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Who enjoys cooking bacon in a skillet? Uh, anyone? Our oven bacon recipe instead of frying in a skillet is easier, less messy and a ton less hands-on time. Here we’ve outlined how to cook bacon in the oven, you’ll never go back to the skillet.
Oven baked bacon is more uniformly crispy. It also takes so little hands on time you’ll can make crepes or other breakfast recipes while waiting for bacon to cook in the oven.
The best oven bacon recipe ever. More evenly cooked bacon, less curl and more crispy throughout. You won’t get that big fatty piece under cooked and the thinner piece crispy, it has a much more evenly cooked surface like you see in good restaurants.
I first used the oven bacon recipe method years ago at our first Boy Scout Pancake Breakfast at church. Retro, yes. I grew up going to these kinds of pancake breakfasts at my own church back in Chicago. My husband resurrected the idea here in Atlanta.
This was truly institutional cooking at its best. How do you get mass quantities of bacon and pancakes ready quickly? Cooking the bacon in the oven was a life saver. Now, having young boys making pancakes on a griddle for a crowd? That was messy and ended up with some funny looking pancakes….but delicious none the less! Happy scouts and customers.
Oven Bacon Recipe How-To
Pop some bacon in the oven, kick back, and relish the delicious taste of bacon without the hassle. It’s really that easy!
It’s OK to have a little overlap of the bacon. You will probably need 2 trays for a pound of bacon unless you have really thick cut bacon.
The lowdown on our oven bacon recipe is simple. Line a rimmed baking tray with foil, this is to make cleanup a breeze. It keeps the tray cleaner and makes disposing of the bacon fat easy.
Lay the bacon directly on the foil, it’s OK if the strips overlap just a little. The bacon will shrink as it cooks and is easy to pull apart after baking. But don’t go crazy with the overlap or you might end up with one big piece of bacon as they will all be stuck together.
Timing is a little difficult because it depends on how thick your bacon is. A good rule of thumb is 20 minutes, I always start checking the bacon around 15 minutes. Cook the bacon until it’s as crispy as you like.
The Best Way To Line A Baking Tray With Foil
Ideally you want to use foil that is wider than your pan to keep the bacon fat from seeping onto the tray. You’ll find wide foil at big box stores like Sam’s Club or Costco. This wide foil will fit a typical rimmed half sheet pan, that’s what most of us have in our cupboards.
If you don’t have wide enough foil just bend up the sides of the foil to make a ‘wall’. This will keep the bacon grease on the foil and make clean up a breeze.
Here are two pieces of foil folded together to be wide enough for the tray. You’ll get a little grease on the baking tray.
If you want to take advantage of the entire space on the tray and still don’t have wide enough foil, then you’ll want to fold a couple pieces of foil together. On both pieces of foil, bend one long edge up. Pull the folded pieces together and fold down several times. Then line the baking tray with the foil. You might end up with a little grease that seeps through to the tray, but it will be enough to contain the bacon fat for the most part. You will just need to use a little “elbow grease” to clean the pan.
Fold one long side of two pieces of foil up about an inch or so. Line the two folded sides together and then fold down several times to make them one sheet.
You can substitute parchment paper if it’s wider than the pan. I like foil because it molds to the shape of the pan and is easier to wrap up and toss after the oven baked bacon is cooked.
What Temperature To Bake Bacon?
The question of how hot the oven should be is often asked. And there actually are several answers. How to cook bacon in the oven without burning it is easy, we outline everything in this oven bacon recipe.
This is the oven baked bacon after dabbing the excess grease with a paper towel.
I use 400 degrees and start checking the bacon around 15 minutes for thin bacon and 20 minutes for thicker cuts. It may even take 30 minutes, it really depends on how crispy you want the bacon.
If you are busy doing a hundred different things and can’t keep a close eye on the oven or are using very thin bacon, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and start checking around 20 minutes. It will take a little longer than at 400 degrees but won’t be as liable to burn if you are a couple of minutes late taking the bacon out of the oven.
Be careful because the bacon can go from beautifully crispy to burnt if you don’t watch it.
You can place the bacon on a rack, but really, my family likes the slices laid directly on the foil and it’s one less thing to clean!
No need to flip the bacon or use a raised flat rack. I’ve tried all ways and my family prefers the bacon laid directly on the foil frying in it’s own fat. Carefully remove the tray from the oven and place on a heat proof surface.
I use tongs with paper towels and dab up the grease. Have a paper plate handy. With tongs holding the paper towel, blot and then hold the grease soaked paper towel over the paper plate to keep from dripping on the floor when disposing in the garbage. Keep doing this until all grease is absorbed. MUCH EASIER way to get rid of the bacon grease than trying to tip the tray into some vessel to catch the hot fat.
I love the paper towel method. I even do this if frying bacon on the stove top. Keep blotting as the bacon is cooking in the skillet.
Use tongs with a paper towel to mop up the excess grease. Much easier than trying to pour hot grease into a coffee cup or other vessel.
While Cooking Bacon In The Oven…
Since you are now using our oven bacon recipe you now have hands free time while the bacon is frying in the oven, take this time to finish out breakfast with Healthy Breakfast Ideas To Eat On-The-Go, Dutch baby with tomatoes and spinach, Blueberry muffin tops, a Healthy mango green smoothie or any other of our breakfast recipes.
Go ahead, you’ve got the time. In 30 minutes you’ll have a gourmet breakfast on the table and won’t believe how easy it was!
Bacon goes with more than just breakfast, oven baked bacon adds flavor to almost everything. Try our General Muir Burger, BLT or just search “bacon” in the search box for all recipes.
How To Cook Bacon In The Oven
This oven bacon recipe is easier, less messy, little hands on time and tastier than traditional pan frying bacon
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Author On The Go Bites
Ingredients
- 1PoundBaconany flavor, any thickness
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a rimmed baking tray with foil to make clean up a breeze. See post for helpful ideas if your foil isn’t as wide as your baking tray.
Lay the bacon slices directly on the foil, they can be slightly overlapping if you need the room, but not too much. You may need to use two rimmed baking trays.
Place in oven for 20 minutes. You may want to start checking around 15 minutes. Bake until the bacon is the way you like it. For me that’s almost always 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the tray from the oven and place on a heat resistant surface. It will be full of hot grease so be careful. Then blot excess oil with paper towels using tongs. Place towels on a paper plate and toss in the garbage. So much easier than pouring the excess grease into another container.
You’re done, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Helpful Hint: If you are busy doing a hundred different things and can’t keep a close eye on the oven, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and start checking around 25 minutes. It will take a little longer than at 400 degrees but won’t be as liable to burn if you are a couple of minutes late taking the bacon out of the oven.
Helpful Hint: You can use a raised to keep the bacon out of the grease, but it's an unnecessary step and my family prefers the bacon laid directly on the foil.
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