I'm taking a little break from my Asian obsession and sharing one of my favorite condiments: bacon onion chutney. I'll be honest, I never was a huge fan of bacon. I don't hate it but I have never craved it and can live without it...except for this jam.  Whenever bacon is turned into maple bacon or this condiment, I cannot for the life of me, resist! Perfect for topping burgers, french fries, crostini with goat cheese, and for grilled cheese, this bacon onion chutney will take your ordinary meal to extraordinary.

Print Recipe

Bacon Onion Chutney

Yields 2 cups

Total Time1 hr 30 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: sauce

Servings: 12

Author: Cherry on My Sundae

Ingredients

• ¾ lb bacon chopped
• 2 medium onions chopped
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅓ cup water

Instructions

• Cook bacon in a heavy pot over medium heat until the fat has rendered out and the bacon begins to crisp about 15 minutes. Drain the fat.
• Add the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook for 15 minutes or until the onions have softened, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to simmer the chutney for about 30-40 minutes or until it resembles a dark chutney. Add more water while cooking if the mixture becomes too dry.
• Remove from heat and let cool. Serve as desired or store in glass jars in the fridge.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

Like all jams, this one is no different except for one extra step: cooking the bacon. Because bacon has a lot of fat, cook before mixing it with other ingredients to render the fat. If you skip this step, you will have one greasy chutney.

Add the remaining ingredients including the onion, sugar, vinegar, water, and mustard seeds. The chutney needs the onion to give it the desired texture and to bring the sweetness that all chutneys have.

You can play around with the vinegar and substitute balsamic with sherry or apple cider vinegar; both would work well with the recipe.  If the chutney gets too dry while cooking, add a little water to prevent it from burning.

About 1 hour later, I had a glorious bacon-onion chutney. Add it to your grilled cheese, smear it on some toast, or just enjoy it on some roasted chicken. Either way, it will be delicious!

For more sauce inspiration check out this ultimate walnut almond pesto!