Bacon's intensively savoury, meaty flavour and chewy yet crispy texture makes it seriously addictive but there's more to cured pork than just having it for breakfast or stuffing it in a sandwich. Take a look at our favourite ways to cook with bacon that might surprise you.

A fun canapé to serve at a summer barbecue, these grilled, bacon-wrapped peaches are the perfect combination of sweet, savoury and salty. Use thin-cut bacon strips to wrap around the peach wedges and secure with toothpicks before throwing them on the grill for 10 minutes or so, depending how hot your barbecue is. To intensify the flavours, serve the peachy bacon bites with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Take a look at more surprisingly brilliant foods to barbecue

Creamed spinach is already a decadent dish but make it even more indulgent with bacon. Once you try it, you'll never go back. Fry off diced, thick-cut bacon until crispy, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon fat. Continue to make the creamed spinach as usual and, once ready, stir in the crispy bacon.

For this incredible condiment, you'll need smoked bacon lardons, a large white onion, garlic, brown sugar, cider vinegar, maple syrup and coffee. Fry off the bacon, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Fry the onion in the bacon fat until it browns and starts to caramelise, then add the rest of the ingredients, including the bacon, and cook low and slow until the mixture thickens. Once ready, pulse in a food processor to create a spreadable texture that's still got a bit of bite.

Fries are already a favourite, no matter what shape or form they come in. Add gooey, tangy cheese, crispy, salty bacon and a little ranch dressing, and you've got yourself a winning dish. Don't be afraid to experiment with flavours and try different cheeses, adding chopped jarred jalapeños or swap for sweet potato fries. Whatever toppings you choose, the thin crispy slices of bacon will add a welcome saltiness that will bring out the rest of the flavours.

If you're a big fan of sweet and salty flavours mashed together, this is the perfect popcorn topping for you. Chunks of crispy, salty bacon are mixed with caramel sauce and popcorn until it sticks together in irresistible clusters. Need more sweetness? Add a drizzle of chocolate over the top for the ultimate treat.

Satisfy all those sweet and salty cravings by adding crunchy bacon bits to peanut brittle. First, make candied bacon with bourbon and then, when making the brittle, stir in more bourbon. After you've spread the brittle mixture on baking paper, sprinkle the chopped, candied bacon across the top. It'll make a great edible gift... or a treat for yourself.

Another sweet treat that really benefits from the saltiness of bacon is maple cupcakes. These light cupcakes are topped with a maple buttercream frosting, crispy bacon bites and a maple syrup drizzle. You could also add bacon grease to the batter mixture for extra oomph.

These bacon cups are great for brunch. It looks more complicated than it actually is – line a muffin tray with the bacon slices, wrapping them in a circle and bake for 10 minutes. Then crack in an egg (you could also use scrambled), season and bake until the egg has set and cooked through. You can also add cheese, chives, chilli, mushrooms or whatever else your heart desires.

Put the mayonnaise down and give a classic potato salad a modern update. All you'll need for this brilliant side is new potatoes, bacon, red onion and any greens you'd like to add – think celery, spinach, spring onions, parsley or other herbs. The lack of mayo means the salad is much lighter and you can experiment with different oil and vinegar-based dressings. It'll also keep better, especially in warm weather, so is perfect for picnics or barbecues.

Check out our best-ever salad dressing ideas

Bacon-wrapped dates, also known as devils on horseback, aren't anything new but there's a reason this retro canapé is still great. The combination of soft, sweet dates wrapped in salty, smoky bacon always has everyone coming back for seconds. Try something different and stuff the dates with tangy goats' cheese before baking.

This dish combines the best flavours of Italian and Thai cuisine. Eggs, bacon and spaghetti make this dish a lot like carbonara while Thai flavours from fish sauce and chilli add a twist. Ready in less than half an hour, it's a great weekday dinner that can be thrown together quickly.

Get the recipe for pad Thai carbonara here

Nothing hits the spot like these bacon pinwheels. The perfect swirls of bacon and cheese are wrapped up in pastry and then baked.

Get the recipe for bacon pinwheels here

Take devilled eggs to the next level by swapping out the traditional filling with spicy and zesty guacamole. Top with salty, crunchy bacon sprinkles and you have yourself an exciting summer snack. Before serving, sprinkle over some smoky paprika powder or finely sliced spring onions.

The ultimate indulgent breakfast or brunch, these squidgy crumpets combine crispy bacon and salty parmesan in pillowy griddle cakes. They're made French toast-style – with added bacon. Crumpets are dunked into a cheesy, bacon lardons and egg mixture, then fried in bacon fat. You'll never think about avocado on toast again.

Get the recipe for bacon crumpets here

Scalloped potatoes is a creamy and comforting side dish which is more simple to make than it looks. Invest in a mandoline to thinly slice spuds easily. The salty bacon bits will help cut through the richness of the cream and cheese mixture, and add a new dimension of flavour to this crowd-pleasing classic.

Get all the flavours of pizza in a slice of bread by making a bacon and cheddar loaf. Although the recipe requires time for kneading and proving, it's well worth it, especially when the house is filled with comforting aromas. Eat warm and slathered in butter.

Get the recipe for bacon and Cheddar loaf here

Crispy, salty, savoury and sweet, these bacon-wrapped onion rings are the ultimate beer snack. Cut a large, sweet onion into thick rings, making sure not to separate them too much. Otherwise, the onion won't hold its shape as well and you won't be able to properly wrap the bacon around it. Use a toothpick to secure the bacon in place so it doesn't unravel.

While we're wrapping things in bacon, you might as well give bacon-wrapped potato wedges a go. Thinly sliced pancetta will be the top choice here, as the fat will melt during the cooking process and flavour the potatoes. There's no need to pre-cook the potatoes as long as you don't cut the wedges too thick. Perfect as a snack or a barbecue side, these potatoes won't hang around on the plate long.

Discover more brilliant barbecue side dishes here

 

These incredible jalapeño poppers are hard to resist. The crunchy, slightly spicy peppers are filled with gooey cheese and wrapped with smoky, salty bacon. Baked rather than fried, the jalapeños have to be quite big so it's easy to stuff them. You can try different combinations of cheese but the classic cream cheese and cheddar combo is simply magic. Add bacon to the equation and you've got yourself a winning snack.

A favourite for colder days, pumpkin soup is warming, nourishing and hearty. Give yours a salty update with crumbled or finely chopped bacon that will match the natural sweetness of the pumpkin well. For an even smokier flavour, you could add a touch of bacon grease to the soup before you blitz it in a blender. 

Get the recipe for pumpkin soup here

There are few things as comforting as baked beans, however, add crispy bacon and you'll never look back. You could make the beans from scratch and use bacon grease to sauté the onions or simply top with perfectly crisp bacon once the beans are ready.

Get the recipe for homemade baked beans here

Creamy cheese and pasta are a match made in heaven but sometimes even the best things can be improved upon. Bacon will give the classic mac 'n' cheese a new lease of life. Follow our tips below to make the best-ever macaroni cheese then experiment with different cheeses and different cuts of bacon to come up with your own, personalised recipe.

Get the recipe for basic mac 'n' cheese here

The only thing that could make a grilled cheese sandwich even better is bacon. Try using pancetta in crispy strips or chop it up into bacon sprinkles. Fancy putting your own spin on this all-American classic? You could add a fried egg, a grilled tomato or béchamel sauce into the sandwich.

Also known as baconnaise, bacon-flavoured mayonnaise has quickly become a popular burger topping. Shun the store-bought products and make your own. With crispy, salty bits of bacon running through the sauce, a homemade version will taste much better. Start by making your own mayonnaise but use bacon grease instead of some of the oil. Once it's ready, mix in fried and crumbled bacon for more flavour and a crunchy texture.

Surprise your guests with this twist on the classic barbecue side. After you've tried this incredible flavour combination of roasted corn, caramelised bacon and chilli powder, you'll never want to go back to plain old corn on the cob. Quick and easy to prep, the corn takes no more than 20-25 minutes to cook on the grill. Make sure to wrap it in foil so the bacon grease has the chance to flavour the corn.

For a great way of using up last night's potato leftovers, add chopped spuds, cheese and bacon to an oven-proof bowl. You could also do this in an oven-proof skillet, if cooking for more people. Crack in an egg for each person and bake until the cheese has melted and the egg is cooked.

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You can pretty much fill pierogi (classic Polish dumplings) with whatever you fancy and then poach them, fry them or even baked them into a cheesy, creamy casserole. Try beetroot and horseradish parcels, served with braised red cabbage. For an even more indulgent dish, sprinkle over fried, chopped bacon. 

Get the recipe for pierogi here

Chocolate and bacon makes a surprisingly good pairing and nothing beats a bacon brownie. Make sure to use good quality thin-cut bacon and chop it into small pieces – you don't want chewy pieces of bacon but rather delightful nuggets of saltiness inside the gooey chocolate.

Find our best brownie recipes here