Frisée Salad with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Curled green salad leaves, browned smoked bacon and crunchy country-bread croutons make a substantial French-style salad. The garlic cooks briefly with the lardons before they meet the toasted bread, and a little vinaigrette brings everything together. Dry the greens thoroughly and dress them at the last moment so the leaves stay lively and the croutons keep some crunch.
This recipe is based on my YouTube video, with a few adjustments since publication: measured quantities for four starter portions, a standalone mustard vinaigrette, a regular-oven method for the croutons, and control of excess bacon fat. In the video, I reuse dressing from a previous salad. The formula below gives you a complete recipe without needing that earlier preparation.
{VIDEO}
A leafy salad with a warm, savoury topping
The curly lettuce shown in the video gives this salad broad, ruffled green leaves. In Québec, laitue frisée refers to leaf lettuce; curly endive, also sold as frisée in English, gives a more bitter variation. Here it is tossed with smoked pork lardons, garlic and bread cubes, then served immediately. The bacon and croutons arrive warm rather than piping hot, giving a contrast to the fresh leaves without cooking them down.
This version has no poached egg, cheese or creamy dressing. Compared with my chicken Cobb salad, it keeps a short ingredient list and lets the greens carry the bacon flavour. A romaine and endive salad follows a fresher, lighter direction when you do not want a warm topping.
I combine the lardons and toasted bread before adding them to the salad. A little rendered fat coats the croutons and carries the garlic through them. Too much fat, however, makes the bread heavy and leaves grease at the bottom of the bowl. This is a hearty starter or a simple lunch, not a low-fat salad just because it contains greens.
Ingredients for four starters
Use one large head of curly green leaf lettuce to match the video, enough for about 9 oz prepared leaves. Curly endive can be used for a more bitter version. Discard the tough base and damaged leaves, wash carefully between the curls, and spin very dry. Choose fresh leaves that are crisp rather than limp, and keep a mix of smaller inner leaves and larger outer leaves.
For the topping, use 7 oz thick smoked bacon or smoked pork belly, 6 oz country bread and 3 garlic cloves. Cut the pork into roughly ½-inch pieces and the bread into similarly sized cubes. The video uses maple-smoked pork and twelve-grain bread. Plain smoked bacon and a firm country loaf also suit the method; the bread should have enough structure to toast without turning into crumbs.
The measured dressing is 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and â…› teaspoon black pepper, with salt added only after tasting. Whisk the vinegar and mustard first, then the oil. This uses the same basic approach as my classic vinaigrette. A quick mustard vinaigrette is another useful base for leafy salads.
Have a bowl ready for the greens, an oven-safe pan or baking sheet for the bread, and a skillet for the bacon. No additional oil is needed for the croutons in this version: they are toasted dry, then coated lightly with the bacon mixture. Keep any surplus rendered fat out of the salad.
Make the salad in four stages
1. Prepare the greens and dressing
Heat the oven to 375°F. Tear or cut the washed, dried frisée into manageable pieces and place it in a large mixing bowl. Leave the leaves loose rather than crushing them into a compact pile.
Whisk the vinegar with the mustard and pepper, then whisk in the olive oil until lightly thickened. Set aside. If the dressing separates while you finish cooking, whisk it again before using it. Separation does not mean it has failed.
What I look for here is a dry leaf surface. Water caught in the curls thins the dressing and makes it collect below the salad instead of clinging to it. Do the washing ahead if convenient, but hold back the dressing until the topping is ready.
2. Toast the bread cubes
Spread the bread cubes in a single layer in the oven-safe pan or on a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, tossing halfway, until the edges are golden and the centres feel dry and crisp. Begin checking earlier if the bread is already quite dry.
The video uses the oven’s broiler and checks the pan repeatedly. A regular oven gives a more forgiving written method, especially for readers whose broilers sit very close to the food. Do not leave bread under a hot broiler for a fixed ten minutes without watching it.
Dark twelve-grain bread will not turn the same colour as white bread, so check the texture too. A cube should feel crisp when cooled briefly, not still soft and steamy inside. For a separately seasoned batch on another day, see my homemade garlic croutons. Homemade white bread can also be used once it has firmed up enough to cut neatly.
3. Brown the lardons and add garlic last
While the bread toasts, place the diced bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Cook for about 8 to 12 minutes, stirring regularly, until the fat has rendered and the meat has browned edges. Thick pieces should remain a little meaty in the centre rather than drying into hard crumbs. Follow any cooking instructions on your smoked pork packaging.
Spoon off excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the skillet with the lardons. Lower the heat, add the finely chopped garlic and stir for 30 to 60 seconds, just until fragrant. The garlic should stay pale to lightly golden. Blackened garlic tastes bitter and cannot be corrected by adding more dressing.
Add the toasted bread and toss briefly to distribute the lardons, garlic and retained fat. Turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool for a minute or two, until warm rather than fiercely sizzling. I prefer that short pause because the greens need a warm topping, not a hot frying pan emptied directly over them.
4. Toss and serve immediately
Add the warm bacon and crouton mixture to the frisée. Whisk the dressing again and add about half. Toss gently from the bottom, then add more only if the leaves still look dry. The full batch is available, but the size of the head and your preferred coating decide how much belongs in the bowl.
Taste a forkful containing a leaf, a lardon and a crouton before adding salt. Bacon and Dijon already contribute seasoning. The finished salad should be glossy, with visible curls and crisp bread edges, without a puddle of vinaigrette underneath.
Divide among four starter plates, building a loose mound rather than pressing it flat. Serve straight away. Like a warm crispy cheese salad, the appeal depends on the contrast between fresh leaves and the warm cooked topping.
Substitutions
Curly green leaf lettuce is the closest visual match to the video. Curly endive adds a more bitter flavour and finer curls; escarole or crisp romaine can also be used, with a different appearance. Tender spring mix will wilt faster, so cool the topping more before tossing it. For another bitter-leaf preparation, try my crunchy red endive salad.
Regular thick bacon can replace maple-smoked pork. Pancetta gives a different, usually less smoky result. Sourdough or another firm country loaf can replace the twelve-grain bread. White wine vinegar can replace red wine vinegar at the same starting amount; taste before adding more because acidity varies. A lemon vinaigrette gives a different finish rather than reproducing the dressing used here.
FAQ
Can I prepare it before guests arrive?
Wash and dry the greens, mix the dressing, and toast the croutons ahead. Cool the bread fully before putting it in an airtight container. Cook or reheat the lardons close to serving, then toss everything at the last moment. An assembled salad will lose its crunch as the bread absorbs dressing.
Why did the leaves collapse?
The topping may have been too hot, or the salad may have waited too long after dressing. Wet leaves also make the result heavy. Keep the cooked mixture warm rather than sizzling, dry the greens thoroughly, and serve immediately.
Should I pour all the bacon fat into the salad?
No. Keep about 1 tablespoon with the cooked bacon for this quantity, then spoon away the excess. Fatty pork can release far more than the bread needs. The vinaigrette contributes oil as well, so the pan should not be treated as an extra unlimited dressing.
Is there an egg in this recipe?
No egg is used in this video-based version. A poached egg belongs to other frisée salad preparations, but it is not a missing ingredient here. The bacon, garlic, bread and vinaigrette form the complete topping.
Other salads for the table
For a meal with several dishes, a grated carrot salad with mustard vinaigrette adds a cool vegetable contrast. A grilled chicken Caesar salad offers a more substantial main-course option with croutons, while a steak and arugula salad gives a different warm-meat topping.
Those are separate recipes to choose for another meal, rather than extra ingredients to load onto this plate. Frisée, lardons and garlic croutons work best when their own flavours remain clear.
Frisée Salad with Bacon and Garlic Croutons
Ingredients
- 1 large head curly green leaf lettuce or frisée endive about 9 oz prepared leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
- 7 oz thick smoked bacon or smoked pork belly cut into ½-inch pieces
- 6 oz twelve-grain or country bread cut into ½-inch cubes
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- â…› teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Cut or tear washed, very dry frisée into manageable pieces and place in a large bowl. Whisk vinegar, mustard and pepper, then whisk in olive oil. Reserve the dressing.
- Spread bread cubes in one layer in an oven-safe pan or on a baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, tossing halfway and checking early, until golden-edged and crisp.
- Meanwhile, cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat for about 8 to 12 minutes, stirring, until cooked through with browned edges and rendered fat. Follow packaging instructions where applicable. Spoon away excess fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
- Lower heat and stir in garlic for 30 to 60 seconds until fragrant without burning. Add toasted bread, toss briefly, turn off heat and cool 1 to 2 minutes until warm rather than sizzling.
- Add the warm bacon and croutons to the frisée. Whisk dressing again, add half and toss gently. Add more only as needed, then taste before salting. Divide among four starter plates and serve immediately.
