How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
How to cook bacon in the oven: the best easy, hands-off way to cook perfect crispy bacon. No flipping, no mess!
We often cook a big breakfast on Sunday mornings. Our usual is bacon, scrambled eggs, and buttermilk pancakes or waffles. I needed a hands-off way to cook bacon, so that I don’t have to stand at the stove flipping pieces of hot bacon while trying not to get bacon grease all over the place. Enter, baked bacon!
My go-to method for cooking bacon is baking it in the oven. I lay the bacon out on baking sheet, pop it in the oven and forget about it until my oven timer sounds. I can focus on cooking the rest of our breakfast, and we get hot, crispy bacon ready to enjoy. It’s a win-win!
Why I love oven bacon:
- It’s easy and hands-off. I don’t even need to flip the bacon!
- There is no mess. Line the baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.
- I can cook a lot of bacon for my big family at one time, instead of batch after batch in a skillet on the stove.
What Kind of Bacon is Best?
There are so many types of bacon to choose from. They vary in thickness, the amount of fat, and the flavor. You can choose from cured or uncured bacon, Applewood smoked bacon, hickory smoked bacon or turkey bacon.
If you like chewy bacon I suggest you pick a thick-cut bacon since a thin bacon will be crispier after baking.
We prefer a meaty center-cut bacon that has less fat. You often pay a premium price for center-cut bacon, so you might want to consider trimming the fatty ends off of the bacon slices yourself if you want leaner bacon.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (or parchment paper) for easy clean up. I always fold up the edges of the foil to catch the bacon grease.
- Lay the bacon slices in a single layer on the foil. It’s okay if they are touching a little bit, since the bacon will shrink as it cooks. You just don’t want the bacon slices to be stacked on top of each other.
- Bake bacon at 400° F until it is cooked the way you like it. The cook time will depend on the thickness of your bacon slices and how you like your bacon cooked. I find that it typically takes between 12 and 20 minutes.
- After cooking, place bacon between a few paper towels on a plate to absorb excess grease.
What Temperature do you Cook Bacon in the Oven?
I’ve tested different oven temperatures for cooking bacon and have found 400° F to be best. Any hotter and you risk burning your bacon. If your bacon is really thin or you like it more chewy, bake at 375° F.
How Long do you Cook Bacon in the Oven?
The cook time depends on the thickness of the bacon, as well as how well done you like your bacon. I recommend that you begin checking on the bacon after about 12 minutes in the oven, or 10 minutes if your bacon is thin sliced. Bacon can go from perfectly crispy to burnt very quickly so watch it closely as it nears the end of the baking time. At 400° F, bacon takes between 12-20 minutes.
Bacon is done when it is a rich golden brown color. I bake our bacon a minute or two longer for crispier bacon. Cook bacon for less time if you want chewy centers and crisp edges.
Can you freeze bacon?
Sometimes I want to cook half a package of bacon rather than the full package. You can freeze uncooked bacon for up to 3-6 months. Place the uncooked bacon in a zip-top bag, squeeze out any excess air, and seal the bag before placing it in your freezer.
Place the frozen bacon in the refrigerator to thaw overnight before cooking.
You can also freeze cooked bacon! For food safety, it’s best to freeze bacon as soon as it is cool after baking. First flash freeze the bacon by placing it in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or plate and freezing for a few hours. Once frozen, transfer the bacon to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Bacon Recipes
Bacon is the perfect side for French Toast and the best topping for a baked potato or potato soup. Crispy bacon adds a pop of salty flavor to soups, a broccoli quiche, deviled eggs, salads and sandwiches.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F*.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (for easier clean up). Fold the edges of the foil up a bit to contain the bacon grease.
- Lay bacon slices in a single layer on the foil.
- Bake in the oven for 12-20 minutes, until bacon is cooked how you like it. (Thicker bacon will take longer to cook and thin bacon will cook faster.) Begin checking on the bacon at 12 minutes and watch it closely as it nears the end of the cook time because it can go from crisp to burnt quickly.
- Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess grease. Serve.
- Cooled bacon may be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Recipe can be adapted to cook more or less bacon. The cook time will be the same.
- For chewier bacon, bake at 375 degrees F.
- You do not need to flip the bacon. The only exception is if your bacon is very thick you may want to flip it after 12 minutes to make sure that both sides cook evenly.
Storage
- Cooked bacon can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. There are many ways to reheat bacon:
Reheating
- In the microwave. Start with 20 seconds at high power and then add more time as needed in 15 second intervals until hot.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, cooking a few minutes per side.
- In a 350° F oven. Place it on a lined baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes, until hot.
- In an air fryer for a few minutes at 350° F.
Thanks for this easy recipe for bacon on a Sunday morning!
I just love how you have everything that I am looking for in my kitchen. This recipe led to that one and then that one. I am inspired about how you have blogged about this process it makes it that much more on a personal level for me. I feel like as I read I knew you more and more and trusted your decisions on why you chose that route.
I dust the bacon with a little flour before I bake it. I have never looked back from making bacon in the oven. I love being able to throw the foil away for a super easy clean up.
May I suggest a tried and true favorite ‘twist’. Use thick cut bacon and instead of laying flat, do a half twist to elevate the middle portion and have two halves facing up. Comes out perfect every time and no need to turn thick cut during cooking.
I use thick cut Hickory or Applewood smoked. 18-20 minutes @400 depending on crispness desired. Bacon perfection IMHO.
I love this recipe! The bacon doesn’t contort into weird shapes. It remains flat, which I prefer. I do use thick-cut bacon. Yes, it takes longer, so i had to get used to that. Yes, it can burn quickly once it gets to golden brown. It’s all about practice.
As for the bacon fat, I love to have it at the bottom of the cookie sheet. I mix in oatmeal and feed it to my chickens. They love it!
Another trick to fit more slices in your pan is to “inchworm” the slices- pinching your slices so they take up less room means you can fit a pound per large sheet pan. Baking your bacon is hands down the best method!.
I loved this recipe! It was so quick and easy, and my family loved the surprise bacon when they woke up! Thanks, Kristine!
I found this method years ago somewhere on the internet and been using it ever since.
Your description is very good 🙂
I highly recommend this method.
I usually do not use foil and collect the grease after baking – for the next refried beans, for example 😉 😀
It’s a bit tricky, getting the grease from the hot rimmed sheet into a glass container, but it’s worth the effort – no need to buy extra bacon grease 😉 😀
So much easier than frying!