How to Cook Bacon Recipe
Learn How to Cook Bacon in the Oven for perfect bacon every time! This easy recipe is great for make ahead bacon or cooking a large amount at one time!
Crispy, slightly salty bacon is one of my very favorite foods! It’s so good in many other dishes and simply perfect eaten piece by perfect piece! So when I learned what has to be the easiest way in the world to cook the best, most evenly cooked, crispy bacon, I was hooked!
Now I’m about to share this quick and easy tip with you too – How to Cook Bacon in the Oven!
Learning how to cook bacon in the oven is really an essential cooking tip that I think you’ll love!
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
It’s baked bacon in reality, but my tongue always gets twisted trying to say baked bacon. So let’s just stick to bacon cooked in the oven if that’s ok.
Benefits of Cooking Bacon in the Oven
There are so many benefits, I can’t even begin to think of them all, but here are a few main ones that come to mind.
First and foremost, there are no splatters like you’d have with frying bacon. I especially love that I don’t get popped with hot bacon grease early in the morning while making breakfast!
Another positive is that the clean up is incredibly easy when cooking bacon with this method. I really appreciate easy clean up, don’t you?!
If you have to cook bacon for a crowd, this is the perfect for way to cook it! You can make a lot at once, which also makes it great for recipes that use bacon.
If you like to make ahead for easier meals, this method is perfect for that too!
Did I mention no splatters? That could be listed a million times and I would still think it should be listed again!
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven Recipe
You will place a wire rack (optional) onto a baking sheet. Then lay the bacon slices in a single layer onto the wire rack.
Then you will place the baking sheet with bacon into a cold oven. After you’ve added bacon to the oven, turn oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake bacon for 15 to 20 minutes. The baking time depends on the desired amount of crispness for bacon.
Freezer Instructions:
Oven cooked bacon is very freezer friendly. To freeze it, you’ll wait for the bacon to completely cool. Once it has cooled, place bacon slices into a zip top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat, simply microwave the bacon until it’s heated throughout and enjoy!
This is truly one of those kitchen tips that every single person in all the land should know about. It’s life changing.
So, here’s my recipe for cooking bacon in the oven. You are going to love it! Well, if you like bacon that is.
You DO like bacon, don’t you?
How to Cook Bacon Recipe
Ingredients
- bacon
Instructions
- Arrange a wire rack onto a baking sheet. (optional) Place the bacon in a single layer onto the wire rack. Place the baking sheet into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 375º F and bake bacon for 15-20 minutes, depending on desired amount of crispness for bacon.
- Remove from oven and remove the bacon to a paper towel lined platter to remove any excess drippings.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
From the Add a Pinch recipe archives. Originally published 2013.
Discovered how to cook bacon in the oven 15 years ago. Have not done it another way since! We’re big campers and this works great on the top rack on a grill or open fire pit as long as the flame is not high. We use disposable aluminum pans for outdoor grilling.
We’re big campers, too!!! LOVE cooking bacon over an open fire when we’re camping too, Ann. The smell is incredible!
I just talked with a co worker yesterday about this!! She stopped eating bacon for years because of the mess and someone told her about baking bacon. She was even told about boiling it but I thought that method wouldn’t be good. My uncle used to bake bacon all the time when I was a tot and I tried it once but didn’t care for it too much. I would like to try it again and will do so this weekend!
I can’t wait to hear how it works for you, Lisa. It makes all the difference in the world. I will never forget the weekend my sister-in-law, Cindy, taught me that trick. Totally life-changing!!!
My only comment is who the heck ever has bacon left to freeze???? LOL!
So very true! I will say that I sometimes cook a huge pack of bacon while I cooking it and then pop the pieces into a freezer bag to make those weekday mornings so much quicker. 🙂
I wait until it comes on special and then buy a few pounds and I cook a few pounds at a time so I usually always have bacon in freezer.
I do the second one listed with the rack. I love it that way. I have a question. The hubs and I love bacon and order from a NY place that we adore. I received a large amount from a place in TN as a gift from my broter. It is deliciously smoky, but the hubs couldn’t eat it as it was tooo salty for him. Any ideas? I am just thinking to cook with it a piece or two at a time instead of him trying to eat it. Thanks for your thoughts.
What a great gift! I would try adding a slice or two to greens, beans or peas when cooking them for the added flavor, similar to how my Grandmother would sometimes use salt pork. It will lend a great flavor and you won’t need to add as much salt to your greens, beans, or peas when they are cooked.
and a nice smokey bacon with roasted brussel sprouts – to die for!
For Winnie: Years ago when my mother had an Easter ham that was too salty she would simmer it for awhile in water to remove some of the salt. I think this procedure would also work well for your bacon. Try it with a few pieces to see. Hope it works for you.
I have been baking my bacon in the oven for years. Only way to make it!
I love when you share tips like this… makes me smack my head and think, why didnt *I* think of that? 🙂
Oh my goodness gracious, but the tips you share on how to have cake decorations WITHIN a cake? How genius are those!
I love to cook bacon in the oven! beautiful bacon pictures Robyn!
Thanks, Cheryl!
I love this method, too. I honestly can’t remember the last time I cooked bacon on the stovetop. I line my baking sheet with parchment and when all is finished, I drain off the bacon fat into a jar (you *know* us Southerners *have* to keep a little on hand), toss the parchment in the trash and that’s about it. Very little clean-up needed for the pan.
Oh my, I can’t even tell you the last time I was without a jar of bacon grease! I think I’d lose my Southern card or something if I did! {Well, my Grandmother would have disowned me, at the very least!}
So glad to hear others save their grease… We use ours mostly to pop popcorn. It cuts down on how much coconut oil we use… Which is so expensive!!
And I love baking bacon – a few months ago another blogger mentioned it- we haven’t gone back!!! Need to keep spreading the word.
Isn’t it the best? Love it. My grandmother always saved her bacon grease for cooking so many things. My favorite was always her eggs! So delicious!!!
this has been the only way i cook bacon for years. #1-no greasy stove to clean up and #2-can cook more at one time when you have a crowd to feed and oh yeah, #3-it doesn’t seem to shrink up as much or curl up like fried does.
You are so right about it not seeming to shrink as much, Nancy. I think it has a lot to do with cooking slowly, too. More fat seems to render off of the bacon, in my opinion.
I cook mine in the oven too– great trick to share 🙂
Line the baking pan with foil and the clean up is amazingly simple.
For all of the sweet & savory lovers out there, a sprinkling of brown sugar on each piece before the bacon goes into the oven makes for crispy, candied bacon that is completely delicious magic!
Woah, now THAT sounds amazing!!! Must try it! 🙂
We cook ours on the foreman grill. All the grease drains off, to be stored for later use in gravy biscuts and such.
Bacon makes me happy 🙂 I haven’t baked it in a while but I really should try again. I’m so over the splatter mess that frying creates.
I’ve even broiled bacon. You have to watch it carefully if you do that.
I absolutely ADORE cooking bacon in the oven. And if you brush it with maple syrup and dust it with a little fine-ground cornmeal before you bake it…oh my goodness. 🙂
Done this for years–love this way to cook bacon. I use my broiler pan so the grease drips down into the bottom. First I spray it with non-stick spray for easier clean-up.
This is something I have been wanting to try. NOW I will. Thank you for sharing it. Love your post and pictures.
I have started cooking bacon in the oven…so much easier and I love not having to clean up grease splatters!
This is the only way I cook bacon. I put it on a piece of parchment paper because I can’t stand scrubbing pans.
Cooking bacon in the oven is great if you have to make a lot but there’s something to be said about bacon fried in a cast iron skillet. To me frying bacon in a cast iron is actually good for it and helps keep cast iron seasoned.
Also, don’t for get to save the melted bacon grease…
I have never cooked bacon on the stove. Only in the oven, my 25 years of marriage. Even back then, Hormel had instructions on their package for baking it and I wondered why anyone would do it any other way? 🙂
This is the only way we cook bacon, now! So simple and easy!
I love this method, no major mess is a plus, and I like a crispy bacon. I have to ask, what do you do with bacon grease in the jar? Sounds like something I need to know!:)
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I hate bacon splatters! Does it splatter in the oven when you bake it? This looks so much easier than using a pan!
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I love this method!It’s quite handy to have that bacon already cooked and in the freezer for a quick BLT in the summer.
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I think my favorite thing about baked bacon is how flat it is. So much nicer to fit it in a wrap, sandwich, etc. Found that I actually use less bacon per sandwich because baking it seems to keep it longer instead of kind of shrunken.
Another great idea ! I love bacon &.have been microwaving it, but that takes so much time & effort to cook one package. I am definitely going to try this. I hope I like it so I can make & then freeze some for later use.
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I cook my bacon in the oven too but I’ve always preheated the oven. This is the first I’ve ever heard of putting it in a cold oven. What does the cold oven do for the bacon??
What is leftover bacon?
I love making bacon n the oven, but my oven does get splattered? STILL better than cooktop!
When cooking bacon in the oven does is platter all over the oven instead of the stove top?
I’ve not had issues with is splattering all over my oven.
I love this method of baking bacon, but I must be doing something wrong. I followed these directions and it isnt even close to done. I need at least a half hour for the bacon to be edible. Am I missing something?
Hi William,
I’ve not had this problem of it not being done in the time given in the recipe with these directions. Sometimes ovens vary in temperature from what the temp gauge says and they have to be recalibrated from time to time. Thicker cut bacon may require a bit longer to cook too. Hope this helps! Thanks!
i love this idea on thanksgiving and xmas breakfast I need to cook a lot of bacon ,and to know that I can freeze it ,is wonderful ,this saves me a lot time thank you for the idea:)
It’s perfect for making ahead and those times when you need to cook a lot of bacon! I’m glad this helps you too! Thanks!