This is your essential step-by-step guide for how to cook bacon in the oven. Now you can cook bacon without the mess, whether you like it chewy or crispy!
This post about how to cook bacon in the oven, my friends, is a post bred from necessity. If you follow along on Facebook you may have seen that I posted that my bacon turned on me. In our house I cook a full breakfast on the weekends, and I was cooking
It hurt. Bad.
I still have a scar on my cheek. Fun times.
Alas, I could not give up my bacon but I was reluctant to put it back on the stovetop again after that so I started researching and experimenting with baking bacon in the oven. (Baking bacon, sortof makes since right?)
After perfecting this baked bacon recipe I doubt I’ll go back to the skillet-it’s easy, mess-free, and totally simplifies my breakfast routine!
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
To start DO NOT preheat your oven! Seriously, start that sucker off cold! All you need is a baking sheet and aluminum foil.
- Line the baking sheet with foil (to contain the grease) and lay out your bacon in single layer. My baking sheet holds one package of thick cut bacon on one baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet and bacon in the oven and turn it on to 400 degrees.
How Long to Cook Bacon in the Oven
For my thick cut
When you remove the bacon from the oven place it on a paper towel covered plate to drain excess grease and enjoy perfectly cooked bacon! I love that you can just throw away the foil and the cleanup is over!
How to Cook Crispy Bacon in the Oven
To make your bacon more crispy when baking it in the oven, you have a few options. Like I mentioned earlier, you can buy thinner cut bacon for baking. You can also line your baking sheet with foil then place an
How Meal Prep by Baking Bacon in the Oven
Baking bacon in the oven is an easy way to simplify meal prep as well. Keep pre-cooked bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. I like to cook up an extra package on Sunday when I’m making breakfast to use for the week. Then my husband or kids can make a fast breakfast sandwich on those busy weekday mornings. I also like to chop it up for my salads or add to a BLT for lunch!
To reheat the bacon simply wrap the bacon in a paper towel and reheat for about 5 seconds!
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This is your essential step-by-step guide for how to cook bacon in the oven. Now you can cook bacon without the mess, whether you like it chewy or crispy!
Ingredients
- 16 ounce package of thick cut bacon
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Lay bacon flat on the foil without overlapping.
- Place bacon in a cold oven and turn to 400 degrees F.
- Bake for 16-24 minutes depending on thickness and desired crispiness.
Notes
- For crispy bacon use thinner cut bacon or cook on a nonstick cooling rack.
- Keep a close eye on bacon after baking for 16 minutes to ensure it doesn’t overcook.
Keywords: oven, baked, bacon
Have you tries baking your bacon yet? Or, can you commensurate with a bacon-inflicted injury too?
Melissa says
Delicious!
★★★★★
Cindy says
But, but, what do you then fry your eggs in??
MamaBear says
Popping over from Pinterest! Thanks for the painless way to make bacon! 🙂 I do have one thing to offer. although preheating the oven seems to be time consuming, and lack of makes the bacon “better (how is that even possible? Ymmmm) there is a major health benefit to it.
Lets be honest, theres some nasty bacteria in raw pork. Try eating some raw, you’ll see 🙂 When you slowly heat up that bacteria, instead of immediately killing the bacteria like a 400 degree oven preheated would, the bacteria slowly get a chance to grow in the nice warming environment of that 100 to 200 degree oven is providing.
So where the flavor/crispness may be amazing, for health of your families I would consider the tried and true pre-heat!
Melissa Riker says
Thanks for the info MamaBear!
Jessica says
My not-so-secret love affair with bacon started sometime before my memory kicked in. I come from a long line of bacon lovers and we don’t try to hide it.
About six months ago I made bacon one Saturday morning. It was the extra dangerous kind and I too got popped in the face with a spatter of the delicious grease. I held strong and kept working on getting the bacon done as I needed my bacon fix. Then, as I pulled the last beautiful piece from the pan, it popped once more and got me right in the eye. I felt my way to the sink clutching a dish rag to my face. Fortunately my eye and face were fine, no scars or damage, but one strip of bacon lay broken on the floor.
For months now bacon and I have been weary of each other. Buying only precooked bacon and eating it at restaurants whenever possible. Until…today.
Today I put uncooked bacon on a baking sheet and popped it in the oven. I am typing this now with a mouth full of warm crispy bacon and we are happy to annouce that the love affair lives on!
I followed the instructions word for word but with regular cut bacon and Pulled it out at about 20 minutes and it was perfect. Thank you!!
Kari Anderson says
The day I heard about cooking bacon in the oven my whole life changed! I have always wanted crispy bacon but could NEVER do it on the stop top. Oven bacon is the perfect texture AND I can continue to cook while it bakes…no standing over pan cleaning up all the grease that keeps popping and HOPING I pull them off the heat before I burn them.
I also use parchment paper and put it on a backing sheet with a rim.
Melissa Riker says
I totally agree, it’s been a complete game changer!!
Karen says
if you put them on cookie racks you get less fat and crisper bacon.
Use a silpat or parchment paper to stop sticking.
Melissa Riker says
Great tips Karen, thanks!!