Maple Bacon Onion Jam

You need to add the ingredients for this maple bacon onion jam to your shopping list immediately. If you have a BBQ in your future, this maple bacon onion jam needs to be there. Ketchup? I don't know her. Mayo? May-no.  

This will be the only condiment you'll need for your burger bar. Okay, maybe there will be room at the table for my zero-point thousand island next to the maple bacon onion jam, but I'm telling you this stuff is legendary.  

The sweet, jammy caramelized onions, the salty and chewy bacon, and the subtle sweetness of just enough pure maple syrup combines with burgers for one epic indulgent burger at a fraction of the points. How much of a fraction?

Well, one tablespoon is zero points. You can have up to three tablespoons of maple bacon onion jam for 1sp.  No sugar substitutes, no gimmicks. All the maple bacon onion jam dreams your burger deserves.

Labor of Love

I'm not going to sugar coat it. This whole thing takes about 45 minutes to an hour.  It's not active cooking, most of the time you're just nearby to stir occasionally, but it's upwards to an hour.  That being said, this will be a stunner of an addition to your bbq.

This is a giftable food--Father's Day, end of year gift for a teacher, birthday gift for your brother in law you don't know well but you've seen him consume a burger once.  It's so good.

This condiment takes its time getting good and ready.  You start by crisping up diced bacon. When you crisp it up, you're actually rendering the fat to then use to caramelize onions. If you have caramelized onions my way before, you'll know I usually use broth but not here; the fat from the bacon keeps this moist and flavorful.

When the onions are finally done and you think you're almost there, you add some coffee, maple syrup, and a splash of balsamic and reduce it again. That's where the magic happens. The combination of those three give the maple bacon onion jam this dark, rich, and complex flavor that makes this something you can eat with a spoon.

Speaking of spoons, you'll know it's ready when it passes the spoon test and it stays on the spoon for a few seconds before sliding down. She thicc.  

Trust the guy who loves burgers and condiments, this is number one

As you can probably tell based on all of my turkey burger recipes (original turkey burger, Italian sausage turkey burger, southwestern turkey burger), I love turkey burgers.

This is good on turkey, but so dang dreamy on beef. For dinner, I made 4oz patties using a 96/4% blend which came to only 2sp. 1 slice of cheese and a tbsp of my maple bacon onion jam later, I was looking at only 3sp before the bun.  

I love burgers and I love condiments, this spread (jam? condiment?) is all you need. I say that know my chipotle mayo and thousand island can hear me say it; this is the best one.

You can make this a day or two before you bbq. Microwave for about 20 seconds, and give it a stir. You can also freeze this. Recipe yields 2 cup-ish. It was a little more, but points are figured with 2 cups.  

Besides burgers, I’ve really enjoyed this on flatbreads (with a little bit of gorgonzola and arugula) and also on pierogis which are not point friendly but so incredibly delicious.

Did you try this recipe and like it? Let me know on Instagram! Make sure you tag me @dwardcooks and use the #dwardcooks hashtag.

Print Recipe

Dwardcooks Maple Bacon Onion Jam

The sweet, jammy caramelized onions, the salty and chewy bacon, and the subtle sweetness of just enough pure maple syrup combines with burgers for one epic indulgent burger at a fraction of the points. You can have up to three tablespoons of maple bacon jam for 1sp.  No sugar substitutes, no gimmicks. All the maple bacon dreams your burger deserves.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Servings: 32 (2 cups = 32 tbsp)

Author: Ed

Ingredients

• 3 lb onions diced
• 8 slices center cut bacon diced
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/2 c coffee
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• kosher salt and pepper

Instructions

• In a dutch oven or large pot, crisp up bacon. Remove the crisped bacon, but leave the grease in the pot.
• Add all the onions and a big pinch of kosher salt (about 1 tbsp). Keep the heat on medium and stir onions occasionally. You will keep this going until onions are caramelized (about 35-45 minutes).
• Once onions are caramelized, add coffee, maple syrup, and balsamic. Continue cooking until liquid evaporates and the onion mixture is jammy; you should be able to run a spoon through and the indentation will stay (sort of like pudding or whipped cream).
• Add the bacon back in and stir. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. You can also add fresh thyme or some orange zest if you're feeling extra fancy.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will thicken more when cold. Before serving, microwave for 20-30 seconds and stir.