Tomatoes, Okra, and Bacon Skillet

Note: We no longer eat pork but turkey bacon works beautifully in this dish! 

Some of my favorite recipes begin with “first you fry up some bacon…”, and that immediately tells you a lot about this dish. Garden fresh spoils of summer blend together perfectly to create a flavor that’ll make your tongue slap your mouth. I’ve made countless variations of this dish though the years but this one tends to be my favorite these days – mostly because, well, bacon. I mean, seriously. Bacon.

Take a moment to just stare in appreciation at how beautiful this looks all mixed up together in my vintage dish? ~sigh~ Makes my heart happy and my stomach growl. I don’t reckon you could ask for much more than that.

Objection! Objection! What if you don’t like okra? Oh goodness yes I hear ya, the okra haters out there. A lot of people avoid okra because they feel it is slimy. However, cooking it how we do in this recipe is going to really help that because we are actually sautéing the okra at a very high heat, in bacon grease no less, and this significantly reduces that one characteristic that seems to stand out to some folks. Me? I could eat okra all day long any way you cook it. But like I said, this dish is a dear favorite and has won over many an okra naysayer.

Ingredients above are smiling for the camera.

This time of year I LOVE to use garden fresh veggies. The ones pictured were a gift from my sweet neighbor. If you don’t have fresh available, though, you can use frozen sliced okra and canned whole or diced tomatoes. You can even use frozen chopped onion if you like.

Note: We use turkey bacon nowadays. Gave up the pig nearly three years ago 🙂

You’ll need to chop your onion, dice your okra, and cut up your tomatoes as well.

Then, fry your bacon in a large skillet and set it aside on a paper towel lined plate once it is nice and crispy.

In the bacon grease that is now in the skillet, place your onions and cook over medium high heat until they are translucent.

If using turkey bacon, as I do now, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. 

Add okra and tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until okra is tender. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper (according to your tastes).

Serve immediately because, well at this point I’m usually eating it right out of the skillet anyway so if y’all want some of it you better step up pretty fast!

This would be amazing served alongside any Southern meal. Check out my fuss free fried chicken!

Tomatoes, Okra, and Bacon Side Dish

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Ingredients

• 5-50 pieces of bacon*
• 3 medium to large tomatoes diced
• 1 onion chopped
• about 2 big handfuls of okra* diced (2-3 cups once diced)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

• In large skillet over medium high heat, cook bacon until crispy, turning as needed. Remove cooked bacon to paper towel lined plate and set aside.
• Keep about 4 tablespoons of bacon grease in skillet and pour the rest into your grease jar to save.
• Place chopped onion into bacon grease and continue cooking over medium high heat until onion is translucent. Add okra and tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until okra is tender. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove to serving bowl and generously sprinkle crumpled bacon over top.

Notes

*I'm not really suggesting that you make this dish with 50 piece of bacon. However, I would not object to you doing so, provided you invited me to supper. As far as the ingredients in this, you can use more or less of any one item based on what you have on hand.
**We use turkey bacon and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet when frying the onions.

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

“A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” 

~Unknown

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