LARD - The most undervalued, misrepresented, demonized health food on the market..... "wait, what.. are you actually talking about artery clogging, heart disease causing, cholesterol spiking, pig fat?" - yup!.... If you haven’t caught on yet to the fact that there was a “ploy” to stop consumers buying lard in the 1900’s then you need to read my blog post “the truth about lard - what you were told was wrong”

But, for those of you who have worked out that the ‘fall of lard’ was actually another media and advertising plot to redirect your spending, then read on, because I have been cataloging ALL the ways to use this unsung hero of the fat world, and if you are in the process of restoring this once loved resource back to your kitchen counter top, here are my top 10 ways to use it.

1.Seasoning your cast iron skillet

cast iron pan seasoned with lard — 15 year old skillet, seasoned with lard.

Before Lard fell from grace it was traditionally used to season cast iron skillets being a fat that was solid at room temperature. As with all fats and oils they eventually will go rancid if left to sit for a long time when exposed to the air, but if you are using your cast iron for daily breakfast or every few days then a coating of lard is the perfect way to keep that cast iron looking good as new.

2.Pan fried chicken goujons

Lard is a great choice when used as a cooking oil, lard has a relatively high smoke point of 374°F and contains no trans fats. When you shallow-fry your chicken, you want the temperature to be in the 350°F–355°F range. Don’t over crowd your pan and ensure your chicken reaches an internal temp of 165°F before consuming.

3.Home made donuts

Lard is a great choice for deep frying. When deep-frying, it's super important that the oil stays hot—365°F–370°F is the sweet spot. The benefit of using lard to deep fry is that with a smoke point of 374°F it wont start to smoke when deep frying. When i first deep fried donuts in lard I kept expecting that the donuts would taste of pork - shows you how much of a newbie I was. Lard can be rendered at home in different batches to where the first rendering has no flavour however if you are buying lard you might prefer to use leaf lard when deep frying something like donuts. Leaf lard is the fat taken from around the organs and gives a very pure rendering.

4. Mediterranean tray baked vegetables

Whatever your favourite combination of veggies one of the best ways to cook them is to slice and dice, throw them all together in one big tray and let them slowly cook in the oven until all those beautiful flavours are caramelised and melded together. Traditionally roasted in olive oil, instead try melting some lard, tossing it with your vegetables and your favourite seasoning and pop them in the oven for about 45mins at 400F

5. Cheese scones (or southern biscuits)

Flakey, buttery, melt in your mouth cheesy scones ( or biscuits USA!)

If you are a novice baker there is one rule you need to master when making pastry - the more fat you can cram into the dough the lighter, fluffier and flakier your end results will be. I’ve been working on a full substitute in this recipe so absolutely no butter is used here and the results have been consistently 10/10.

6. Roux Sauce

Lard based roux sauce, home made mac n cheese from scratch

Roux sauce was one of the first things we were taught to make in home economics class in high school. It’s the single most useful kitchen skill to learn if you want to make all kinds of white sauces, gravies, thicken soups, pies and casseroles. We were taught to make it with butter but in reality a roux can be made with any fat, so lately I’ve been making a deliciously creamy macaroni cheese for the kids using our lard. You must give this one a try!

7.Mayonnaise- home made

Homemade mayonnaise with lard — Mayonnaise with lard - rich, creamy & bouncy!

The problem with most homemade mayonnaise recipes is that they produce a rather runny result. Since mayonnaise is basically a blend of oil and vinegar emulsified together then it is logical that your home made spread is going to take on the nature of the oil that is used to make it. Enter, ‘Lard Mayo’ !! It took a bit of trial and error but I finally got my recipe down and its a keeper!

8.Pie crust

If you are a pie person like me you could probably think of a pie for every day of the week, blackberry pie, apple pie, chicken pot pie, beef and vegetable pie etc etc. I think we can all agree that what makes a pie sing is the pastry and there is just no beating the flakey goodness of a pie crust made with lard.

9.Waffles

sourdough belgian waffles — Belgian waffles made with sourdough discard & lard

This discovery was a happy accident because I was looking for a way to make classic Belgian waffles, but not have them get so stiff and crunchy. The addition of the sourdough discard gives the batter a better consistency and the introduction of lard gives a wonderfully firm yet soft condition to the end result. I was really excited about how these turned out! You must try this out!

10.Goldfish / Cheese thins

The only challenge with this recipe is making enough so that all your hard work isn’t gwafed down in one helping!! These are one of those, ‘once you start you can’t stop’ type snacks. Making them with lard gives an extra flakey texture and saves on having to buy a load of butter.

In the works

I have also tried lard in recipes such as various butter cream frostings, cake batter, cookies and other desserts that typically call for butter. Lard absolutely works but it does tend to remove some of the ‘sweetness’ so its dependant on your tastes. And it could be that ‘leaf lard’ is the better way to go with these types of recipes. I’m still experimenting with substitution ratios and flavours and will let you know when i’ve figured out the best way to use it like this.

In the mean time, you might be interested to learn more about why lard is a healthy fat and why you should use it more if you haven’t already started to make the change!

10 Ways to use Lard