Oven Baked Bacon – crispy smokey bacon baked in the oven with no flipping or dodging on sputtering hot bacon grease. Hands-free, hassle-free method of cooking bacon that comes all ready in just 15 minutes. The best decision you’ll ever make!
If there’s one thing that we all could agree, that is everything is better with smokey crispy tasty bacon! Bacon is a breakfast staple here in the U.S. along with eggs and is added on almost everything. Trust me, you can basically use bacon at any dishes – be it savory or sweet – it does hit the nail head!
Cooking Bacon in the Oven
But no matter how we love bacon on almost anything, the flipping and dodging for sputtering grease has truly bothered me for years. And not to mention how it wrinkles so bad when you cook it on a stovetop. Those times!
Thankfully, I got out from that nightmare and switched to baking my bacon in the oven. Oh boy, oh boy! I was so delighted to have discovered this way of cooking bacon and I’m not looking back. It’s like mastering a like skill that every generation in your family should learn.
Is Baking Bacon Better Than Frying?
Aside from the convenience, baking bacon in the oven instead of frying them is actually “healthier” in some sense. Most of the grease drips out of the bacon and into the pan underneath the rack. Therefore, it soaks no grease at all; less greasiness means lesser fat and calories. I also pat off each slices with paper towel to fully absorb any remaining grease. For those who want a much healthier choice, I suggest you avoid the flavored ones.
How Long To Bake Bacon in the Oven?
The amount of baking time will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon and, of course, your desired crispiness. It could be as short as 12 minutes for thin slices to up to 20 minutes for thicker bacon at 400F preheated oven. Since there’s no need for you to babysit the bacon and let the oven do the cooking, you can brew yourself a fresh cup of coffee or prepare your fried eggs and toast. You’d totally love this baking method of cooking bacon.
Tip: Make sure to keep an though on the last few minutes of cooking to make sure it doesn’t get burnt.
Can You Cook Frozen Bacon?
Yes, you sure can. There’s so much fat in a bacon that it can thaw in just a few minutes. Just make sure you cook frozen bacon in individual slices and not in a one big rock of frozen bacon. (Here are otherfoods that you can cook straight from the freezer.)
How To Cook Crispy Bacon?
The simplest secret to cook crispy bacon is by placing it on a rack. Lining the bacon on a sheet pan makes a crispy yet chewy bacon especially in the middle of a thick-cut bacon. However, if you want it crispy through and through, then you might try lining them up on an oven proof metal cooling rack set over a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Don’t forget to spray the rack with some cooking oil to keep the bacon from sticking.
Elevating the bacon a little allows the heat to circulate evenly around the bacon which results to evenly crisp bacon without flipping them. Totally a hands-free delightful bacon meal!
Bacon Butter
Of course, not only does the rack method lets you enjoy crispy bacon but it also give you that bacon fat underneath which you can actually use in so many ways.
Let it cool first before transferring it into a lidded container and refrigerate. This transparent bacon fat turns into a lovely creamy white solidified fat once stored in the fridge. Furthermore, this bacon butter can be used to cook eggs, bake cookies (seriously!), saute vegetables and even as a spread on toast. Aaand I don’t mind having those bacon bits in my bacon butter. It makes it even more highly consumable!
Easy Recipes Using Cooked Bacon
Oh I know you’d ask from me a list of bacon recipes. Don’t worry, I could totally make a good list for you like this one below. You can use this oven baked bacon as one of the main component or for garnishing on any of these easy recipes below:
- Creamy Bacon Fettuccine Shrimp Scampi
- Cowboy Caviar
- New England Clam Chowder
- Broccoli Salad Recipe
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- 7 Layer Salad
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
More Easy Bacon Recipes
Southern Fried Corn with Bacon
How To Bake Bacon in the Oven
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil paper, then place an ovenproof baking rack on top. Grease the baking rack lightly with nonstick spray. Preheat oven at 400F. Arrange the raw bacon in a single layer on the baking rack or directly on a greased foil paper.
Place pan in the oven and bake until it reaches your desired level of crispness. This could take about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bacon.
Once ready, transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate using a tong and lightly pat dry (this keeps it from getting soggy). Let it cool just enough so it doesn’t burn. Serve immediately or use to top salads, pastas, and sandwiches.
Alternately, if you don’t have an ovenproof metal rack, you can simply line your sheet pan with aluminum foil and arrange the raw bacon in a single layer.
Oven Baked Bacon
Ingredients
- 8 -10 thick cut bacon slices
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil paper, then place an ovenproof baking rack on top. Grease the baking rack lightly with nonstick spray. Preheat oven at 400F.
- Arrange the raw bacon in a single layer on the baking rack or directly on a greased foil paper. Place pan in the oven and bake until it reaches your desired level of crispness. This could take about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bacon.
- Once ready, transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate using a tong and
lightly pat dry (this keeps it from getting soggy). Let it cool just enough so it
doesn't burn. Serve immediately or use to top salads, pastas, and sandwiches.
Tips & Notes:
- To clean up, let the bacon grease cool and harden, then crumple it up inside the foil and trash. To save the bacon grease for another purpose, let it cool for a few minutes then transfer it to a lidded heat safe container or jar, and refrigerate.
- Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the bacon, so keep an eye
on the oven beginning around the 12-minute mark to ensure the bacon doesn’t
burn. - If you don't have an ovenproof metal rack, you can simply line your sheet pan with aluminum foil and arrange the raw bacon in a single layer.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Connie says
Hi,
How can i store this bacon for future use?
Thanks,
Connie
ImmaculateBites says
Seal in a plastic bag and refrigerate for about 5 days
Karen says
Awesome Imma. In Nigeria we call it “Kilishi” or “Suya. Difference is the meat is dipped in so many spices before it is roasted, it simply tastes heavenly. Thank u so much. Now I can try it at home.
Norbert Voss says
I’ve been cooking our bacon in the oven for THIRTY YEARS! One day, my (at the time) young son begged me to fry him “crispy” bacon, so I did. He bare ate one rasher and asked never again for “crispy” bacon.
Oven baked bacon is the only way to go. It is far easier to control the consistency of crispness for the entire pack without the hassle of handling it in a frying pan,
imma africanbites says
Agree! I love the the hands-free way of cooking bacon in the oven.