Kosher Bacon

We have been making this recipe for Kosher Bacon for years and it is time to share it with the world. Anyone who grew up not keeping kosher laments the fact that they can no longer eat bacon. That ends today! Well, sort of... this recipe isn't the real thing but it is great bacon substitute. This is truly a Treif Hack. Just try it and see. This recipe is kosher, gluten free, dairy free, and nut free.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Kosher Bacon step by step
• Pro Tip
• Variations
• Storage
• Serving Suggestions
• Recipe
• Serving Suggestions
• Food safety
• Recipe Categories

Crispy, fatty, sweet, salty, and spicy all in one place. I hope you are drooling just reading that description. We love this recipe for Kosher Bacon because it is:

• Easy to make. While this recipe does take up to a week to finish, most of that is the time it takes for the meat to cure. The actual recipe is super easy to make.
• Made with only 4 ingredients. The flavors that we love from Kosher Bacon only take a 3 ingredient curing rub and a good quality piece of meat.
• Made with no nitrates. Most bacon (and other cured meat) cured meat recipes that are mass produced use sodium nitrate as a coloring agent and preservative. Many people do not feel comfortable using sodium nitrate. Since you are making this recipe fresh in your home you don't have to worry about it sitting on a shelf so we don't use sodium nitrate.

• Kosher for Passover. We are always looking for good quality Kosher for Passover recipes and this one does not contain any chometz or kitniyot.
• Super delicious! There is a reason that bacon has its reputation for being delicious. The sweet and salty cure along with the crisp of the rendered fat from the meat make this a tasty treat for any number of our serving suggestions.

Ingredients

This is a basic bacon curing rub. Just like our Homemade Brown Sugar Smoked Salmon rub, there is nothing fancy here, just 3 key ingredients and then the meat.

• Brown sugar for sweetness.
• Kosher salt cures the meat and gives it the signature salty flavor.
• Black pepper for a little bit of a kick.
• Lamb or veal breast. For this recipe post we used veal breast but lamb breast works just as well. The key is that it needs to be a nice fatty cut of meat that is relatively thin to let the rub do its work. We removed the bones but you can just leave them in if you don't want to bother with removal.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Kosher Bacon step by step

Step 1 - Prepare the meat for curing

Mix the brown sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper together. Make sure they are well blended because you want the flavors evenly distributed over the surface of the meat. Next, lay down some plastic wrap and place the meat on top of it. Rub the spice on to every square inch of the surface.

Wrap the meat up with the plastic wrap and place it into an airtight plastic bag. Let cure in the refrigerator for 7 days. Curing is the process by which the rub permeates the meat and gives it its flavor. Curing does not require you to do anything except let it sit.

Step 2 - Soak the cured meat

Remove the now cured meat from the plastic bag and completely submerge it in water for 2 hours. This is a very important step because it removes the excess curing rub from the meat. If you don't soak it, the Kosher Bacon will be way too salty and not enjoyable. After removing it from the water, let the Kosher Bacon sit on a rack to dry for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Step 3 - Slice and cook

Slicing along the short end, cut strips that are approximately ⅛ inch thick.

Fry them in a frying pan or cast iron skillet over medium/high heat until the Kosher Bacon strips are nice and crispy.

Pro Tip

After drying the Jewish Bacon, freeze it before slicing. It is so much easier to cut frozen. Also, you can get thinner slices.

Variations

This is a base recipe that tastes amazing just like it is but we do have some variations we like:

• Spicy - add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the rub.
• Aromatic - add 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon of thyme to the rub.
• Smoky - instead of leaving the bacon out to dry for 24 hours, smoke it in your smoker for 1 hr at 200ºF. It is ready to slice as soon as it cools.

Storage

This recipe is build for short and long term storage.

• Short term storage - slice the whole bacon and place the slices into an airtight container or plastic bag. Refrigerate for up to 7 days. Do this only if you are sure you will eat it all within the week.
• Long term storage - freeze the whole bacon and remove from the freezer only to slice off what you want, put it back into the freezer immediately. This should freeze well for up to 6 months.

Serving Suggestions

• Kosher breakfast - a complete kosher breakfast includes Kosher Bacon, eggs, and fruit. Check out Kosher Bacon and Eggs for ideas of how to plate this.
• Kosher BLT - a kosher BLT...who knew? For the uninitiated, a BLT is a classic American sandwich that stands for bacon, lettuce, and tomato.
• Cobb Salad with Kosher Bacon - Our recipe for Kosher Cobb Salad uses beef fry but this works just as well.
• Bacon Burger. Top a hamburger with 3 strips of Kosher Bacon.

Recipe

Food safety

Kosher Bacon is delicious when it is fully cooked and ready to serve. But, because you are dealing with raw meat for much longer than you may be used to there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave raw Kosher Bacon sitting out at room temperature for extended periods

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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