5 Easy AND Healthy Ways to Incorporate Bacon Into Your Meals

Bacon is iconically associated with breakfast. The perfect slice of heaven to get your day started. What if we told you that there are ways to incorporate bacon into your meals without feeling too bad about it later? There are several recipes that display healthy ways to prepare and cook your bacon and delicious ways you can enjoy it any time of the day. We'll cover 8 recipes that you can easily prepare yourself!

You've probably seen this version at burger places or just in your childhood kitchen! Enjoying a burger every now and then for lunch can still be done when eating healthy if you use lean meat and understand moderation. You can substitute the tortilla with any gluten-free or whole-wheat tortilla you prefer or even a piece of bibb lettuce to keep things fresh. You can get the protein bacon offers and the vitamins this way. This recipe from Life in the Lofthouse suggests:

• Our star: Bacon (5 slices chopped - *you can cook this ahead of time*)
• Lean ground beef (1 pound)
• Flour tortillas (5 Large *which could be subbed for GF of lettuce*)
• Worcestershire sauce (1 tablespoon)
• Ketchup (3 tablespoons)
• Dried minced onion (1 tablespoon)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Mustard
• Tomato slices
• Lettuce

Don't forget salt and pepper to taste. Healthy doesn't always equal bland and flavor doesn't equal overpowered. Find the balance that works for you and your health needs. The sauces of course are up to you as well, you can mix and remove any sauce that brings you joy that fits your diet. Instructions for this delicious treat are super simple, but we'll fill in some of the blanks.

1. Pre-heat your oven to about 400 F/204 C. Be sure to line your baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the bacon about 1 inch apart from each other. Cook for about 18-20 minutes or until it's to your desired crisp.
2. Meanwhile, get your large skillet going on medium heat and put your lean ground beef in. Cooking it until it's browned.
3. Slice your tomatoes and set them aside
4. Chop your bacon up to fill your wrap and set it aside.
5. Drain the grease from your ground beef and add your chopped bacon.
6. Add in your sauces, minced onion, and salt and pepper. Stir it until it comes together nicely.
7. For the next 5 minutes, with your heat now REDUCED to low, let it continue to cook and turn off.

Now it's time to prep your wraps!

1. Open your wraps and lay them across your plates - sprinkling cheese in the center of them.
2. Add big tablespoons of your beef mixture on top of your cheese.
3. Drizzle your mustard and ketchup on top of the beef you'd like, as well as your tomato slices.
4. Roll up and enjoy!

*You can grill the wraps once completed if you want your cheese to be melted in a skillet or just enjoy it as is. Just be careful to not let it unravel all of your hard work!*

This recipe wants to show its bacon proudly by going the open-faced route with the sandwich. Also, it's an excellent way to remove some bread! Because bacon is high in sodium it's meant to be enjoyed in moderation - again that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it at all, just means consider how you include it. For example here, there's only one slice on each piece of bread.

The recipe and ingredients are a mixture coming from no one other than Martha Stewart herself who goes more for a grilled cheddar cheese and Greatist who gives an example with grilled brie cheese.

Ingredients are super simple and won't cost you much:

• Bacon (4 slices)
• Cheese of your choice (Brie cheese for our example)
• Red apple (1 large)
• Thick slices of bread (4 *can be whole wheat if you'd like*)

Just 3 very simple steps for this delicious snack:

1. While your oven is preheating at 350 F / 176 C, place your 4 slices of bacon on a baking sheet (don't forget your parchment paper, you want to be able to have an easy cleanup session!) Bake until crisp, about 8 minutes on each side. Drain your bacon on a paper towel and place it to the side.
2. Slice your red apple into quarters, removing the core. Afterward cut them into thin slices.
3. On a clean baking sheet, add your sliced bread: add your sliced brie (or cheese of your choice), red apples, and bacon. Bake until the cheese is melted is toasted or melted. Depends on which type of cheese you are using. If Brie, focus on that toasted rim.

Once out of the oven, plate it and it's ready to enjoy immediately (after cooling of course 🥵)! Enjoy!

This is probably one of the first things you thought of when we mentioned "healthy" and "bacon" isn't it? You can't go wrong with a salad! This hearty and bold-flavored salad crafted by Taste of Home is one we swear by! The rice and bacon mixture complements the arugula greatly and the flavor of the grilled peach and cheese brings it all together.


Here are the ingredients you'll need for this one:

||For your Salad||

• Long grain rice (*can be wild rice if you'd like*)
• Peaches (2 Medium)
• Arugula (6 Cups/roughly 4 ounces)
• Bacon (6 strips cooked and crumbled - *you can cook ahead of time*)
• Feta Cheese (1/2 cup - *their recipe calls for goat cheese, but Feta with peach here is excellent as well. Pick what you enjoy*)

||For your Dressing||

• Dijon mustard (2 tablespoons)
• Cider vinegar (3 tablespoons)
• Canola oil (2 tablespoons)
• Maple syrup (2 tablespoons)
• Shallot (1 - finely chopped)
• Cayenne pepper (1/4 teaspoon)

This salad practically puts itself together:

1. Finely dice up the 1 shallot and slice up the 2 medium peaches.
2. Wash your rice and cook it in the style you enjoy. There's not a particular way the recipe calls for you to cook the rice.
3. Preheat a large skillet over medium to high heat and cook your bacon for 5-6 minutes on each side. Drain your bacon on a paper towel and crumble and set aside.
4. On a lightly oiled grill (medium heat), place your peaches, and let them lightly brown for about 8 minutes, rotating them.
5. Whisk together your sauces and separately your bacon and rice.
6. Time to serve! Lay your arugula down, add the bacon and rice mixture, and top with peaches and drizzle any remaining dressing and feta cheese.

Enjoy!

This twist on a classic comes from Briana Thomas's website! It's a nice, light, thinly sliced, low-carb meal you can have alongside some veggies - that includes bacon! The recipe serves anywhere between 8-10 people so if you want to use this as a dinner meal prep for two days for you and your small family, it's a sure winner.


Ingredients include:

• Chicken breast (3 lb - thinly sliced into strips)
• Pork bacon (1 lb slice thin or thick - your choice!)
• Seasoning rub (Briana suggests a Mediterranean Rub)
• Pepper

Instructions are simple, you'll be able to enjoy this one quickly!

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F/204 C
2. Wash your chicken and season it with your rub of choice.
3. Slice your 3lb chicken breast into thin strips.
4. Wrap your sliced bacon around each piece of chicken and place on a baking sheet or onto a broiler (*you can use nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper or easy clean up*).
5. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Then switch the oven to "broil" for about 5-8 minutes. This will help get your bacon crisp if desired!
6. Plate and enjoy!

*You can add broccoli as a side or a nice vegetable medley.

Krista knows that even though we can incorporate bacon into any meal, there's nothing wrong with a classic! On her blog, Joyful Healthy Eats, Krista provides an awesome sweet potato hash brown recipe that includes smoky bacon and eggs which only takes 10 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook... Talk about EASY. The caloric intake is only about 210 calories with bacon.


Ingredients to pick up:

• Smoked bacon (4 strips, diced)
• Sweet potatoes (2 diced, about 4-5 cups)
• Avocados (2, sliced)
• Eggs (6)
• Red onion (1 diced, about 1 cup)
• Red pepper (1 diced)
• Chives (finely chopped for garnish, about 2 cups)
• Smoked paprika (1 teaspoon)
• Sea salt (1 teaspoon)

Instructions are super simple as well:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F/ 204 C
2. Dice up your ingredients: Bacon, sweet potatoes, red onion, red pepper, and chives, being sure to simply slice the avocados.
3. In a large skillet, cook your diced bacon for about 5 minutes or until desired crispiness. Don't forget to stir!
4. Remove and dry your bacon on a paper towel and set aside.
5. With the skillet still going, add your sweet potatoes and let those cook for about 7 minutes or until they begin to brown.
6. Add in your red onion, red pepper, salt, and smoked paprika. Saute and stir for 4-5 minutes until they become tender.
7. Toss your bacon back in and stir and place the skillet into the oven.
8. Bake for 10 minutes and remove.
9. Create 6 spots to add your egg and hatch each egg into the 6 wells.
10. Place back into the oven and cook until your eggs are done to your liking (*Krista cooked hers for 5-7 minutes*)
11. Remove when done, and add your avocado and chives - enjoy!

There you have it! Easy and healthy ways for you to incorporate bacon into your meals. All doable, leaving you room to experiment with the types of things your pallet enjoys. Bacon contains some essential micronutrients such as potassium, but remember the keyword when consuming it and incorporating it: Moderation. Did you retain any of the bacon facts sprinkled throughout the short list above? Let's find out!