Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut 6 of the bacon strips in half and leave the other 6 strips full length.
- Turn a muffin tin upside down and place two half strips of bacon in an X pattern over each upside-down muffin cup. Then wrap a full piece of bacon around the outside of the muffin cup. Repeat for each of the 6 muffin cups.
- Dust the bacon cups generously with Kinder's Brown Sugar Rub.
- Place a large baking sheet under your upside-down muffin tin to catch the bacon grease.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Gently remove each bacon cup from the muffin tin and place on paper towels to drain excess grease.
- Place bacon cups on a serving platter and fill generously with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions.
- In a small bowl, mix together ranch dressing and BBQ sauce until well combined.
- Drizzle the sauce over the tops of the bacon cups and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Notes
- Use thick-cut or apple-wood smoked bacon — Thin-cut breaks down during the bake and won't hold the cup shape. You need a strip that's sturdy enough to stand on its own after 20 to 25 minutes at 400°F.
- Dust the Kinder's rub generously — The brown sugar caramelizes during the bake and locks the strips together. A light dusting won't cut it. Go heavy.
- The upside-down muffin tin is the technique — No greasing, no shaping. The tin gives you the form; the oven does the rest. Put a sheet pan underneath to catch the drip.
- Let them cool before you pull — 10 minutes minimum. The cups firm up as they cool. Pull too soon and they flex; wait and they lift clean.
- Make the cups ahead — Bake up to 2 days out, refrigerate in an airtight container, reheat in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes before serving. Fill at the last minute so the lettuce stays crisp.
- Cheese optional, worth it — Lay a slice of pepper jack under the lettuce before you fill. It picks up heat from the warm bacon cup and adds a background kick that plays off the sweet rub.
- Plate them on a board with the ranch BBQ sauce on the side and let people fill their own — less prep pressure, more texture control.
- For game day or a backyard cookout, these hold up alongside smoked wings or grilled sausage. The sweet-smoky bacon reads as part of the spread without competing.
- Running a cocktail night? These are handheld, they don't drip, and they pair clean with a cold IPA or a crisp white.
- Fill them fresh. The longer they sit filled, the more moisture the lettuce releases and the softer the bacon gets. Stage the cups, filling, and sauce separately — assemble right before you serve.
- Cool the cups completely before storing. Keep them unfilled in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Fill right before serving — once the lettuce and tomatoes go in, moisture starts working against the bacon.
- To reheat: 350°F oven, 5 to 7 minutes on a baking sheet. Don't microwave — the bacon softens and loses its structure.
- For longer storage, freeze the baked cups (unfilled) for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat and fill to order.