These Bacon Roses make the BEST edible gift for your favorite friend or partner. This keto-friendly holiday gift is perfect for Valentine’s Day, graduations, and celebrations all year long!
Bacon Roses
These Bacon Roses are perfect for the non-traditional partner or friend! Skip the flowers–We know they’ll die soon anyway! Skip the candy–Nobody can resist eating an entire box in one sitting. Instead, stick with bacon roses, the edible gift that’s great for a snack, breakfast, adding to dinner, or even dipped in dark chocolate for a sweet-and-salty treat!
These roses look complicated, but one easy step takes these from looking like “that’s just bacon rolled up” to “woah, that actually looks like it has petals!” Just one ingredient needed for this thoughtful, keto-friendly gift.
How to Make Bacon Roses
Take a careful look at the photos below — The rolling forwards and backwards step can be a little confusing at first, but you can easily get your rhythm down quickly. Here’s a step-by-step guide for making Bacon Roses with thick-cut bacon.
Roll
First, roll your bacon towards you for one “loop” or roll. Instead of continuing to roll towards you, begin to roll away from you like the second picture above. This will create a “petal” type look instead of just rolled up bacon.
Secure
Continue rolling just like this — Towards you for one “loop,” away from you for one “loop.” If you prefer them to look like rosebuds, roll them tight. If you prefer them to look large and blooming, spread them out a little so the petals have room to “open up.” You have to be careful, though–If the bacon is too spread out, it won’t look like a rose at all.
Secure with a toothpick, making sure to keep them in place. Feel free to use a second toothpick if you need because making sure they stay together is the key to pretty roses.
Bake
Place each secured raw bacon rose into a muffin tin well, filling it up for a dozen “roses.” Bake these at 425 degrees F for 50 minutes. Begin checking around the 40 minute mark to make sure you get yours the way you prefer.
Place Roses on Stems
Once your bacon roses are baked, carefully remove the toothpicks and transfer the roses to a plate lined with paper towel. Dry them as best you can, preferably sitting them out to cool for 30 minutes.
Grab your roses (these can be real or fake, your choice). Cut the rose bud off the stem about 1-2 inches above the first leaves. this will ensure that the bacon roses sit nicely on the stems like real roses. Once the stem is cut, simply push the bacon rose onto the stem.
NOTE: Some people may not prefer to stick the bacon onto a real rose stem. That’s perfectly fine–You can buy faux roses at craft stores and sometimes even dollar stores. This would make it easy to make a bacon rose bouquet for every event without having to buy a dozen roses every time.
Final Presentation
Once your roses are on their stems, put together your edible bouquet. Similar to a real flower bouquet, you want to remove any leaves that are below the top of your vase. You can add water to the vase for the look of real flowers, but it’s obviously not necessary.
Store
These roses should be stored in the fridge in an airtight container. If you’re making ahead of the event, I recommend keeping the bacon in the fridge, then placing them on the stems right before presentation. Reheating directions are below in case you want to have them hot when gifting them.
Freeze
Bacon can be frozen, so these rosebuds are good to freeze as well! Place cooked or raw bacon roses on a baking sheet in the freezer. After 1-2 hours, transfer to a freezer bag and enjoy within 3-6 months.
Reheat
If you’d like them heated, rewarm them in the air fryer (390 for 2-3 minutes) or oven (400 at 5-10 minutes). You can also use the microwave, but some may get a bit soft. DO NOT REHEAT BACON ROSES WHILE THEY ARE ON THE STEM. If you are using real roses, the leaves will immediately die and look awful. If you are using faux flowers, they likely have some metal wire inside and will ruin your microwave and burn in the oven or air fryer.
For the bacon lovers in your life, try these other recipes:
- Bacon Wrapped Green Beans & Bacon Wrapped Cabbage – If you love your vegetables, you’ll love them even more when you wrap them up in deliciously crispy bacon!
- Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Bacon Wrapped Chicken, and Bacon Wrapped Scallops all give you a big dose of protein while also enjoying that salty, tasty bacon.
- Keto Bacon Egg and Cheese Rolls – Such a perfect breakfast, and they can be frozen, too!
- Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Tots – Low carb and absolutely drool-worthy! Great with keto chicken strips, too.
FAQ’s about Bacon Roses
I did not have success with thin bacon because it crisped up too quickly, and the roses were too small. If you prefer tiny rosebuds you may be able to, but I didn’t like the way mine looked.
This bacon bouquet is great for anyone, including men! If your partner doesn’t enjoy chocolates or flowers, consider this alternative keto-friendly gift!
The key to making the roses look like they have petals is to alternate your rolling. Roll once towards yourself, once away from yourself, then repeat until bacon is finished.
Bacon Roses (easy edible gift)
Ingredients
- 12 pieces bacon
Instructions
- Lay out 12 pieces of bacon on parchment paper while preheating your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Begin rolling one piece of bacon towards you (tightly but not so much that you're squeezing it), then on the next roll, switch directions and roll away from you. Hold the bacon there, then continue rolling towards and away from you until you meet the end of the bacon.
- Secure the bacon rolls with 1-2 toothpicks and place each one inside the well of a muffin pan.
- Bake roses 45-55 minutes, depending on your preference.
