Poaching eggs is one of those cooking techniques that's shrouded in mystery—but for no good reason! We have two tricks that will help you poach with confidence—even if it's the first time—and yield runny yolks surrounded my firm but not bouncy whites. Perch one atop a French bistro-style salad and magic happens: The yolks mingle with the bacon vinaigrette (that's right—we're using bacon renderings as the fatty element of the salad dressing) to create a rich sauce that coats the lettuce and the crunchy-soft croutons. We're calling for 1 poached egg per salad in this recipe, but if you’re really hungry and want to make a more filling meal of it, go ahead and poach 2 eggs per person. The method is the same.
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What you’ll need
Measuring Cups
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Measuring Spoons
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Medium Saucepan
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Chef's Knife
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Cutting Board
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Large Bowl
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Medium Skillet
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Tongs
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Wooden Spoon
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Small Bowl
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Sieve
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Medium Bowl
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Paper Towels
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Ingredients
2 servings
¼
6
1
½
8
3
¼
1
2
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Meanwhile, tear ¼ baguette into 1" irregular craggy pieces (these will be your croutons). Cut 6 oz. thick-cut bacon crosswise into ¾" strips. Peel 1 large shallot, then thinly slice crosswise. Slice ½ small bunch of chives into ¾" batons.
Step 2
Thoroughly wash and dry 8 cups frisée. Transfer to a large bowl.
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Step 3
Heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium until shimmering. Add torn bread and stir well to evenly coat in oil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp in some areas, 4–5 minutes. You aren’t looking for croutons that are crisp all the way through—just some good browning on the outside. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and transfer to a plate. Let cool; reserve skillet.
Step 4
Return skillet to medium heat. Cook bacon, stirring frequently, until just shy of crisp, 4–5 minutes.
Step 5
Add shallots and ½ tsp. pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are just softened, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and stir in ¼ cup red wine vinegar, scraping bottom of skillet to collect all those yummy bits.
Step 6
Add 1 Tbsp. honey, stirring to combine. Taste the dressing—if it feels like it needs a little bit more acidity, add a splash of vinegar. Every type of bacon will render out a different amount of fat, and it’s that fat that will balance out the acidic vinegar, so you have to use your judgement.
Step 7
Time to poach 2 eggs! Crack each egg into small separate bowls. Working over another bowl or the sink, carefully tilt bowl into a fine-mesh sieve, allowing excess white to slip through. This leaves behind a smaller orb of egg white that surrounds the yolk and ensures that your poached eggs won't have those scraggly, tail bits. Transfer egg to a medium shallow bowl. Repeat with remaining egg and transfer to same medium bowl.
Step 8
Carefully lower rim of medium bowl into saucepan of boiling water. Tilt bowl so each egg gently drops into the water, one by one. Turn off heat and set a timer for 3 minutes. Poaching the eggs in hot, unmoving water, allows them to cook super gently.
Step 9
While eggs cook, toss lettuce, bacon vinaigrette, croutons, and chives to combine; season with salt. Divide salad between bowls.
Step 10
Back to those eggs. Using a slotted spoon, scoop up each egg and lightly blot on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels to remove any water clinging on.
Step 11
Transfer egg to top of each salad; season eggs with salt and pepper.
How would you rate Frisée Salad With Warm Bacon Vinaigrette?
Leave a Review
Reviews (20)
Back to TopWe loved this salad! I cooked the bacon and took it out, poured off most of the bacon fat then sautéed the shallots, took them out and then deglazed with the vinegar added the honey and some olive oil. It was soooo yummy.
Pamela
Seaside,CA
10/10/2023
I love this salad! I order it when restaurants have it on their menu. Now, I can make it myself!
Laura Barrett
Jackson Heights, NY
9/5/2023
So good!! Seriously one of my favorite unhealthy salads!
DasJerminations
Flavortowne, Ohio
3/14/2021
My mother used to make this sixty years ago. So good. She'd make it without the egg for dinner lots of times.
Anonymous
Northville, MI
2/24/2021
So tasty, easy enough to whip up on a lazy morning. And a great way to use up greens if you "accidentally" purchased two farm boxes at the farmers market because you are just trying to support your local farmers during the trying time and now good lord what am I to do with ALL. THESE. GREENS. Only edit I made: my bacon didn't render much fat so I tossed on a scoop from my fridge fat jar and it happened to be from some maple bacon. That sweetness really mellowed out the vinegar nicely, a great contrast if you're into salty/sweet.
Anonymous
Seattle, WA
5/4/2020
This tasted SO good. One comment though—the thick cut bacon ended up producing a LOT of grease, so when I went to add the red wine vinegar, the grease outshined the vinegar. I poured a *little* bit of the grease/vinegar mixture out, then replenished the vinegar back in. Also, I substituted the frisee for a mesclun salad mix. Trying to stay somewhat healthy this quarantine people!
driannealice
new york city
4/26/2020
I have EVERYTHING to make this except frisée. Can't find it at any grocery store in town (and there are 8) probably BC of these crazy times. Think it would be good with chicory lettuce?
Ntorresbernal1
St, Catharines, ON, Canada
3/31/2020
Loved it! Having fun cooking at home in these crazy times!
Anonymous
3/25/2020
Possibly my favorite recipe from the website! Super easy and impressive towards guests. Will make over and over again.
kelleycothron8693
Nashville, TN
3/9/2020
This was very good! The vinaigrette is absolutely perfect. Next time I make it, I am going to combine this recipe with some ingredients from the BLT salad recipe to make it a bit more substantial. This is a perfect lunch salad, but needs a little something extra around dinner time.
Anonymous
Indiana, USA
11/19/2019
Loved this salad! The croutons, the vinaigrette and the poached eggs were sooooo good together. Thank you for the simply directions on poaching an egg! Could you tell us how many calories are in the dressing? Thanks!
Anonymous
Louisiana
10/27/2019
This recipe is amazing! My husband goofed on the baguette so we used croissants for the croutons instead and it was perfect! I've eaten this salad for times in the past week now, it's so good! The basically format is super clunky on my phone, though. I would love a recipe card at the end so 8 don't have to scroll while I'm cooking.
sm00bs
DFW
10/26/2019
The recipe is very good, and the dressing is delicious. However, with typical poor judgement from Bon Appetit, the format is stupid. The only way to print the recipe is to use the 'Print' button - there is no way to edit, so we get a recipe with font size too small to read.
tatwood
Western Massacusetts
10/23/2019