​​Ina Garten Upgrades Bacon With One Sweet Pantry Staple

When it comes to beloved breakfast items like bacon, one could argue there's no reason to fix what's not broken. Its salty, crispy savoriness is the perfect pairing to beautifully folded scrambled eggs or a rosemary and olive frittata. But if you want to get creative with your breakfast platter and introduce an element of sweetness, take Ina Garten's lead and add brown sugar to your bacon. When cooked, the brown sugar caramelizes around the bacon strips to add extra crunch as well as a delicious sweet-and-savory flavor profile.

To upgrade your bacon with brown sugar, first be sure to choose the right ingredients. If you're looking for maximum crispiness, opt for classic strip bacon over thick-cut. For the sugar, light brown sugar works best, as the molasses in normal brown sugar could cause your candied bacon to burn. While technically bacon and sugar are all you need, Garten also adds pecans, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup in her Caramelized Bacon recipe for added texture and flavor. Simply lay out the bacon on a baking rack and pulse the rest of the ingredients together in a food processor before spreading the mix evenly on top of the strips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, and allow your sweet bacon to cool before enjoying.

While Ina Garten's version of caramelized bacon is hard to top, it's also worth exploring a few twists of your own. Herbs like rosemary or thyme can add earthy aromatics that balance sweetness, even as hot sauce or red pepper flakes can help tone down the sweetness and add a kick of spice. You can also experiment with different types of sugar, such as turbinado for crunch, or go richer with maple syrup or honey (just be careful of these burning). And, if you're feeling bold, lean into the sweet side entirely — drizzle finished strips with dark chocolate, scatter on crushed toffee, or even dust with cinnamon sugar to turn it into a thoroughly candied snack.

Caramelized bacon doesn't just have to be reserved for breakfast, either. Crumble up your bacon atop a lobster Cobb salad, sweeten up your lunchtime BLT, or add caramelized bacon on your boxed mac and cheese to make it gourmet. You can even sneak it into dessert — think maple-bacon donuts and dark chocolate cupcakes — or add it as a seriously underrated cocktail garnish to a smooth whiskey.