled cheese you’ve ever had!

Make Gravy

Prepare a flavorful gravy using bacon grease. You’d mix the grease with flour, milk, and seasonings to create a gravy that you can use on various meats and potatoes. You might even want to pour the gravy over some fresh homemade biscuits.

Sausage Gravy Recipe

Add It to Baked Potatoes

If you’d like to make tasty baked potatoes with crispy skin, rub your baked potatoes in the bacon grease and then put them on a baking sheet in the oven. Let the baked potatoes cook in the oven for about 45 minutes before removing them and slicing them in half. You’ll notice the skin is perfectly crisp and has the best taste.

Use It When Preparing Eggs

Make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, or even omelets in a skillet with bacon grease instead of butter. The bacon grease gives the eggs an added touch that you will love.

Prepare Veggies in the Grease

When you want to saute veggies and give them more flavor, bacon grease is such a key ingredient. Add a tablespoon of the grease to your skillet, wait for it to get hot, and then toss in some of your favorite veggies, such as broccoli and baby carrots. You can quickly transform veggies into the most flavorful side dish you’ve ever tasted.

Make a Creamy Sauce for Pasta

Combine bacon grease with cream cheese and heavy whipping cream to create a creamy, flavorful sauce to pour over pasta. It’s going to taste great. You might even want to toss some crumbled pieces of bacon, chopped grilled chicken, and broccoli into the pasta with this homemade creamy sauce.

Bacon Scallion Cream Sauce Recipe

Toss a Bit of Grease Into Your Pot of Soup

When preparing soup on the stove, whether from a can or homemade, add a bit of bacon grease to it. The grease will add such a unique, smoky taste to the soup. It goes great with many types of soups, especially creamy potato soup with shredded cheese on top!

Make Bacon Mayonnaise

If you like making your own condiments from scratch you’ll love making your mayonnaise. You can reuse your bacon grease to make Baconnaise. You’ll have a delicious sandwich spread with a hint of bacon flavor.

Saving bacon grease simply makes sense. If you’re going to make bacon, you’ll end up with grease in the skillet. Instead of tossing it out and getting rid of such a valuable ingredient, store it and save it for later. The number of foods you can prepare with bacon grease as a primary ingredient are endless.

You’ll love the flavor the grease brings to some of your favorite dishes, including grilled sandwiches, veggies, and even stews. If you don’t already have a good container for storage, consider buying mason jars or other large containers with airtight lids to have available to use when you need a safe place to store your bacon grease.

How to Save and Use Bacon Grease - the Imperfectly Happy home (2024)