The oven is my favorite way to prepare a pound of crispy bacon!
Making bacon in the oven is an easy splatter-free way to prepare bacon and it’s crisp and delicious every time.
Serve it for breakfast, add it to a BLT sandwich or burger, or crumble it over a salad.
Why I Love To Cook Bacon In The Oven…
- When you bake bacon, it comes out evenly crisp on every slice.
- Cooking bacon creates less mess compared to the stove with no splattering.
- There is no need to babysit or flip bacon over; simply bake on a rimmed pan.
- I line the pan with parchment paper or heavy-duty foil for easy clean-up.
Use Any Type of Bacon
American bacon is the most common type of bacon, which are strips of pork belly. Flavored bacon (like maple or peppered) is great oven-baked, too.
Thick-cut bacon works well in the oven. This bacon is cut about 1/8″ thick so it will need a bit more time. If you check it at 20 minutes and it needs more time, flip it over and pop it back into the oven for a bit.
Turkey bacon is a bit leaner and requires less cooking time in the oven to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
While you can use a wire rack or cooling rack on the sheet pan, I prefer to bake the bacon slices directly on the baking pan. It will crisp nicely as it bakes in its own fat.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F per the recipe below.
- Place the bacon slices on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake until bacon reaches the desired level of crispiness.
- Remove bacon from the pan & place on paper towels to drain the grease.
How Long To Bake Bacon
- American bacon: Cook for 12-18 minutes, check it early as thinner slices cook faster.
- Thick-cut bacon: Cook for 20 minutes or as needed. Extra thick bacon may need to be flipped and cooked a few minutes extra.
- Turkey bacon: Cook for 11-13 minutes.
Holly’s Top Tips for Oven Bacon
- Arrange bacon in a single layer without overlapping for even cooking.
- Some brands of bacon (or store brands) sometimes have thinner slices, so check it early.
- For a big batch, use two baking sheets, rotate them halfway through, and add a few minutes of cooking time.
- Adjust cooking time slightly based on your desired level of crispiness.
Save The Grease
Bacon grease can be used in place of butter or oil in recipes to add a boost of flavor and is great for fried or scrambled eggs.
If you’d like to save the bacon grease, allow it to cool on the pan for about 10-15 minutes before transferring it into a jar.
Storage
Leftover bacon can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Use bacon right from frozen; it thaws in minutes.
Have you made this crispy oven bacon? Let us know your favorite tips for cooking bacon in the oven below!
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package bacon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. If desired, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Arrange the bacon slices in a single layer on the prepared pan.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Check on the bacon and continue cooking for an additional 6 to 8 minutes* or as needed until crisp. Thick-cut bacon will need extra time.
- Use tongs to transfer the bacon strips to a paper towel-lined plate.
- If desired, allow the bacon fat to cool for 10 minutes and reserve in a jar for cooking.
Notes
- *Be sure to check the bacon early. Cooking time can vary based on the pan used as well as the brand of bacon.
- Store brand bacon is often cut very thin and can sometimes cook faster than national brands. Check it early!
- For easy cleanup, line a rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper before adding the strips of bacon. No baking rack is required.
- Ensure the bacon slices are in a single layer, overlapping pieces won’t crisp as well.
- If you’re making larger batches of bacon, use two pans and switch the placement of the pans after about 10 minutes. You may need to add a few minutes of cooking time.
- Keep leftover bacon in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven, in the microwave, or the air fryer.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Pork
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I do have a good recipe for cooking bacon too by using microwave. I lay flat one layer of bacon between 2 paper towel and microwave for 3.25 minutes and the bacon is very crispy. So you have no splatter in the microwave and all the fat stays on paper towel. My microwave have 1100 watts so if your bacon is not crispy enough add the minutes you need to use.
Great tip and perfect for when you need just a couple of slices.
I’ve tried this but the grease goes all over the sides of the oven. Any suggestions on how to prevent this?
Hi Cathy, you can try cooking the bacon on a wire rack in the sheet pan so the bacon is elevated and the grease drips off. I hope that helps!
I too had splattering in the oven. I solved the problem by putting another sheet of parchment on top of the bacon.
This doesn’t affect the baking at all. It bakes and crisps as usual.
This is “the Bacon Bible”!! I’ve been using the “spend with pennies” Bacon recipe for years, but still come back to the website,. just incase there’s been major Bacon rebellion or some other Bacon related news that I have missed. I trust that anyone who shares the Perfect Bacon Recipe will have the best interests of Bacon Enthusiasts at heart and can be relied upon for Important Bacon related News. Thank You for Sharing SWP
LOL thanks for the giggle, Judy! I’m so happy you trust us with all your bacon needs!
What degree in the oven!!thanks
400°F
Check after 15 min, y’all. Mine were labeled as thick cut but seem normal, and burnt pretty badly at 18 min
I haven’t ever made bacon this only because everyone that makes it or touts “no mess” is not being truthful. In other words what about the splattering that goes on in the oven??.?? That’s a costly mess in that the clean up requires a huge draw of electricity to clean the oven if you have a self cleaning oven or if you have to clean the oven after you make the bacon because the next time you use the oven it starts smoking because of the bacon splattering all over the walls and glass.
This never made sense to me. Just so you know I’d love to be able to make bacon without all the mess.
This is definitely truthful to my experience. I find no mess in the oven, the grease is on the baking sheet which is why it is lined with foil. Bacon on the stove is fried and splatters (as frying chicken would splatter too) while in the oven, I don’t find it splatters.
so you don’t get any grease on the walls or glass on the door from the bacon baking in the oven????? WOW that’s amazing. I’m going to have to try it now just to see.
Thanks!!
I love this never knew you could cook bacon in the oven.
cooked great tasted great!
Call me amazed.
I think this is the best cooking site, never been disappointed by any recipe.
Thank you so much for the kind words Kate, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
This makes cooking bacon so much easier – to cook and clean up afterwards! Thanks!
I make bacon every school day for my Grandson, and have been splashed and burned so many time, and made such a mess. The oven method is sooooo easy, and the bacon comes out perfect. Thank you for sharing this.
wow! this came out great! mine took 30 minutes. I don’t know if it is because I used a foil broiler pan, as I was going to make burgers afterwards. I will definitely cook my bacon like this again.
This is the easiest way to make bacon with very little muss and the bacon is nice and crisp. No messy clean up and it smells so good!
Made this today for my daughter’s birthday breakfast. Along side with some scrambled eggs, hash brown patties, & maple sausage. I used the bacon grease for the scrambled eggs. My oh my, was it ever delicious! The bacon was just perfect. Don’t think I’m going back to the pan method any time soon!
the caveat of “or until it’s crispy” should be the foremost guide to the time it takes. I used the time guidelines given, conservatively at 18 minutes, and it came out burned. My oven usually runs slightly cool, and I tend to have to give extra time to things. I’m pretty sure 350° would’ve been a great setting for 18 mins.
I had the same experience (set for 18 min and bacon burnt to inedible). I would start checking much sooner.
I cook bacon this way and usually use parchment paper. After cooling on paper towels, I put the bacon into a freezer zip lock bag to freeze. Any number of pieces can be retrieved later and microwaved for 1 min. My husband sometimes likes to recrisp in the air fryer. Both ways are good and convenient.
That’s a great idea Diane!
I am not one for burgers but this I definitely can eat. I did also add a little bit of garlic salt to mine as well.
AT NO POINT DO YOU STATE HOW LONG TO COOK IT!!!! You assume I know how long so you tell me when to check it. that is daft. This is not a recipe this is a food story.
Step 3 of the recipe has the time. You can use the “jump to recipe” button at the top of any page to view the full details or scroll past the tips and tricks to the bottom.
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until bacon is crisp.
Enjoy!
No need to be harsh. I hope your day goes better.
So much easier than frying. Works great every time. Nice and crispy. I li me to keep it in the freezer so it’s handy for BLTs especially when we’re camping.
Good method, but I would skip the “easy clean-up” lining of the pan. 1) grease still went everywhere/under the lining so it was a huge waste. 2) the bacon did not get as crispy with that method. It took way longer than 20 mins and the bottom side was way soft, so I had to flip them anyway. I’m assuming from sitting against parchment that essentially caused it to “steam.” It took 35 mins for 2lb of bacon on 2 half cookie sheets.
do you cover it so it doesn’t splatter in the oven?
We bake this uncovered.
okay!!
I have been doing this for a year or more. However, I do not cook bacon completely , then store it in a container between paper towels. When I want to serve it I drop it in a hot pan for about 30 seconds and it is warm a crisp. No mess to deal with when I am preparing to use or serve bacon. I do a pound at a time and it lasts in the refrigerator for two to three weeks.
Thanks for sharing, Ella! That sounds like a great idea.