Recipe: Bacon Jam (or with Chorizo and Pancetta)

Oh. my. goodness. This is amazing stuff right here. Bacon jam is a revelation. Why had I not thought of this earlier in my lifetime? So many good times, happy moments could have been had. Bacon jam to soothe the soul, to warm the cockles, to bring a smile to my bacon-obsessed life.

Regular readers will know that I am a bacon fiend – I love the stuff (see Candied Bacon, Bacon Brownies and Bacon and Sweet Potato Cakes). As the poster below so rightly states, If you don’t like bacon, you’re wrong. I love bacon, and so to find that Bacon Jam exists brought joy to my heart.

either you like baconSo, last night I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the impending move and the mountains of work I need to do. As I generally do in these situations, I opened up my Recipes folder and picked something to play around with. On this fair evening I chose to adapt a Bacon Jam recipe. I was actually down to only 1 rasher of bacon (horror of horrors) so I decided to use a mix of pancetta and chorizo (which I had in abundance) instead.

There was a possibility that it could taste overpowering. But it didn’t. It tastes AMAZING!

bacon jam and crackers

Bacon (Chorizo and Pancetta) Jam

  • 300g  bacon, cut into 1-inch strips (or chorizo, pancetta, or combination of all)
  • 1 large onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 60ml cider vinegar
  • 60ml  light brown sugar (I know sounds weird, but I adapted the recipe from an american one)
  • 30ml maple syrup
  • 90ml  strongly brewed black coffee
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  1. Cook the bacon and pancetta in a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once they have turned a lovely sticky brown add the chorizo (if using) and stir until slightly charred. Remove the bacon et al. using a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate.
  2. Add the onions to the remaining bacon fat and cook until translucent.

  3. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and turn up the heat. Allow the mixture to boil, stirring the whole time, for about two minutes. Then turn the heat down to low, add the bacon back in, and simmer until the mixture cooks down and the liquid has thickened into a syrup. This took around 30 minutes (Note: I think mine is slightly over done, so take it off the heat just before you think it’s syrupy).

  5. Turn off the heat, and let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes. Pour into a food processor and whizz up the mixture into a coarse jam texture.
  6. Spoon into a clean sterilised jar and store in the fridge for up to a month

  7. Enjoy with crackers, bread, cheese and other pickles. Or, as I am intending, to spread on toast and top with a fried egg. Yum! (note: Bacon Jam tastes best when brought up to room temperature)

bacon jam and good housekeeping

If you like this recipe check out my recipe index for more tasty stuff

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