The method for baking bacon in the oven is much easier than frying it up in a pan. With oven-baked bacon, the strips come out straight and crispy. Plus, there’s no standing at the stove with grease splattering everywhere!
#feast-advanced-jump-to { z-index: 999; border: none; opacity: 0.97; background: #FCFCFC; border-left:4px solid #CCC; padding:5px 0 10px 20px; margin-bottom: 57px;} #feast-advanced-jump-to summary, #feast-advanced-jump-to ul{ margin-left:0;min-height:50px;} #feast-advanced-jump-to li { list-style-type:none; } #feast-advanced-jump-to li a { text-decoration: none; }@media only screen and (max-width: 800px) { .single h2 { display: block; padding-top: 83px; margin-top: -83px; } }
Jump to:
Who doesn’t love the delicious taste of freshly crisped bacon?
It’s such a great addition to recipes like my bacon cheeseburger casserole and my grilled cabbage steaks.
I absolutely hate the mess that results from frying the strips in a pan. It splatters everywhere and it seems I’m cleaning up grease for years after.
And, I end up spending a long time standing at the cooktop when frying because the whole package never fits in one pan. Or, if I try to squeeze too much in, the bacon gets all shriveled.
Baking bacon in the oven solves all these issues! If you have not tried this cooking method, you must give it a try. I guarantee you will never fry bacon again!
Cooking bacon in the oven is so easy and will result in picture-perfect strips every time! The best part is that a whole package can be cooked at once – without making a greasy mess.
How To Bake Bacon
Here is the method for baking bacon plus a bunch of helpful tips, along with some questions people have asked about how to bake bacon in the oven.
Please note: Check out the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of steps used to make this low-carb recipe.
Place Bacon On A Baking Sheet
When baking bacon, all you have to do is to lay the pieces out on a rack in a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Parchment paper can be used as a liner as well. For the best results, arrange the strips, so they aren’t overlapping.
I just use two standard-sized rimmed jellyroll pans. Then, I put wire baking cooling racks on top. A full package of bacon fits nicely on the two pans.
Because you use a wire rack, the strips are raised up while cooking, so they don’t get soaked in grease. And, you don’t even need to flip the bacon once!
Set The Oven Temperature
It’s best to bake bacon between 375°F and 425°F, but a temperature of 350°F should work too. It just takes longer to cook with a lower temperature. For crispy strips, it’s better to go with a higher temperature.
There’s also no need to pre-heat the oven. Of course, it does take a few more minutes to cook in a cold oven. However, the meat does cook as the oven heats up.
Bake Bacon Until It Is Crispy
Now that you know the cooking temp, how long do you bake bacon in the oven? This depends on a few different things – the temperature of the oven and the thickness of the strips.
To determine how long to bake bacon, you can use the following times as a guide when baking in a preheated oven.
- 350°F, bake for about 23-27 minutes
- 375°F, bake for about 20-24 minutes
- 400°F, bake for about 18-22 minutes
- 425°F, bake for about 16-20 minutes
If the oven is not pre-heated, about 5 minutes should be added to each time range. And thick-cut bacon may need to be cooked longer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Baking Bacon
Before we get to the recipe card just a little further below, here are some questions people often ask.
Is baking bacon messy?
Unlike pan-frying, the grease doesn’t splatter everywhere while bacon cooks in the oven. Plus, most (if not all) of the grease should drip down from the rack into the baking sheet.
There’s very little cleanup after baking bacon as well. You just have to pour off the grease in the pans and scrub down the racks. Even if using a dishwasher, it’s best to hand wash first.
How do you clean up after baking it?
You will need a good scrubber to wash the rack off. After the initial scrub, it’s best to run everything through the dishwasher because it’s the best way to clean the grease off.
To make cleanup even easier, you can line the pans with aluminum foil and make racks out of foil to lift the strips up. Then, when it’s all done, just toss the used foil in the garbage.
Is this really the best way to make bacon?
Once you give this cooking method a try, you’ll never go back to pan-frying. You may even want to have separate baking racks just to use for bacon. It really doesn’t get much easier than this.
The strips come out pretty flat and crispy when baking bacon in the oven. To make each one crispier, it’s best to blot up the grease on each strip with a paper towel.
Since learning this method, I use racks to cook anything wrapped in bacon like this chicken tenders recipe. It’s a great way to bake a lot of things instead of frying.
I love that the meat isn’t drowning in the grease. And, there’s less splattering mess as well. So, the food comes out nice and crisp on the outside.
Will fat drip off the sides of the pan?
Yes, this is a possibility. You do need to watch out for fat dripping off the sides of the pan. It may make a greasy and sticky mess on the bottom of the oven.
However, having some kind of catch pan underneath if the strips get too close to the edge can help. The other option is to just keep the strips away from the edges.
If you’re on a ketogenic diet, you’ll likely be eating lots of bacon. Some people have actually taken it to the extreme. Take a look at what happens when you eat only bacon for a month!
Other Bacon Recipes To Try
There’s a ton of recipes that call for cooked bacon. Here are some of my favorite keto-friendly recipes.
★ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, AND INSTAGRAM FOR MORE EASY KETO RECIPES.
Baking Bacon
.wprm-recipe-rating .wprm-rating-star.wprm-rating-star-full svg * { fill: #713239; }
Cooking bacon on a rack in the oven is much easier than frying it in a pan. This method raises the meat in the pan so the strips aren’t loaded with grease.
Recipe Video (Click on Image to Play)
Print Pin
Review Recipe
Save Recipe View Collections
Save Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
-
Set cooling racks on top of jelly roll pans and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
-
Arrange the bacon on racks in baking pan. Be careful not to overlap.
-
Bake for about 20 minutes.
-
Transfer cooked slices to paper towels to absorb excess grease.
Notes
To prevent the grease from smoking when baking, try placing a pan of water on the lower rack.
For easier cleanup, skip the baking rack and crumble foil in strips to make a rack. Alternatively, skip the rack all together.
The fat collected on the bottom of the pan can be saved and used for cooking.
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Nutrition
Serving: 2slices | Calories: 84 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 384mg | Potassium: 94mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Additional Info
Net Carbs: 0 g | % Carbs: 0 % | % Protein: 30.8 % | % Fat: 69.2 % | SmartPoints: 3
Array ( [serving_size] => 2 [calories] => 84 [protein] => 6 [fat] => 6 [saturated_fat] => 2 [polyunsaturated_fat] => 1 [cholesterol] => 18 [sodium] => 384 [potassium] => 94 [iron] => 0.2 [serving_unit] => slices )
FREE EMAIL SERIES
My Top 5 Secrets to Master Keto!
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
© LowCarbYum.com
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
Single photos may be used, provided that full credit is given to LowCarbYum.com along with a link back to the original content.
Originally published January 2011 and updated with new information on July 13, 2021.
