Perfect Crispy Bacon in the Oven (Secret Trick!)

This SECRET trick is the key to the BEST Crispy Oven Bacon you will ever have! Making bacon in the oven is quick, easy, and can serve a crowd in no time. If you wonder how to make bacon in the oven, this method will make PERFECT crispy bacon every time!

this Recipe

🥓Bacon in the Oven – The EASY Way!

There is possibly nothing better than a perfectly cooked crispy piece of bacon! Making bacon in the oven is not only a virtually fool-proof method to get consistently perfect crispy bacon every time, but it is also by far the easiest way to make bacon.

You can make a few pieces of bacon for a meal, or cook a batch of bacon in the oven big enough to feed a crowd with just minutes of prep.

The best part is that unlike other methods of cooking bacon, baking bacon in the oven is completely hands off so you are free to do whatever else you need to prepare your meal.

Why I LOVE this recipe!

• Fool Proof Method – This oven bacon comes out crispy and perfect every time!
• Mess Free- You can line the pan and contain the mess so you aren’t spending hours cleaning up splattered grease
• Minimal Effort– You can make a few slices or feed a crowd with the same minimal amount of effort
• Hands off Cooking– Bacon in the oven doesn’t require you to stand over a pan to flip of babysit. You are free to get other stuff done!
• Secret Trick– The special method I use makes the absolute best crispy bacon in the oven!

📝 Recipe Notes

This recipe for Bacon in the Oven is as simple as promised! Just minutes to a pan of perfectly cooked crispy bacon.

In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.

What Bacon to Use for Oven Baked Bacon

You can use any type of bacon with our method of making bacon in the oven including:

• Regular bacon
• Thick cut bacon
• Turkey Bacon

You can get great results with any of these, or other types of bacon in the oven. The main consideration between types of bacon will be adjusting the cooking time based on the thickness of the bacon.

Thicker bacon will always take longer to cook.

What Temperature to Cook Bacon in the Oven

You can cook bacon in the oven at 350˚F, 375˚F, 400˚F, or 425˚F. Each can produce bacon that is evenly cooked and delicious- however the time will vary. My personal favorite method is cooking bacon starting in a cold oven and setting the temperature to 400˚F.

How Long to Cook Bacon

How long you will bake bacon in the oven will depend on three main factors:

1. What temperature you cook the bacon at
2. How thick the bacon is
3. How crispy you want the bacon to be

As a rule of thumb I like to use the guidelines below:

• 350˚F- Cook bacon for ~30 minutes to done, ~38 minutes to crispy or for thick cut bacon.
• 400˚F- Cook bacon for ~25 minutes to done, ~32 minutes to crispy or for thick cut bacon.
• 425˚F- Cook bacon for ~20 minutes to done, ~26 minutes to crispy or for thick cut bacon.

These are meant to be guidelines to give you an idea of what to expect. You will definitely want to watch the bacon closely while it is in the oven to see when it reaches your desired level of crispiness. The time will vary based on the size of your oven, climate, and thickness of the bacon.

1. The SECRET TRICK– The trick I use to make the absolute best crispy bacon is starting the bacon in a cold oven. This allows those edges to get extra crispy while the heating element is hot, and then as the bacon cooks it can reach your desired level of crispiness.
   
2. Lay it Flat– I like to lay my bacon flat in a single layer (not overlapping) so that it can get evenly crispy or cooked through the whole piece. I have an alternate method for twisting the bacon below.
   
3. Pack it in– While I recommend keeping a single layer of bacon while baking, you can really pack it in on the baking sheet since the bacon will shrink substantially while baking. You don’t need to leave extra room around each piece, just lay them side by side so close they are just touching, but not overlapping.
   
4. Perfect level of crispy– The key to getting the bacon to your perfect level of crispiness is checking on the bacon starting around 20 minutes. I peek in every couple of minutes to see if it has reached our desired level of doneness. Once it does, just pop it out of the oven and transfer it to paper towels to cool.
   
5. Make clean up EASY– I like to avoid the messy clean up of all that bacon grease by lining my pan with heavy duty foil. Once the bacon is done and removed, I allow the grease to cool then carefully fold up the foil and toss in the trash. It makes clean up incredibly easy and mess free!

Alternate Cooking Methods

If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!

• Baking bacon on a wire rack– Some home cooks prefer to place wire racks on top of their baking sheets and put the bacon on top of the rack to cook in the oven. This allows the grease to drip down away from the bacon while cooking.
  
  Pros: Grease is separated from bacon. Bacon is less greasy out of the pan.
  Cons: You don’t get that crispy fried effect from cooking in the bacon grease. The rack can be time consuming to clean up.
  
• Baking bacon covered with parchment– In order to reduce splatter of grease in the oven while cooking you can lightly cover your bacon with a sheet of parchment paper before cooking. I don’t recommend this method if you like super crispy bacon, but it works well if you like less crispy bacon.
  
  If using this method, I recommend not putting the bacon in the oven until it is preheated (ie don’t use our cold oven bacon trick)
  
  Pros: Grease is contained by the parchment to prevent excess splatter in the oven.
  Cons: Bacon is not as crispy.
  
• Twisted Bacon– This fun method was popularized recently by TikTok, but has been around for awhile. To make twisted bacon, you tightly twist each piece of bacon and place them close together on the baking sheet to help avoid them unraveling. Bake at 400˚F for 20 minutes, then flip and continue to cook for 10+ minutes or until it reaches your desired level of crispiness.
  
  Pros: Fun new shape. You can fit more bacon in one batch in the oven.
  Cons: Requires flipping. Can come untwisted while baking.

Can you Freeze Bacon?

Bacon can be frozen before or after baking it in the oven to keep on hand for longer periods of time. It is great to have a stash for making casseroles, topping salads, or reheating when you want a filling breakfast fast.

To freeze bacon before cooking:

1. Place package of bacon in the freezer
2. Thaw in refrigerator 24-48 hours before cooking.

To freeze after baking the bacon:

1. Bake bacon in the oven according to recipe directions
2. Move to a paper towel lined plate to cool.
3. Once bacon reaches room temperature, package in a zip top bag or freezer friendly container.
4. Freeze
5. Reheat one or more pieces in microwave, skillet, or oven

Oven Bacon Leftovers

If you have leftovers after making oven cooked bacon, then it is your lucky day! It will save and reheat well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.

To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:

• in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
• in the freezer up to a month

Bacon can be reheated in the microwave, skillet, or in the oven to make it taste fresh and hot.

Leftover Recipes

Here are a few ways to repurpose those leftovers and give them a delicious makeover!

• Jalapeno Popper Chicken– This recipe is unbelievably delicious. All the flavor of jalapeno poppers in a one dish chicken dinner.
• Million Dollar Chicken– This has been one of my most popular recipes. It is super easy and extra yummy!
• Loaded Cobb Salad– Make this meal-worthy salad with lots of crispy oven bacon.

More Easy Baked Recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!

You can check out all of my ||||| recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.

• Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells
• Tuscan Garlic Chicken
• Million Dollar Pork Chops
• Creamy Pesto Chicken
• Baked Shake and Bake Pork Chops