Breakfast Salad with Hot Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

Yields 4 servings

“I believe anything topped with a fried egg counts as breakfast, even salad, especially this salad. We're taking all the high notes of breakfast—crispy bacon, toastie carbs, and hot sauce—and layering them perfectly into a salad. This salad can take you through breakfast, lunch, and maybe even dinner? If you're looking to bulk this up, adding extra eggs and some chopped-up hashbrowns sounds like a pretty good idea!” - Becca Jacobs

This recipe was created and written by Becca Jacobs (@cookingbybecca) as part of our Salads with Friends Instagram video series.

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Assembly

Hot Honey Lemon Vinaigrette:
If using an immersion blender, combine all dressing ingredients in a medium bowl until emulsified. 

If whisking by hand, add vinegar, honey, and hot sauce to a medium bowl and whisk until the honey is dissolved and combined. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to emulsify the dressing. Stir in the salt.

Salad:
Add the bacon to a skillet over medium heat along with ⅓ cup of water. Cook until the bacon is crispy and the fat has been rendered. With a slotted spoon, move the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. 

Reserve ⅓ cup of the bacon fat for frying eggs and leave the rest in the pan.

Add panko to the pan and toast the breadcrumbs over medium heat, stirring regularly to prevent burning. Place breadcrumbs aside and wipe the pan down with a paper towel.

Use reserved bacon fat to fry eggs to your liking.

Assemble the salad by dressing the little gem lettuce with the hot honey lemon vinaigrette. Divide the lettuce among four plates and top each plate with the desired amount of breadcrumbs, tomato, bacon, and cheese. Drizzle on additional dressing and serve with a freshly fried egg on top of each salad.

Ingredients

Hot Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

⅓ cup Meyer Lemon Honey Living Vinegar

⅓ cup honey

3 teaspoons hot sauce

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt

12 oz thick-cut bacon, sliced 

2 cups panko breadcrumbs

4 eggs 

10 oz little gem lettuce

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 

Sharp cheddar cheese, shaved on top to your liking

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