When you learn how to cook bacon in the oven, that'll be the only way you do it from then on. The bacon cooks so evenly when it's all arranged on a baking sheet and turns out perfectly golden and crisp.
Oven baked bacon is the best. Not only is it awesome that you don't have to deal with bacon grease splattering the stove, counters, the floor and YOU, it also frees up your time to cook the rest of your breakfast, like a batch of tender and fluffy buttermilk pancakes or an omelet.
I really appreciate the time I save by multitasking, but I also think cooking the bacon in the oven will give you the best results. The bacon turns out perfectly crisp and cooks really evenly, much more so than in a skillet. You can also cook an entire pound of bacon at once, if you use a large rimmed baking sheet, you can fit the entire package of bacon on there.
It's really convenient for meal prepping, when you can cook a bunch of bacon at once and use it throughout the week in many meals, such as Hash Brown and Bacon Egg Muffins or one of our family's favorite indulgent entrees, Potato and Bacon Pie or add it to your Breakfast Quesadillas or Breakfast Burritos.
How To Cook Bacon in the Oven:
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Turn on the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the bacon on the prepared baking sheet, in a single layer. (If you are using frozen bacon, you DON'T need to thaw it.)
- Bake for 15-25 minutes, until the bacon is as golden and crisp as you like.
Can You Freeze Bacon? YES! It's the best way to store it.
- Put EACH strip of bacon in between plastic wrap or parchment paper. It's very simple and takes only a few minutes to do a whole package.
- Put a strip of bacon on top of the plastic, fold it over all the way around the bacon and place another strip of bacon on the plastic wrap again. Keep wrapping until you have the whole package in a neat little bundle.
- Wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, aluminum foil or a freezer ziploc bag and freeze. (It needs to be wraps as well as possible so it stays as fresh as possible, to prevent freezer burn and to prevent the rest of the food in the freezer from absorbing the smell of bacon.)
- Next time you need bacon, take out just as much as you need and return the rest to the freezer.
- Frozen bacon is also so much easier to chop. If you need to cook some up in a skillet for certain recipes, it is much easier to slice frozen bacon than bacon out of the refrigerator, which is really slippery and dangerous.
- Yes, you can also freeze cooked bacon, but keep in mind that it will not be as crisp as it is when it's just cooked. It will still be fine to add to different recipes, where the bacon won't be crispy anyway.
Helpful Tips For the Best Oven Baked Bacon
How to Get the Most Evenly Cooked Bacon:
Place the strips of bacon as close to each other as possible. As the bacon cooks, it will shrivel up and get much smaller, so there will be plenty of space around the bacon. If you leave too much space around the bacon, (look the above photo and below of the bacon strips on the baking sheet lined with aluminum foil vs the one on parchment paper.) The bacon that doesn't have as much empty space around it will cook more evenly. The bacon will start to burn around the edges faster and still be partially soft in the center if there is too much space around it.
Use Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
If you don't mind cooking with aluminum foil, use the heavy duty one. It is less likely to rip. It is the easiest cleanup too. The aluminum foil is sturdy enough to hold in the bacon grease and won't leak through. No dishes to wash😀. Now that's a win. If you prefer using parchment paper, it will still protect our baking sheet. You'll need to wash the baking sheet, but at least you won't have to scrub off the burn on bits.
Drain the Cooked Bacon on a Paper Towel
When you take the bacon out of the oven, placing it on a paper towel will remove excess bacon grease, otherwise it will be very greasy.
Got Leftover Bacon? Here are some great recipes where you can put that bacon to good use.
How To Cook Bacon in the Oven
When you learn how to cook bacon in the oven, that'll be the only way you do it from then on. The bacon cooks so evenly when it's all arranged on a baking sheet and turns out perfectly golden and crisp.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 1 lb of bacon
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
- Bacon
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Arrange the bacon in a single layer on the sheet and bake at 400 degrees until crisp and golden brown. There is no need to thaw the bacon, if frozen, or to preheat the oven. Starting out in a cold oven actually helps the bacon grease to render out slowly and helps the bacon to cook evenly.
- The baking time depends on many things - if you started out with a cold or preheated oven, how thick or thin the bacon is and different ovens cook things differently too. Of course, it also depends on how you like your bacon cooked, slightly golden or really crips and crunchy. It can be anywhere from 15-25 minutes for the bacon to cook.
How do you stop the bacon grease dirty the inside of your oven?
I haven't found it to mess up my oven too drastically and we make bacon in the oven regularly. It's actually a lot messier than doing it on the stove. The bacon doesn't splatter as much.
Why did you say "It's actually a lot messier than doing it on the stove. The bacon doesn't splatter as much" when referring to cooking the bacon in the oven? I'm guessing you didn't mean that it was a bigger mess cooking on the stovetop? Regardless, I'm in too deep to do anything, so I'm nervously awaiting the results now😅
Sorry about that! I meant that it's much LESS messier☺️.
Thanks for another great suggestion, Olga! Does the bacon spatter onto the oven walls and ceiling? Just wondering how much of an issue this is and if cooking bacon like this would affect the oven interior by possibly necessitating more frequent cleaning. For those without self-cleaning ovens, this could be a potential problem.
Yes, it does splatter some, but since I use my oven regularly, it doesn't make too big of a difference for me. If I wasn't cooking bacon, I'd be using it to cook other things, which would splatter my oven too:). The only way to keep your oven and kitchen perfectly clean is not to use it.
A few years ago, I learned to cook bacon in the oven after years of the messy skillet way. I freeze the cooked strips separately on a cookie sheet. When frozen, I put them in a freezer bag. This is easier than wrapping them raw like you do.
Cooking bacon in the oven is my favorite:).
I am really enjoying all the tips on your website, I am Lithuanian therefore we have a lot of similar foods 🙂 I just moved in with my boyfriend and I am in 4th semester of nursing school, I was so nervous about having to cook daily. However all your recipies and tips are helping me manage 🙂
Glad to hear that it's helpful for you, Gintaryte. Good luck with cooking:).
How long in the oven?????????????????????????
K, it depends on how thick the bacon is, your oven and how crispy you like your bacon. May your eyes be the judge.
I cook the whole package at once in the microwave. Then I freeze the cooked strips. Then I just take as many strips as I want for egss, pancakes, pierogies, BLT sandwices, etc. I would end up throwing away uneaten bacon because I could not eat it fast enough as a single person. I just warm the strips up in toaster oven or frying pan as needed.
Good hint for bacon! Question: Does unthaw mean the same as thaw? Just kidding you ☺
Ha ha, Crystal! You caught me:).
Great idea of storing!!! We barely buy bacon, so never had issues with throwing it away, but for the freshness reasons - one awesome tip. As far as cooking it, i would SO do it in the oven vs stove top (what a mess) but my hubby is always taking over this part 😉 (not sure if he'll be willing to wait until they are baked in the oven, i'm sure takes a bit longer)!!!
But if I want to do it, i'll use this wonderful way of cooking it, i like!
thanks Olichka! 🙂
Wow great tip. We never get to eat our bacon before it goes bad. I gave up and stopped buying it kuz we end up throwing it away. But now I knw how to save it 🙂 tanx
That's great missty!
I've had to throw out some bacon in the past, and was so happy to find a way to freeze it. Bacon is so much easier to work with when it's frozen too.
Very good tip!
That's a great idea, thanks 🙂
Thank you Olga for awesome tip...