How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
556 Comments
Updated Nov 20, 2023
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Cooking bacon in the oven creates perfectly crispy, delicious bacon. It’s also super easy, creates less mess than cooking it on the stovetop and allows you to multitask in the kitchen. If you’ve never baked bacon, give it a try!
So what do you serve your bacon with? Well, everything! Including my poached eggs, soft and hard boiled eggs and fried eggs. And you can’t forget my paleo pancakes (and dipping bacon in that maple syrup – yum).
Cooking Bacon in the Oven
When it comes to the most perfectly crispy, evenly cooked bacon you really can’t beat cooking bacon in the oven. But it’s amazing how many people have never tried it. It seems the stovetop reigns supreme.
Today I’ll share with you why you should change your habits and cook bacon in the oven. And trust me, once you cook bacon in the oven, you’ll never cook it on the stovetop again!
Cooking bacon on the stove creates splatters all over your stove top and produces hot spots on the pan. This means certain pieces of bacon may cook faster than others. And it’s why you might have some bacon slices that accidentally charcoal a bit too much while other slices are still undercooked.
Cooking bacon in the oven cooks all of your bacon slices evenly as the heat surrounds them. They slowly sizzle, don’t splatter and end up evenly cooked. It’s a beautiful thing.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
It’s incredibly easy! Though it always helps to watch a quick video tutorial. Watch the video below!
Oven Baked Bacon – In 5 Steps
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lay the bacon slices on the baking sheet.
- Cook the bacon for 10 to 20 minutes or until it’s as crispy as you’d like.
- Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Benefits of Cooking Bacon in the Oven
- First, you can cook for a crowd (and sometimes that crowd is just your immediate family). This is key for the holidays or when lots of people descend on your house. It’s also HUGE for helping you keep your sanity in the kitchen with the masses.
- Second, cooking bacon in the oven is way cleaner than cooking bacon on the stove. I’m notorious for getting splatters all over the stovetop because I probably cook my bacon a bit too hot. But when you cook bacon in the oven you don’t get any splatters because the bacon just sizzles until it’s perfectly crispy (or done to your liking).
- Lastly, cooking bacon in the oven allows you to multitask in the kitchen. Because once you toss that sheet pan of glorious bacon in the oven, you’re free for about 15 minutes to whip up some eggs or make a batch of pancakes or waffles.
A Few More Tips
- Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper (or don’t line it at all – but that’s messy). With parchment paper it’s as simple as tearing off a piece, placing the bacon on top and cooking.
- Should you place the bacon on a cooling rack to cook? I don’t think so. I tried it and the difference is negligible. But then I had to clean a cooling rack (and those buggers are hard to clean).
- 400°F works well for both regular and thick cut bacon. Heat your oven and cook the bacon for 10 to 20 minutes or until it’s reached your desired level of crispiness. I do rotate the pan halfway through, just to ensure even cooking, but that’s it. And remember that your bacon will continue to crisp up once it dries.
What to do with Bacon Grease? Save it!
If you purchase organic bacon, as I do, definitely consider rendering and saving the bacon grease. Not only does bacon grease impart a richness of flavor into braised meats and other dishes, it has a high smoke point which means it’s far more stable to cook with.
Here’s how to render bacon grease:
- Once you’ve cooked your bacon, remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Line a fine mesh sieve with another paper towel (you could also use a nut milk bag or cheesecloth) and pour the hot bacon grease over the sieve and into a glass jar.
- Note: it’s important to use glass and not plastic, as you’ll melt plastic with hot bacon grease.
You can see in the photo above that I had some previous bacon fat already in my glass jar that’s opaque and lighter in color. When I have a new batch of bacon, I just pour this straight on top then cover the jar and refrigerate it.
So what do I use my rendered bacon grease for? Oh, just about everything. It’s what I fry my eggs in and how I sear pretty much any meat. It’s also great for sautéed or roasted vegetables to add depth and flavor.
Tasty Recipes with Crispy Bacon
- Bacon Deviled Eggs
- Cobb Salad
- Shrimp Tacos with Cilantro, Lime and Bacon Slaw
- Broccoli Salad
- BLT Salad with Avocado and Sprouts
- Baked Eggs in Avocado
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven (Easy & Crispy)
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 8 bacon slices
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper, then place the bacon side-by-side on the tray.
- Cook the bacon for 10 to 20 minutes or until it's reached your desired level of crispiness. Make sure to check on it after about 10 minutes, as some ovens cook faster. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the bacon with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate.
- If you're rendering the bacon fat, line a fine mesh sieve with a paper towel. Then place the sieve over a glass storage container and pour the bacon fat from the sheet tray into the sieve. Cover the glass storage container and place it in the refrigerator for future cooking needs.
Lisa’s Tips
- If you don’t have a heavy-duty baking sheet I recommend purchasing some. They never warp or bend in the oven!
- Please note that all ovens cook slightly differently. It’s best to keep an eye on the bacon past the 10-minute mark so you can ensure it’s cooked to your personal preference. If you scroll through the comments you’ll see some people have raw bacon at 15 minutes and some have burnt bacon at 15 minutes. After years of comments on this recipe, I’ve widened the cooking time to 10 to 20 minutes, as all ovens do bake differently.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. 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.
Recipe originally published December 2016, but updated with new photos and information.
Can you cover the bacon while it is in the oven to prevent a mess in the oven from splatter?
You can, but your bacon should just sizzle and not splatter with this recipe.
Good info to have
What temperature please? :)
Hi there, you can find the full instructions written in the recipe card!
Bacon tends to splatter everywhere! What are we doing wrong?
Hi Bianca – your oven might cook a little bit hotter than others. Next time I’d try reducing the temperature, as it should barely sizzle, but not splatter.
Have always cooked my bacon stove top. The video showed how to cook the bacon so easier
Oven baked bacon is so much easier!
Easy to make, tastes great, easy cleanup and you don’t have to Hoover, what’s not to love?
Baking bacon in the oven is simply the best!
Following these suggestions was a terrible idea. All of the bacon stuck to the parchment paper and it was a disaster. What I ended up with was a pile of bacon flakes that I was able to scrape off the parchment but the rest wouldn’t even separate from it. What a waste!
Hi Sarah – it sounds like you may have used wax paper rather than parchment paper. Nothing should stick to parchment paper, that’s the purpose of it. Hope your next try turns out better!
We’ve been cooking our bacon in the oven for years! Instead of parchment paper, we use the wide heavy duty foil and that holds the grease for easier rendering.
That’s a great option as well!
I don’t have good luck with this. Gobs of smoke, smoke detector goes off. How do you keep down the smoke from the grease?
You shouldn’t have any smoke at all making this. I would try and lower the temperature the next time around, as all ovens heat differently!
I have been trying to eliminate aluminum from our food. The food tends to absorb the aluminum while cooking
I’ve been cooking bacon in the oven for awhile, but never used parchment paper in the process. Huge difference! The bacon was crisp, more flavorful, cooked quicker and the clean up was a breeze-a win-win!! What a great idea!! Thank you again Lisa for another great idea!!!
You’re more than welcome, Susan! Happy you loved this method to cooking bacon. :)
This is how I cook my bacon. It’s super easy and the mess is minimal! Bacon turns out straight and amazingly delicious. And you can cook so many slices at once. I save my bacon grease in a mason jar and use it in many ways…dry beans, green beans, delicious dollop to fry or scramble eggs, sauté onions for your veggie dishes. Yum yum.
Thanks Michelle! Great minds think alike when it comes to oven baked bacon. ;)
Great Idea!!!
Delicious! Thank you for including how to render the bacon grease as I’ve always wanted to do it just didn’t know how.
You’re welcome, Sara! I’m glad you found that part helpful.
Cook time also varies due to thickness of the bacon.
Absolutely!
First time in my many years of baking bacon. Best way ever.
It’s definitely the best way to cook it. Enjoy!
This is great! I cook a whole pound of bacon whenever we get it and freeze the slices. Whenever we need some bacon, we pull it out of the freezer and either microwave it for a few seconds or add it to whatever we’re cooking. I filter and save the grease too.
Love that you meal prep bacon, Joe! And that you filter and save the grease too! Woot!!
As kids, when we’d have Sunday breakfast, this is how Momma would cook it and then as a special treat she would take the leftover bacon grease and stove top pop some popcorn….I still do it today!
Ooh, why haven’t I thought of bacon-y popcorn before?! Amazing!
WOW – We have been cooking bacon this way for over 20 years!!
Trust me, if you have never cooked bacon this way – – try it once and you will NEVER cook it anyway else! NO MESS AND EASY CLEAN UP!
It really is the best way to cook bacon!
No more cleaning up bacon grease spatter. Thanks !
Glad you enjoyed this approach for bacon in the oven, Mark!
I worked in restaurants where we oven cooked bacon several times a day. This was to have the aroma in the air. That plus the smell from bread baking always brought the clients back.
We set our oven at 350 F and always under cooked (smell test over eye test). The plus to under-cooking was that the bacon could be added to dishes and sandwiches which required cooking or heating. The grease is great added to soups and vegetable dishes.
Enjoy,
Rob.
Thanks for sharing, Rob! The oven method is definitely such a great way to cook bacon.
So simple. So accurate. Thank you!
Hi! I’m wondering if anyone has ended up with grease all over the inside of their oven after doing this repeatedly? I have done this a number of times in the past and love it! It’s a time saver! But, even if it’s not spitting and splattering inside, the grease ends up slowly misting or something and getting on the walls of the oven. Now I love bacon so I kind of don’t care. LOL. BUT, I’m wondering if anyone has ideas on how to minimize this? Self cleaning the oven doesn’t seem to clean that off. I will try a lower oven temp and see if it helps though. Thanks!
YES, My granddaughter & her husband cook bacon this way and we have bacon splatter all over the inside of the oven and oven door!!! UGH!!!!!!!
I’ve made bacon using this way of cooking for quite a few years. No more lifting the skillet lid to get shot with grease. The only difference in the way I make mine is I lay the bacon on a cooling rack that pretty much fits the pan. I totally agree on investing in those heavy duty baking sheets.
Oven baked bacon always wins. :)
thank you – brilliant approach and precise directions
I have cooked bacon in the oven before following instructions on the bacon package it splatter all in my oven. So I don’t understand how you don’t get grease popping in yours
It sounds like your oven might cook a bit hot. It’s should just sizzle and simmer, but not splatter. I’d recommend reducing your oven temperature a little.
If you sprinkle just a little flour over the bacon it doesn’t splatter or make any mess. You really need only the tiniest bit. Using a sifter would be perfect.
Best way to cook bacon.
Couldn’t agree more!
I cook multiple pounds at a time then after draining on paper towel I put about 1/2 pound in fresh paper towels into freezer bags. Date and when ready for quick BLT or whatever, microwave what you need and ready to go
You’re so smart to meal prep the bacon, Susan!
So glad to find this method to cook bacon! I have an essential tremor which makes frying bacon on the stove top just a good method to get burns on my hands or even my trunk if it spatters enough. I’m going to try this and bake up a whole package, then freeze it so I can make BLATs or add to a salad whenever I want.
This is definitely the way to go for a splatter-free method :)
If you wash your bacon with cool water, and then bake it in the oven, it doesn’t shrivel up so much. My mom gave me this tip and it really works.
Carole,
After you wash the bacon do you blot it dry before baking it?
Thanks.
Mary
I pre cook my bacon, by the pound, in the oven. Store them in ziplocks. They pull out 2-3 as need. Warm in the microwave
Always a smart idea to meal prep some bacon!
Holy smokes, literally, at least the smoke part. Set the timer for 10 mins, timer goes off, open oven, smoke bellows out, setting off the smoke alarms (at 6AM), the bacon is burnt badly.
Most people can bake their bacon, but I can NOT. Never again, according to my wife.
Oh no! Bacon definitely shouldn’t be burnt after 10 minutes. But as all ovens are different, maybe check on yours after 5 minutes next time.
Tried this for the first time last week & it was not only so delicious, it had barely any grease at all. I doubled the parchment paper which folded nicely & went straight into the garbage! DONE! I will never cook Bacon any other way ever again, Thank you for the GREAT recipe. 5 Stars
Glad this method worked out perfectly for you, Steve!
Use that saved bacon grease on homemade popcorn instead of butter. Delicious
This really turned out perfectly! 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Parchment paper worked great. I had always used foil and a wire rack but took your advice to skip the rack and it made clean up a breeze!
Wonderful! Happy you loved the recipe, Bettina. And yes, it’s definitely easier on clean-up without the wire rack. :)
Damn, good way to cook some bacon!!!!
Glad this method worked out for you, William!
I will never fry bacon in a skillet again. This is so easy! And no messy stovetop!
That’s why I love it as well! :)
Amazing! Thank you for this. It turned out great!
Perfect, enjoy!
Fantastic! No more scars from stove-top-bacon-cooking-grease pop!
It works well every time! :)
I’d always heard of this way to cook bacon but just tried it for the first time the bacon turned out great and all the strips were flat and straight not all curled up also it was evenly cooked with no raw or under cooked spots only way ill cook it from now on thx
Hi! Would this work with turkey bacon as well as pork bacon? I think this is such a great idea and am so exited to try it!
Yep, should be fine!
Bacon turned out crispy and delicious without the popping grease. Easy to save the bacon grease for other cooking.
I started cooking bacon this way instead of microwave or stovetop. The microwave you go through a TON of paper towels and can only cook 4 or 5 slices at a time.
I use foil on my cookie sheet. I accordion fold it and put the bacon on so it’s not laying in the grease. love it!!!
cool tip with the accordian tin foil. Totally going to try that…
Your bacon looks perfect. Do you mind sharing which brand you used?
Thank you.
I typically buy Applegate bacon!
I cooked my bacon for 15 minutes and it was perfect . I cook on a gas stove . Will definitely use this recipe again . The parchment paper did stick a little bit but came out easily.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Lorinda!
OH my gosh. TODAY years old finding out all the aggravation and mess and bacon-grease-burns from cooking it in the stovetop were unnecessary. Smh; wish I’d known before I was in my 30s!! Wish I could give this more than 5 stars!! Thank you so much for posting!!
Bacon comes out to the perfect crispness every time.
I will never cook bacon 🥓 on the stove again. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
The oven is the way to go!
This is by far the easiest, cleanest way to cook bacon and I love it. You can cook to the desired texture too. I have also prepped some this way for my elderly mother and she does not have to cook bacon on her own .which gives me peace of mind.
It tasted great!
This is my go-to method for cooking bacon. And when I do, I’ll cook the whole pound. I’ll save every precious drop of bacon grease to, for future recipes or frying. Oh, and I fully agree that a rack just gets in the way and makes no difference. Thanks again for your post ! Chuck 5/7/23.
Happy you love the recipe, Chuck!
Great approach to cooking bacon. Cooks evenly and no splatters on the stove! Thank you!
Love your video! It’s easy to follow because you speak slowly and clearly. I am baking up a batch of bacon now using your tips! Thanks for sharing 👍
Glad the video was helpful Karen!