Easy Tip for Cooking Crispy Bacon in the Oven
This easy method of cooking bacon in the oven yields perfect results every time! 🥓
Do you like to cook bacon for a crowd but dislike standing in front of a skillet getting splattered with grease every 5 seconds?! It’s not my favorite task either, especially when my hungry family is waiting for breakfast! Thankfully, there is a better, more convenient way to cook bacon, especially if you need to make a lot of bacon all at once.
Try this easy tip for cooking crispy bacon in the oven! I started using this method last year and have never gone back to using the skillet for cooking a full pound of bacon. The key is to use an extra-large sheet pan with a rim and not overcrowd the bacon.
Crispy Bacon in the Oven
yield: 6 SERVINGS
An effortless way to make crispy bacon with one baking sheet!
Ingredients
- 1 pound of bacon
Directions
1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2
Arrange bacon (so that the slices don't overlap) on a foil-lined baking sheet with a rim.
3
Bake 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon. Rotate pan once halfway through.
4
Use tongs to place cooked bacon on paper towels to drain.
Hip tips for cooking crispy bacon in the oven:
- Don’t overlook the importance of choosing a rimmed pan! Using a flat cookie sheet will result in a puddle of grease in the bottom of your oven. This is a potential safety hazard, and a big mess to clean up later!
- You can even stack an oven-safe cooling rack on top of the pan to elevate the bacon, and the grease will just drip off the bacon into the bottom of the pan.
- Make sure to check on your bacon and cook it until your desired crisp-ness. Bacon can vary in thickness, so keep in mind that this may affect your cook time slightly.
- Sometimes bacon does splatter a little (even in the oven), so make sure to check the bottom of your oven once cooled to see if it needs to be wiped down. This will help to avoid any grease build-up and smoke during future use.
Get perfect bacon every time!
I love that this method of cooking bacon is SO EASY. Bacon is my family’s favorite part of breakfast, and cooking it in the oven allows me to focus on preparing other aspects of the meal. Have you tried this method of preparing bacon before? Let us know how it works for you!
I do something similar except I use parchment paper. So easy; less smell, quick clean-up. Will have to try it with foil next time. Thanks!
Oh I never thought of that but I bet parchment paper works great too! Thanks Linda!
Parchment paper is the best option, especially if you are worried about cooking food on aluminum.
less smell is a good thing? wow, we love the smell of cooking bacon! mmm….
Yeah but we live in an apartment and it permeates the whole house which smells like bacon for days….good at first, but not by day 3!
I also cook bacon in the oven on a rimmed baking sheet. I use a silpat and cook at 375 for 15-20 minutes too.
Awesome – thanks Janice!
Do you turn the bacon over?
No you don’t have to flip it
Same question. I was confused by the word rotate. I am thinking that you turn the bacon over half-way through?
No I never turn the bacon but sometimes rotate the tray of it looks like one side is more well done.
Thanks! That makes sense now. I am afraid I will be cooking bacon too much after this post!
No I don’t. It’s so great!
Been cooking bacon like this for over twenty years….good Ole restaurant tip! Love it!
Awesome Ruth!! 👍
I learned this trick when I went to culinary school…Especially when you want to cook a lot of bacon at once…Comes out crisp and even…I also use parchment paper…but I use parchment paper for EVERYTHING!
Yes I love it too, so I’m trying it next time 👍
I use Parchment paper too, seems like it may absorb some of the grease, it’s great when cooking for a crowd.
Putting the bacon an a cookie cooling rack (sprayed with Pam) and placed in the foil lined cookie sheet works awesome too. Plus the grease drips from the bacon. Yum!
Yes! This is how I learned from my great grandma…she would actually use a cast iron skillet but I use a cookie sheet to cook a larger batch! I can taste it now 😋 lol
I do the same thing but use a cookie cooking rack as well. So much better tasting when it’s not cooked in the standing grease. Someone told me about this a yr or so ago and I will never cook it on the stove again!
Sorry I’m not slow but will this work well with turkey bacon?
It does work with turkey bacon, but in my experience it’s cut thinner so cook time is less.
Thank u
I haven’t tried, but everything online says bake it for about 12 minutes – so less time needed. – thanks!
yah ive done this with turkey bacon, works well
I use the oven method with foil too. I do this when I’m cooking breakfast for alot of people coming over. Definitely saves time rather than standing over a pan trying to cook a couple of packs of bacon in one pan. Bacon comes out crispy and good. A more even cook!! 🙂
I use the broiling pan.
Another tip too use a cooling rack to lay the bacon on then no need to flip.
Same here, only in the oven. I buy the big extra long roll of reynoldswrap foil (37.5 ft.) and tear off one long sheet and fold it over the edges of my baking sheet. When I’m done I just pull it loose from the sides and straight into the trashcan and my pan is completely clean.
Really only one reason I haven’t tried this. Doesn’t the oven get all covered in grease?
My fear as well..
Somehow, no. Alton Brown could probably provide a good reason why bacon grease pops on the stove top and not in the oven… I can’t but I’ve never had an issue with it splattering inside. Just be careful when you pull it out (use a sturdy pan and two hands).
No, not if you use a rimmed baking sheet. I was concerned about this also, but has never been an issue.
Yes, just cover it with foil.
Well, I might be the only one but I actually cook it in the microwave!! I place the bacon strips between 2 paper towel sheets on a microwave safe plate and cook for roughly a minute per strip.. The fat gets absorbed into the paper and I feel less guilty but also the best benefit is there is no bacon smell lingering in the house.. I also like that it’s super quick and that I don’t need to start the oven on hot summer days.. 👍🏼
My mom does it this way! Thanks for sharing Jean. 👍
I also cook it in the microwave! It’s the quickest and easiest method when you don’t have to cook a ton of it.
YES!! thank you~ I don’t understand people who use a skillet I love crisp bacon and i wont eat it out of a skillet its super soggy!!! lol
I used to do this but broke 2 microwaves doing this and it ruined several glass microwave safe plates by getting too hot.
Yes, me too! I used to cook it in the microwave until I blew a fuse cooking bacon – replaced fuse and it worked for another short period of time and blew again. Must have screwed up something else while cooking my bacon. Now I’ve been avoiding bacon because I hate the greasy mess… maybe I’ll try it in the oven.
Microwave bacon is chewy and doesn’t even compare to it made in the oven. The oven method is so much easier, doesn’t take that much longer, and tastes so much better!
if your bacon is chewy you’re not doing it right! Put two paper towels underneath, to absorb the grease, if the grease is left to puddle the bacon will be a softer texture!
I like to do this with peppered bacon and sprinkle brown sugar on top….so yummy!
Yum!!
I’ve been cooking it this way for a year or two now. I love it! I get stressed out when multiple things need attention on the stovetop at once. Putting the bacon in the oven and switching from pancakes to waffles has made breakfast (even when it’s for dinner) one of my favorite meals to cook. Another tip: There’s just two of us so I divide a package of bacon in thirds, wrap it in foil and keep it in the freezer. It defrosts quickly in the microwave and the cookie sheet method works great for 4-6 slices, even when some are more thawed than others.
I also switched to oven bacon about a year ago and never looked back. I usually get Wright’s or the Kroger equivalent…So yummy! Melts in your mouth!
I just stick it in a cold oven, turn to 450 and cook for 20 minutes. No issues and I can do other things for 20 minutes.
Oh and I crowd it 😂
Lol – good to know! 😀
I use a boiling pan, so the grease drops off has it cooks.
Great idea! Thanks Sara
I saw Kate cooking bacon like this on Kate Plus 8, lol. I LOVE cooking bacon in the oven.
Oh too funny! Great Jen 👍
I have been making bacon in the oven for ten years now and would never consider the stovetop method again. I use a baking stone with sides and parchment paper (don’t crowd the bacon if you like it crispy). Turns out perfect every time.
I use a disposable cookie sheet. You can get them 2/$1 at dollar tree. Throw away pan and no dishes. Also center cut bacon works better. Shorter pieces.
I sometimes also brush with a little maple syrup before putting in the oven…yum!
I cook my bacon using my forman grill. Drains the fat, not splattering. and keeps it nice and flat and crisp. Also it frees up space and allows me to do other things without worrying about the bacon.
I’m guessing any post about bacon is going to end up one of the 4 most popular posts of the day! 😆
Haha! Bacon rocks ❤️
Make sure yall use a pan with a RIM. My oven caught on fire one time because the bacon grease dripped to the bottom of my oven. Fire department got here and they said they could smell the bacon from the street! Lol! Luckily i didn’t open the oven and it went out before the fire department even got here. RIM RIM RIM!!
I oven cook bacon one of two ways –
1) Do not preheat oven, bake at 400 for 20 minutes (give or take) on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet with a cooling rack on top. I’ve never worried about “crowding” the bacon and just stick as many as I can on there since it shrinks while cooking. Comes out perfectly brown and crispy.
2) Preheated, 400 degree oven for 15-20 (ish) minutes directly on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Cooks very evenly and isn’t quite as crispy as the cooling rack method.
The only way to cook bacon, IMO!
Bacon doesn’t need cooking spray, it’s mostly fat anyway lol.
And you definitely need to put the bacon on a rack, so that heat can circulate on both sides evenly to allow it to get CRISPY…otherwise the bottom will get soggy since it’ll just sit in its own grease as it cooks! Also no need to flip it, this way.
I’ve done this for a long time as well. I use my kitchen scissors and cut the whole package in half, then arrange the half pieces on the pan, i think it’s easier to cook that way.
I also will cook a pound or two and freeze it for my dad, who lives alone. He can pull out a slice or two and heat it in the microwave or in a skillet for breakfast or a sandwich. He would never cook bacon for himself.
Also, I try to cook our bacon when I already have the oven on for something else, a casserole or meatloaf.