Learn how to easily Cook Bacon in the Oven, so that it’s perfectly crispy & mess-free! Plus it frees up a burner to serve with the best scrambled eggs or runny eggs with sweet potatoes for breakfast!
Bacon. We LOVE it at our house (just as much as we love sourdough pancakes with maple syrup, zucchini muffins and homemade biscotti).
In fact, my son once said that he NEVER wanted a dog because he had seen a movie where the dog ate the bacon off the table. This equaled devastation to him!
We do have a dog now, but she is too small to be jumping up for ANYONE’S bacon!
As much as I love bacon, I used to hate cooking it. FEARED would be a better word.
I grew up watching my mom cooking bacon in a frying pan over the stove, so I just thought you had to do it that way. But the mess it made and the grease that flew up and burned me several times made me NEVER want to cook bacon.
And then I heard about roasting bacon in the oven. In the oven? Would grease splatter all over my oven? Would it get crispy? How long would it take?
Well, it couldn’t hurt to give it a go. I experimented many times and have found a perfect oven method for roasting bacon. And now I am here to share it with you!
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Not only is this the best oven baked bacon recipe, but it’s also:
- Easy
- Mess-free!
- Fuss-free
- Cooks evenly
- Makes restaurant quality bacon every time!
Supplies for the best oven baked bacon recipe
- rimmed cookie sheet
- aluminum foil
- wire cooking rack
- bacon (yum)
What’s the best way to cook bacon?
Here is your method for the perfect bacon recipe!
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire cooling rack on the cooking sheet.
- If you do not have a cooking rack to place on a baking sheet, use your broiler pan.
- Line the inside bottom of the broiler pan with foil before fitting the top on the pan. The bacon fat will drip inside.
- Lay out your bacon slices in a single layer, and arrange the bacon in a single row.
- Roast the bacon for 15-20 minutes. This is approximate based on how crispy you like your bacon, your oven, and how thick your bacon is cut. I like my bacon extra crispy, so I usually roast for 20 minutes. You can start checking the bacon at 15 minutes.
Note: If you like your bacon less crispy, or are doing this for the first time and don’t want to mess it up, set the timer for 10 minutes and check the bacon. Add more time if necessary.
Do I have to flip bacon cooked in the oven?
The great thing about using the wire cooling rack is that heat circulates all around the bacon, so you NEVER have to flip it over. But if you use a broiler pan, flip after 10 minutes of cooking.
What do I do with the bacon fat from cooking bacon in the oven?
I drain the bacon grease off the foil into a mason jar and throw the foil away, leaving a clean sheet pan, a clean oven (I promise no splatters!) and plenty of bacon grease for cooking. What can you cook with bacon grease? It happens to be a key ingredient in these delicious recipes!
- Homemade Chicken Creole
- Weeknight Pan Fried Tortellini
- Slow Cooker Mexican Potato Soup
- Caramelized Onions and Swiss Chard
- Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
- Sautéed Green Beans
But you can also use it to sauté potatoes, make a salad dressing, or in my BLT pasta salad.
A Few More Bacon Tips:
- I always buy nitrate free, uncured bacon for a “clean” product. Learn more about nitrates HERE.
- Freeze your cooked bacon so you can pull out a strip or two for garnishes or to make a quick BLT sandwich.
- To freeze, simply layer bacon in between wax paper and freeze in a freezer storage bag. The wax paper will keep the bacon strips from all freezing together, so you can pull out just what you need.
- Always pour off your bacon grease while it is warm (so it will pour easily and not solidify just yet) and use a glass or metal container – plastic will melt!! I like to use 16oz pint mason jars since I already have them on hand. Remember that you can continuously add more grease to the jar too!
Want some recipe ideas for oven cooked bacon?
Here are some super easy recipes that you can use bacon with. YUM!
Salads
- Warm Kale and Bacon Salad
- Cobb Pasta Salad
- Winter Wedge Salad
- Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad
- Bacon Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap
- Buffalo Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
- Master Pasta Salad
- Chicken Southwest Salad
Soup
Potatoes
And More!
- The Best Burger Recipe (make it a bacon burger)
- Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta Bake
- Savory Pasta with Greens, Onions and Bacon
- Breakfast Sweet Potato Apple Bake
$50 Weekly Meal Plan
Sign up to get instant access to my $50 Weekly Meal Plan, complete with recipes and shopping list!How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 package of bacon
- Category: Kitchen How-To’s
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Bacon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire cooling rack on the cooking sheet.
- If you do not have a cooking rack to place on a baking sheet, use your broiler pan.
- Line the inside bottom of the broiler pan with foil before fitting the top on the pan. The bacon fat will drip inside.
- Lay out your bacon slices in a single layer, and arrange the bacon in a single row.
- Roast the bacon for 15-20 minutes. This is approximate based on how crispy you like your bacon, your oven, and how thick your bacon is cut. I like my bacon extra crispy, so I usually roast for 20 minutes. You can start checking the bacon at 15 minutes.
Notes
If you like your bacon less crispy, or are doing this for the first time and don’t want to mess it up, set the timer for 10 minutes and check the bacon. Add more time if necessary.
Has anyone tried using parchment paper rather than foil?
My step-mom used to use parchment paper and hers turned out ok. 🙂
Tiffany, Instead of putting my bacon on the wire rack in a foil lined pan in the oven, I have been inverting the rack (if it has feet) and putting it over the bacon. It keeps the bacon from “shrinking”.
I do my bacon in the oven, but I put in the bacon first, then turn on the oven to 400f and set the timer for 24 mins (20-22 if the bacon is thinner). I don’t put it on a wire rack and have never needed to turn them and fill up the entire sheet. This makes it much more hands free. I know I should save the grease but I don’t.
Wonderful tips! I’m going to follow-up on what Jennifer said as it happened to me, too. Even though it wasn’t like a real fire, but the smell was unpleasant and I ruined half of the perfect bacon I bought. So, be careful when you bake it in the oven – make sure that everything is neat and clean when changing the batches.
That is so true!
Do not however try to cook a second batch in the same pan even if you have drained off the grease. I tried that and my oven caught fire. Not fun.
Take the time to make up a fresh pan to do a second batch. It will save you endless scrubbing and humiliation:)
J
Ooh, thanks for this tip Jennifer!
Good to know!! I never tried to make a second batch in same pan!
I have always done mine half at a time in the same pan back to back with no problems.