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Best Bacon Sandwich

Best Bacon Sandwich

Bacon Sarnie / Bacon Butty

This simple recipe shows you how to make the best bacon sandwich.

There is probably nothing more British than a bacon sandwich or ‘bacon sarnie’ (or ‘bacon butty’ or ‘bacon buttie’, depending on where you come from).

This typical breakfast delicacy is commonplace throughout the British Isles in many different forms. They are pretty much as common as the good old sausage sandwich.

frying streaky bacon
Streaky bacon in the pan

What is a bacon sandwich?

If you travel through Britain you will find bacon sandwiches, together with the ubiquitous cup of tea, available at every cafe, food van or truck road stop you may decide to have a break at.

They will all vary in shape and size and contents, but will all have one thing in common – they will all include bread and bacon!

Some sandwiches will have lean back bacon, others will have streaky bacon. We like to use streaky bacon in ours as it gives it some crispness inside.

Having said that, using back bacon is perhaps healthier as you can more easily cut away the fat rind before frying, reducing the fat content. I do this with a pair of kitchen scissors.

back bacon sarnie
A bacon butty with mayo

Calories in a bacon butty

The bacon sandwich described in the recipe contains about 630 calories. But ultimately the calories you consume will depend on what you use for condiments. 

The condiments you choose is up to you. Some like a basic bacon butty: bacon, bread and butter. Others may leave out the butter and add mayonnaise instead. Some use both.

And others may include anything from ketchup, brown sauce (like HP sauce), chilli sauce or English mustard, or a combination of some of these.

A bacon sandwich can really be enjoyed in any type of bread, including rolls or baps, but traditionally in our house, white sliced bread is used.

A bacon sarnie in a roll may be referred to as a bacon bap, a bacon barm or a bacon cob.

The bacon sarnie was probably, alongside the ubiquitous cup of tea, one of the main things that fuelled the British Empire back in the day. It is also one of the most effective hangover cures that I know.

A nice bit of grease to settle the stomach after the excesses of the night before! Seriously though, the bacon sarnie does not have to be greasy if you crisp up the bacon properly. 

basis for sarnie

How to make the best bacon sandwich

It is such an easy way to start the day and should be enjoyed whilst the bacon is still warm enough to melt the butter inside.

You can also eat it without mayo if you are worried about calories. But really the mayo does improve it, believe me. I think this is the best way to eat a bacon butty. Also we think a crispy bacon sandwich is the best!

crispy bacon butty

I find that streaky bacon is best to use as you can fry it until the fat is rendered away. You then get a nice crispy piece of bacon, like in the photo above.

Or you can use some back bacon and have a nice thick lean bacon sandwich like the one below.

bacon sarnie

This bacon sandwich recipe will give you the best bacon sandwich in the world. But if you want to move it a level higher then why not try an ultimate BLT to make it a bit more exciting.

You can also serve the bacon up in a bap (soft white roll) with a fried egg on top. But beware, an egg and bacon bap can get messy! But gosh, it tastes good!

crispy bacon buttie

The meaning of bacon sarnie in Cockney Rhyming Slang

An interesting fact: did you know that ‘bacon sarnie’ in cockney rhyming slang is apparently used to mean ‘Pakistani’?! This was news to me. Isn’t it amazing what facts Google throws up when you are researching something online?

british bacon sandwich
Best Bacon Sandwich

I hope this helps you make yourself a perfect bacon sandwich. Really there is no better hangover cure around!

How to make a bacon sandwich

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Yield: 1

Best Bacon Sandwich

best bacon sandwich

This simple best bacon sandwich recipe will give you a delicious crispy bacon butty which is probably one of the best uses of bacon ever invented.

Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 4 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of bread (should preferably be white)
  • 4-5 slices of streaky bacon (or back bacon if you prefer)
  • 1 tbsp Hellman’s Real mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp salted butter

Instructions

    1. If using streaky bacon, cook the bacon in your preferred manner until crispy (fry, grill, microwave, oven). I prefer to fry as it makes less mess and the fat gets nicely rendered. If using back baco0n, then cut off the fat rind with some scissors before frying to give you a leaner sandwich.
    2. Spread one slice of bread with mayo and the bottom slice with butter.
    3. Place the crispy bacon on top of the butter, close the sandwich and slice before eating.

Notes

Best eaten hot with the butter melting out of the sandwich.

You may wish to use other condiments like brown sauce, ketchup or mustard to complement it, but that is a very personal choice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 630Total Fat: 44gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 1452mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 25g

This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Some other typical English breakfast meals:

READ
Hot Sausage Sandwich
READ
Cold Sausage Sandwich
READ
Chip Butty Recipe
READ
Ham and eggs on toast
READ
Cheese and Pickle Sandwich
READ
Chicken Curry Sandwich
READ
Ultimate BLT
READ
BLT Sandwich (with cheese, onion and sausage!!)
READ
Scrambled Eggs on Toast
READ
Ham on Toast
READ
Crisp Sandwich
READ
Ham and Cheese Toastie

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