Easy Candied Bacon is the ultimate party snack. Thick sliced bacon coated in brown sugar before being baked until crispy, sticky, and caramelized. The most addicting appetizer ever.
People have strong feelings about bacon, and I’m one of them. I put bacon on or in any recipe and it makes it infinitely better in an instant, bacon grilled cheese anyone? But just when you think bacon couldn’t be any better…..Candied Bacon comes along.
What is Candied Bacon
Also known as Pig Candy, Candied Bacon is made by coating thick sliced of bacon in something sweet such as brown sugar, maple syrup, or caramel before baking until caramelized.
It’s fantastic crumbled on a salad or just served alongside a pint of your favorite beer. You could totally get away with serving this sweet and salty snack at a fancy brunch or at a football tailgate. It’s magical like that.
How to Make Candied Bacon
If you’ve wondered how to candy bacon, I am here to tell you that it is even simpler than you think! This easy Candied Bacon recipe is nothing short of miraculous. Three ingredients are all you need to make this deliciously addicting snack. And the prep work will take about two minutes flat. Most of the time is spent baking in the oven until caramelized and crisp.
- Arrange the bacon on a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Season with fresh cracked pepper (if desired) and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar. If you’d like spicy candied bacon, add a little extra cracked pepper, or a pinch of chili peppers.
- Bake until edges are crisp and the center is caramelized.
- Allow it to cool 2-3 minutes before transferring to a serving platter to cool completely.
The bacon will crisp up even more after cooling.
Tips for Making Candied Bacon
- Bacon – Thick sliced bacon works best for this recipe but since every slice is not cut equally you may have to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Thin sliced bacon will burn before the sugar has a chance to caramelize.
- Sugar – Brown sugar works best because it has a great caramel flavor when cooked. You can use granulated white sugar but the flavor won’t be as intense.
- Seasoning – I like to use pepper for this recipe to offset the sweet just a bit but you can skip it. OR you can even make Sweet and Spicy Candied Bacon using a variety of spices to make it even more addicting.
- Bake – Only baking your bacon will work for this recipe. Trying to cook it on the stovetop will create a giant mess and the sugar won’t stick to the bacon. Same with the microwave. Low and slow is the way to go here.
- Line Your Pan – Don’t skip the step of lining your baking sheet with foil or parchment. It’s going to save you a ton of time cleaning up so you won’t have to chisel off hardened caramelized sugar on the bottom of your pan.
How to Serve Candied Bacon
You can serve your Candied Bacon any way you like. It’s fantastic alongside a stack of French Toast for Sunday brunch or crumbled on top of my favorite wedge salad. Or just add some flair to your favorite deviled eggs.
Try Candied Bacon in These Yummy Recipes
- The Best Bacon Pea Salad – always a crowd-pleaser!
- Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad – ready in 15 minutes!
- Baked Potato Soup – rich & creamy soup
- Caesar Salad – with a homemade dressing
- Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon – easy side!
Did you love this Candied Bacon? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Candied Bacon
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound thick cut bacon
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place a wire rack on a foil lined baking sheet. Arrange the bacon on the wire rack and sprinkle with the black pepper. Lightly pat the brown sugar on top of the bacon to create a thin layer.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the brown sugar has melted and the bacon is crisp.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the bacon to a parchment lined baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer
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I’m on my third try with this recipe; all tests were done with a group, so this is not only my opinion.
1) I did one third your way, one third basted with Tabasco, and one third basted with sriracha sauce. I couldn’t get the bacon to crisp, but hands down, the siracha sauce was the popular flavor.
2) I used all sriracha sauce and baked longer. Still couldn’t get the bacon to crisp, and hypothesized the fault lies with using a sauce.
3) I used a powdered sriracha spice. This was the best yet, but I baked the bacon for over 30 minutes at 400. Three slices were over-brown, and the rest did not crisp. My plain bacon is usually done in 22 minutes, so now I must assume its the brown sugar keeping it from crisping.
Still, I’m giving this 5 stars. My testers LOVED the bacon, and they ate it crispy or not. I will continue to use the sriracha powder and I’ll increase the baking time with each attempt until I get it right. Thanks for the recipe!
That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe tests, Karenf!
Holly,
What brand bacon did you use in this post? It will help me cut to the chase in the supermarket. I am not familiar with buying bacon but am doing a Derby day and think this would fit the bill on the appetizer platter. Thank you.
Hi Denise, we like to grab whichever package is on sale but you do want to make sure it is a thick sliced bacon so that it doesn’t burn before the sugar has a change to caramelize
Worked well but in my oven baked only 15 minutes
Turned out perfect! It was crispy and delicious!
The taste was good but following this recipe’s specifications for temperature and length of baking didn’t work well for my bacon as it was very soggy and the bacon didn’t get that caramelized texture that I was looking for. I redid the second batch by cranking the heat up closer to 400 and leaving them in longer in hopes of salvaging them.
Hi Emily, to avoid the soggy-ness, we place them on the wire rack when they are cooking in the oven. This helps to keep them up and out of the grease that is dripping down. I am glad you were able to save your batch though!
Great recipe. This came out exactly how I wanted it to. Thanks for sharing!
AWESOME!!!!!!
Any ideas on how to store these so they don’t get soft?
They can get soft when stored. I’d suggest reheating briefly to restore the texture. Enjoy Amy!
Really yummy- I add a little bit of cornmeal to give it some texture and it keeps the Brown sugar on bacon better .
One of our Christmas morning favorites!! The store was out of thick cut bacon…suggestions on how to get the regular sliced bacon to not burn before it caramelizes? Thanks!
You can use regular bacon too. I would keep the temperature the same and start checking on it about 5-7 minutes early. Let us know how it works out for you!
No maple syrup????? This sounds so much easier!
they all look yummy cant wait to try them
I recently tried baking Burbon bacon chocolate chip cookies. They were ok but something was missing. Im thinking of trying candied bacon in the cookies,what do you think?
That sounds like a great idea! Let us know how it turns out.
Delicious
Love Bacon. Always have always will!!
Everything is better with bacon!!
Do you only cost one side of the bacon with brown sugar and the pepper?
Yes, only one side is coated.
while grating rock hard brown sugar , I grated some ginger on it also, nice
When we make candied bacon we add red pepper flakes. The sweet/hot combination is delicious!
Scrumdiliumpsious. Enough said!!
Fantastic! easy! And very Tasty! A great appetizer! i had to cook an additional 10 minutes. Know your oven! Lol. I am serving this tomorrow for Thanksgiving! My Kids LOVE these! They are Very Addicting! Lol Thanks so much Holly! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your Family!
Thanks Christine! Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your candied bacon ;)
I always turn my bacon half way through baking! When would I put the brown sugar on???
Hi Chris, we don’t find it necessary to flip the bacon in this recipe. But if flipping I would try adding the brown sugar after flipped and I would flip it earlier than halfway to give the brown sugar enough time to melt into the bacon.