How to Cook Bacon

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our affiliate policy.

When it comes to cooking bacon, you have options. Learn How to Cook Bacon in the oven, on the stove-top, in an air fryer, or even in the microwave depending on how much bacon you need.

Cooking bacon in the micorwave.


 

I’m covering four different ways for making bacon, but my favorite way (by far) is cooking bacon in the oven.

If you don’t already know this trick, cooking crispy bacon in the oven might be the best thing you’ll learn all year. And yes, even if you’re a diehard cast-iron skillet user, you can bake bacon strips in the oven in your favorite #10.

But chances are you’ll be so impressed with how much more bacon fits on a sheet tray than in a pan, that once you try it, you’ll never go back to anything else.

The advantages of frying bacon in the oven:
  • More bacon: In general, you can cook bigger batches of bacon slices in an oven than on the stovetop or in an air fryer. Go ahead, fill that oven up!
  • Less mess, less clean-up: Contain the bacon splatters in the oven instead of all over your stove. Clean-up is even easier if you line your rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil to catch all those bacon drippings.
  • Hands-off: You can do other things while the bacon is cooking, like make coffee or squeeze some OJ.
  • Bacon loves low and slow cooking: The oven gives a nice, consistent heat, and the wire rack ensures even circulation for your desired level of crispiness.
  • No flipping: Stove-top fried bacon needs to be flipped frequently. Not the case in the oven!
  • Burns? What burns? No more hot bacon grease popping out of the skillet and hitting your arms. It’s a splatter-free zone!

Of course, if you only need a small amount of bacon or bacon fat, it definitely makes more sense to use a skillet on the stove. Hot Bacon Dressing, Green Beans with Bacon, Spaghetti Carbonara all come to mind. I also included instructions for air fryer bacon in the post. Cooked bacon is delicious in so many dishes, adding a welcome savory-salty flavor.

Ingredient notes

  • Bacon: These recipes work for any kind of bacon: regular bacon, thick-cut bacon, turkey bacon, and cured or uncured bacon. The cooking time will vary between the type of bacon such as regular and thick-cut bacon, though.

Step-by-step instructions

To cook bacon in the oven:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil for easy cleanup. Set a cooling rack on top if using. Arrange the bacon in a single layer.
Cooking bacon on a rack in the oven.
  1. Bake until bacon is cooked to your desired doneness (start checking at 10 minutes; I usually bake it for about 15 minutes). Remove from oven and use tongs to transfer the bacon and drain on paper towels.
Cooking bacon on a rack in the oven.

To cook bacon on the stove:

  1. In a cold frying pan, arrange bacon in a single layer (don’t let it overlap too much).
Cooking bacon in a skillet.
  1. Turn the skillet to medium heat and cook, flipping the pieces often to promote even browning, until they reach your desired doneness (8 to 15 minutes). Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.
Cooking bacon in a skillet.
  1. You can also chop the bacon before frying and fry it up in small pieces.
Bacon frying in a black skillet.

To cook bacon in an air fryer:

  1. Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees if your model suggests that (not all air fryers need to be preheated). To the basket of an air fryer, add 5 or 6 strips of regular bacon (use the amount that fits, cutting to fit if needed).
Cooking bacon in an air fryer.
  1. Fry regular bacon for 7 to 10 minutes and thick-cut bacon for 10 to 12 minutes (cook to desired crispiness). Remove from air fryer basket and drain on paper towels. Discard any leftover bacon grease in the bottom of the air fryer between batches.
Cooking bacon in an air fryer.

To cook bacon in the microwave:

  1. Line a microwave-safe plate with 2 layers of paper towels. Add bacon in a single layer and cover with 2 more layers of paper towels.
Cooking bacon in the micorwave.
  1. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Check and continue microwaving in 30-second intervals as needed for desired doneness.
Cooking bacon in the micorwave.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: 1 pound of regular bacon usually has 16 slices, enough for 8 servings, 2 slices each. Thick-cut bacon will have 10-12 slices per pound.
  • Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Freezer: Add cooked bacon slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then, transfer to a freezer-safe bag, label, date, and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or reheat right from the freezer (in the microwave, a skillet, or air fryer).
  • Keep the fat: Store bacon grease in a jar in the fridge for up to 3 months or freeze it indefinitely. Personally, I like to strain the warm grease through a fine-mesh sieve before I pour it into the jar, but you don’t have to.
  • Soups with bacon: Crumbled bacon is a delicious topping on Loaded Baked Potato Soup, Corn Chowder, Split Pea Soup, New England Clam Chowder, and Manhattan Clam Chowder.
  • Salads with bacon: Put your cooked bacon to work in Broccoli Salad (aka Piggly Wiggly salad if you’re from Wisconsin), Seven Layer Salad, Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, a classic Wedge Salad, BLT Pasta Salad, Cobb Salad, and the Best Macaroni Salad.
A white bowl filled with kale salad.
My delicious Kale Salad has cooked bacon, Roasted Butternut Squash, pomegranate aerils, feta cheese, and Toasted Walnuts tossed with fresh kale in a delicious Strawberry Vinaigrette.

Frequently Asked Questions

What oven temperature for cooking bacon?

I bake bacon at 400 degrees, but the temperature is flexible. For example, if you’re baking, say, a Cheesy Potato Casserole, you will already have the oven set to 350 degrees. That’s perfectly fine. It might take a tiny bit longer to cook the bacon, depending on how crisp you like it, but it will still work great.

How long does it take to fry bacon?

That is up to you and how you like your bacon. Since most bacon is already cured, there is no hard and fast rule about cooking times—most of it is eyeballed. How do you know when bacon is done? Look at it. It should be browned, crisp, and tantalizingly juicy.

On the stove or in the oven, most bacon fully cooks within 10-18 minutes. One thing to consider is that thick-cut bacon might take longer to fry than thin bacon. And turkey bacon cooks much faster. Do you like tender, soft bacon with rippled fatty edges? Take it out on the early side. Or do you like it crisp and brittle? Leave it in a little longer.

More bacon recipes

Join Us

HUNGRY FOR MORE? Sign up for our weekly newsletter and follow along on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your glorious creations #culinaryhill so we can eat vicariously through you.
Slices of cooked bacon on paper towels on a white plate.

How to Cook Bacon

When it comes to cooking bacon, you have options. Learn How to Cook Bacon in the oven, on the stove-top, in an air fryer, or even in the microwave depending on how much bacon you need.
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 8 servings (2 slices each)
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Calories 267
5 from 16 votes

Ingredients 

  • 1 pound bacon (see note 1)

Instructions 

To cook bacon in the oven:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Set a rack on top if using.
  • Arrange the bacon in a single layer. Bake until bacon is cooked to your desired doneness (start checking at 10 minutes; I usually bake it for about 15 minutes). Remove from oven and drain on paper towels.

To cook bacon on the stove:

  • In a cold skillet, arrange bacon in a single layer (don't let it overlap too much).
  • Turn the skillet to medium heat and cook, flipping the pieces often to promote even browning, until they reach your desired doneness (8 to 15 minutes). Remove from oven and drain on paper towels.

To cook bacon in an air fryer:

  • Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees if your model suggests that (not all air fryers need to be preheated). To the basket of an air fryer, add 5 or 6 strips regular bacon (use the amount the fats, cutting to fit if needed).
  • Fry regular bacon for 7 to 10 minutes and thick-cut bacon for 10 to 12 minutes (cook to desired crispiness).
  • Remove from air fryer basket and drain on paper towels. Discard any leftover bacon grease in the bottom of the air fryer between batches.

To cook bacon in the microwave:

  • Line a microwave-safe plate with 2 layers of paper towels. Add bacon in a single layer and cover with 2 more layers of paper towels.
  • Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Check and continue microwaving in 30-second intervals as needed for desired doneness.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Bacon: These recipes work for all bacon: regular bacon, thick-cut bacon, turkey bacon, cured or uncured bacon. The cook time will very between regular and thick-cut bacon, though.
  2. Yield: 1 pound of regular bacon usually has 16 slices, enough for 8 servings, 2 slices each. Thick-cut bacon will have 10-12 slices per pound.
  3. Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 2 slicesCalories: 267kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 19gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 974mgPotassium: 286mgVitamin A: 21IUCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
Website | + posts

Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

Quick & Easy Meals in Under 30 Minutes!
15 simple recipes for busy weeknights.

You May Also Like

Questions and Comments

Thank you for your comments! Please allow 1-2 business days for a reply. Our business hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am PST to 5:00 pm PST, excluding holidays. Comments are moderated to prevent spam and profanity.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Cooking the bacon in the oven sounds great.
    But, will the bacon not splatter all over the inside of the oven just like around the stove top?
    Thank you.

    1. Hi Ben, that’s a good question. It doesn’t happen that way and I think it’s because the bacon just cooks slowly and the grease drops down. But the oven isn’t so hot that the grease continues to increase in temperature and sizzle and pop. I don’t really know why the oven doesn’t get covered in grease, but it doesn’t. I just say use foil on the pan if you want, for easier cleanup, because all the grease will be there. Thank you! -Meggan

  2. Good info! Thank you so much for this information, the bacon came out perfectly. I’ve bookmarked this!5 stars

  3. Be sure to save the grease. It’s great for making refried beans and a host of other dishes like fried eggs. It worked for decades in the days of our great grandmothers and beyond before some government pencil neck decided it was bad for us and offered instead something chemically treated that would not spoil, stayed solid at room temperature and was only one molecule away from plastic. Hydrogenated oil. AKA Oleo margarine.
    EVERYTHING goes better with bacon.5 stars