How to Make Bacon in the Oven

Skip the pan-frying process and make bacon in the oven instead! There is no popping grease, and you can make a pound at a time. Feed a crowd, make bacon for the whole week, or have a bunch of bacon ready for various recipes. Get my best tips for crispy or soft bacon, whichever you prefer!

Easy Oven-Baked Bacon

With 30+ laying hens, we go through a lot of bacon and eggs around here. So, making a few pieces at a time in a skillet doesn’t really work for us. Instead, we make several pounds of bacon in the oven once a week for easy cleanup!

Choosing the Best Bacon for Oven-Baking

There are a lot of bacon options out there, and it can definitely feel like a lot to sort through. The good news is that any bacon will work in the oven – you can even make your own bacon, too! But if you are purchasing your bacon and want the best flavor and texture, here are a few things to look for when you’re shopping:

• Keep It Simple – Check the ingredient list. You want bacon that’s made with just pork, salt, and maybe a touch of sugar or smoke, but try to avoid a long list of preservatives.
• Consider Center-Cut – Center-cut bacon usually has less fat on the ends, which means it cooks more evenly and crisps up nicely in the oven. It’s usually labeled right on the package. Depending on what you are using the bacon for, center-cut bacon may or may not be the best choice, so be aware!
• Pick for Your Purpose – Thick-cut bacon takes longer to cook and gives you a chewier bite, while regular-cut bacon crisps up faster and has that classic bacon crunch. Both work, and you’ll just need to adjust the bake time depending on which you choose (we’ll walk you through that below).

How to Make the Perfect Oven Bacon

We’ve been making bacon in the oven for about 20 years, and we’ve picked up a few tips during that time. Read through these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to the best bacon you’ve ever had!

1. Prep – Preheat the oven to 450°F. Use a sturdy metal baking sheet, one that doesn’t bend or warp easily. You can line it with parchment paper if you want, but I don’t tend to do that.
2. Place – Space the bacon out on the tray, but don’t crowd the pieces. The edges of each piece can be touching, because the bacon will shrink up during the baking process, but don’t overlap the pieces.
   
   NOTE: If you do overlap the bacon, those parts that overlap will not cook properly, and you will end up with crispy and underdone pieces on the same slice!
3. Bake – Bake regular cut bacon for about 12-17 minutes or thick-cut bacon for 17-22 minutes. Timing varies depending on the fat content in the bacon and your desired crispiness. If baking two trays of bacon at a time, rotate the baking sheets halfway.
   
   NOTE: If you are baking less than half a tray of bacon, reduce the time by 5 minutes and check it often until at the end.
4. Drain – Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the oven and place the finished bacon on a paper towel lined plate. Allow the bacon to drain for a few minutes before serving or storing.
5. Save – If you’d like, pour the warm bacon grease into a glass jar and store for later. We like to use our bacon grease for homemade tortillas, as it makes a lovely soft tortilla!

How to Finish the Bacon for a Restaurant Quality Experience

This is an optional step, but if you want chewy, restaurant-style bacon, here is how to achieve that! When the bacon comes out of the oven, it will be very crisp… however, there is a simple way to soften it to perfection without having super fatty pieces of undercooked bacon!

This is also a wonderful way to store and reheat your bacon without any cleanup!

1. Bake as normal.
2. Place two paper towels on a large piece of aluminum foil.
3. Drain the finished bacon onto the paper towel lined foil.
4. Wrap the bacon up well, making sure only paper towel is touching the bacon before closing the foil well.
5. Place the bacon back into the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F. Let the bacon rest for about 10 minutes, and it will be perfectly relaxed and ready to serve!

Recipes for Bacon

Now that you know how to bake bacon in the oven, here are a few of our favorite ways to use bacon! Let me know your favorite ways in the comments!

• Cheesy Bacon and Spinach Scrambled Eggs
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Tacos
• Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Hashbrown Casserole

Easy Oven-Baked Bacon

Skip the pan-frying process and make bacon in the oven instead! There is no popping grease, and you can make a pound at a time. Feed a crowd, make bacon for the whole week, or have a bunch of bacon ready for various recipes. Get my best tips for crispy or soft bacon, whichever you prefer!

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Breakfast, brunch, meal prep

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Easy Oven-Baked Bacon Recipe, How to Make Bacon in the Oven, Oven Baked Bacon

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 92kcal

Ingredients

• 12 slices bacon

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450°F. Use a sturdy metal baking sheet, one that doesn’t bend or warp easily. You can line it with parchment paper if you want, but I don’t tend to do that.
• Space the bacon out on the tray, but don’t crowd the pieces. The edges of each piece can be touching, because the bacon will shrink up during the baking process, but don’t overlap the pieces.

  NOTE: If you do overlap the bacon, those parts that overlap will not cook properly, and you will end up with crispy and underdone pieces on the same slice!
• Bake regular cut bacon for about 12-17 minutes or thick-cut bacon for 17-22 minutes. Timing varies depending on the fat content in the bacon and your desired crispiness. If baking two trays of bacon at a time, rotate the baking sheets halfway.

  NOTE: If you are baking less than half a tray of bacon, reduce the time by 5 minutes and check it often until at the end.
• Once the bacon is cooked, remove it from the oven and place the finished bacon on a paper towel lined plate. Allow the bacon to drain for a few minutes before serving or storing.
• If you’d like, pour the warm bacon grease into a glass jar and store for later. We like to use our bacon grease for homemade tortillas, as it makes a lovely soft tortilla!

Notes

This is an optional step, but if you want chewy, restaurant-style bacon, here is how to achieve that! When the bacon comes out of the oven, it will be very crisp… however, there is a simple way to soften it to perfection without having super fatty pieces of undercooked bacon!

This is also a wonderful way to store and reheat your bacon without any cleanup!

1. Bake as normal.
2. Place two paper towels on a large piece of aluminum foil.
3. Drain the finished bacon onto the paper towel lined foil.
4. Wrap the bacon up well, making sure only paper towel is touching the bacon before closing the foil well.
5. Place the bacon back into the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F. Let the bacon rest for about 10 minutes, and it will be perfectly relaxed and ready to serve!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy Oven-Baked Bacon

Amount Per Serving (1 slice)

Calories 92 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 3g19%

Trans Fat 0.03g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 15mg5%

Sodium 146mg6%

Potassium 44mg1%

Carbohydrates 0.3g0%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 8IU0%

Calcium 1mg0%

Iron 0.1mg1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this recipe?Mention @AModHomestead or tag ##amodernhomestead!

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