Learning How to Cook Bacon in the Oven is an easy, mess-free skill for making a full pound of perfectly crisp, golden bacon. No splatter, no flipping, just hands-off, evenly cooked bacon every time.
Add a side of crispy bacon and fruit salad alongside any breakfast main from quiche to waffles for the perfect start to your day.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Bacon in the Oven
Why Make It: There is no need to babysit or flip bacon over; simply bake in a rimmed pan.
Flavor: Oven cooking melts fat slowly for rich, savory flavor and a perfect crispy bite.
Skill Level: Foolproof! Even beginners can master this.
Prep Note: I line the pan with parchment paper or heavy-duty foil for easy clean-up.
Serving Suggestions: Serve it for breakfast, add it to a BLT sandwich or burger, or crumble it over a cobb salad.
Cook Time: 18 minutes Servings: 8 Cook Method: Oven
Choose the Best Bacon!
- American Bacon is the most common type of bacon, which is 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 ¼” thick, so it will need a bit more time.
- Turkey Bacon is a bit leaner and requires less cooking time in the oven to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
Holly’s Pro Tips
- 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.
- Arrange the bacon in a single layer, without overlapping, for even cooking.
- If you have a few extra minutes, start the bacon in a cold oven and preheat the bacon with the oven for maximum fat rendering and crispiness.
- For a big batch, use two baking sheets, rotate them halfway through, and add a few minutes to the cooking time.
- Adjust cooking time slightly based on your desired level of crispiness.
No, you do not need to flip the bacon.
You can, but it isn’t necessary. This crisps the bacon perfectly as it bakes in it’s own fat.
Never pour bacon grease down the drain, as it will solidify and cause severe plumbing clogs. Let the grease cool and solidify in the pan, then scrape it directly into the trash with a spatula. Alternatively, you can pour the warm (not hot) grease into a disposable container like an empty tin can, let it harden, and throw the can away.
Depending on the brand, it can take anywhere from 10 to 17 minutes.
Storage
Leftover bacon can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months. You can use bacon right from frozen; it thaws in minutes.
Breakfast Favorites That Love Bacon
Have you made this crispy oven bacon? Leave a comment and rating below.
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.
This is the absolutely best way I have ever cooked bacon. Comes out crisp and straight. Looks like restaurant bacon!
This is a good recipe, except the one I use says NOT to preheat oven. If you put in cold the fat renders out better. Try it. You’ll see!
Thanks for sharing your tip Debi.
I used to hate to cook bacon. All the splatter. I made this today for Sunday brunch and the cleanup was unbelievable. I lined my baking dish and just cooked and tore out the Reynolds wrap. It was easy cleanup, and my hubby loved the bacon!
Holly, Thank you. It worked great! I tried once before using a rack and wasn’t happy with the results.It came out perfectly!!😁❤️
I think the serving size is wrong. It should be 1 instead of 8. LOL!!
Love the idea but grease splatters all over the sides of the oven. Afterward the oven had to be cleaned
I agree. I’ve tried a few times and it always ends up all over the inside of my oven. Hmm what are we doing wrong? I will admit it is really good when done.
Does anyone turn the bacon once during the baking process?
We don’t find it necessary, but for thicker pieces of bacon you may need to flip them halfway through.
I have been doing this for over 50 years.
The best way for sure !!! ❤️
great way to make delicious bacon for several meals and have just one easy clean up!
Your recipe for baked bacon is the best and least messy way to cook bacon. I cook thick bacon, I am 80 years old so I am eating a lot of bacon now. Many thanks
I am only baking my thick bacon according to your recipe. Its perfect every time with no clean up. I am an 80 year old man who likes easy. Thank You
Perfect!
Perfect bacon! This is the first time I cooked bacon this way and it came out absolutely perfect. Minimal cleanup, and delicious bacon. I will cook it like this from now on.
I baked thick lean bacon . It took longer than I expected about 28 minutes, flipping it for a few minutes. It came out perfect. It cooked evenly and came out crisp without curling. The most important thing for me is as you said, no mess. I am an 80 year old veteran, and the less mess the easier it is for me to clean without pain. Thank you so much for your daily emails I am not much of a cook, but your recipes allow me to cook great meals. I ordered your cookbook from Amazon. I am looking to it. Again Thank You.
works for me. I tried covering the sheet with foil/parchment as well since I don’t need grease splatters all over the oven.
Easy Peasy! Truly the best aspect is NO splattering grease!
I love buying bacon in bulk and cooking it at once. I freeze it, make crumbled bacon, sandwiches and then I have bacon grease for biscuits, gravy and eggs.
I need to cook several pounds of bacon for the family is it possible to cook that amount of bacon in the oven?
You can definitely cook a large amount of bacon in the oven! The bacon might need a slightly longer amount of cook time but not much. Happy cooking!
It’s great. Been doing it this way for years.
HI! I have been cooking bacon in the oven for years and my best recipe is to put the bacon in a COLD oven, turn it to 400 degrees, put the bacon in, time for 20 minutes exactly, turn off the oven. Check the bacon. If it’s done, take it out. If not, leave it in the oven on OFF as it will continue to cook for few minutes, then remove it. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your version, Sue!
My mother always cooked bacon this way!