Are you ready to make bacon like a pro without the mess? Get ready for crispy, delicious bacon straight from your oven! Whether you’re a bacon lover or just looking for a hassle-free way to cook, I’m showing you the secrets to perfect bacon every time!”
What do you serve bacon with? Almost everything! My favorites are French Toast Casserole, Three Cheese Quiche, or sprinkled on Stuffed Baked Potatoes.
I’ve been cooking bacon in the oven for several years now. Once I figured out how to do it, it was almost a life-changing experience! I’d always hated “babysitting” the pan of bacon on the stovetop so that I could get just the right amount of crispness without burning it.
Benefits Of Cooking Bacon In The Oven
- It’s a hands-off recipe. You don’t need to flip the bacon—that’s how easy it is!
- Using a sheet tray, you can cook a large batch of bacon at once, versus a skillet or round pan.
- There’s no mess, no projectile grease splatter, and easy clean-up using sheets of parchment.
- Each piece is perfectly and evenly cooked, unlike in a pan where some pieces burn, and others are undercooked.
What You’ll Need
- Bacon – thick cut bacon, regular strips of bacon, or turkey bacon.
- Parchment Paper helps with clean-up. You can also use aluminum foil and curl the edges to hold the grease.
- Sheet Tray – I use a large baking pan to fit as much bacon as possible on the tray.
How To Cook Bacon In The Oven
- Heat the oven and line a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Lay bacon slices on the parchment in a single layer without overlapping pieces.
- Cook for 10 minutes and then check them. Keep cooking for another 6-7 minutes until they reach perfect crispiness.
- Remove the bacon strips, using tongs, and place them on paper towels to absorb excess grease.
Save That Bacon Grease, Y’all!
Bacon grease adds SO MUCH FLAVOR to whatever you are serving. To save, you can use foil instead of parchment paper. Roll the edges up around the pan to hold the bacon grease in, then pour it into a glass container after the bacon is cooked. Use it to fry eggs, in Southern Fried Corn, or Warm Bacon Dressing for spinach salad.
Donya’s Tips
- If you need to cook a big batch of bacon, you can use two sheet trays to cook two batches at a time. To cook these, increase the cooking time by 5-10 minutes to cook two trays of bacon.
- Discard the parchment paper between cooking batches so the bacon isn’t cooking in its own fat.
Questions And Answers
No, as long as you replace the parchment paper, you don’t need a wire rack to cook bacon in the oven.
Nope, that’s what is so awesome about this method. You just let it cook while you prepare other things.
You sure can! Make Brown Sugar Pepper Candied Bacon or add a drizzle of maple syrup.
What To Serve With Crispy Bacon
Bacon can be used in so many ways, including just munching on it! My favorites are sprinkling it on Baked Potatoes and BLT Tortellini Pasta Salad. And it makes Crock Pot Baked Beans crazy good!
More Easy Oven Recipes
If you tried this How To Cook Bacon In The Oven Recipe or any other recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Lay ½ pound of bacon strips on parchment. Place in oven to cook. Check at 10 minute mark. Continue to cook for 6 to 7 additional minutes or until desired crispness.
- Remove bacon strips to paper towel to drain.
- Discard parchment paper with bacon grease and repeat process with other ½ pound strips.
- Store bacon in an airtight container or ziplock bag until ready to use in your favorite recipes.
Notes
Store cooled bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. How to Reheat Bacon:
Reheat in a skillet over medium heat or in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes until warm and crispy.
Nutrition
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Hi Donya, I made bacon late afternoon, following your instructions for the oven. WHAT A BLESSING! I had 55 slices to make for a breakfast for some young men Friday morning. I am so delighted with how beautiful it turned out. Thank you so much for your instructions. I would appreciate your advice on this question – I placed the bacon in Zip Lock bags as you mentioned. I need to keep them here until Friday morning. They are so nice and crisp now; would you keep them in a cool place until then or simply on the kitchen counter-top. Thanks.
Going to try the parchment paper on top.After cooking in oven several times i do have to clean it. No fun but neither is eating
Bacon any other way.Will have answersoon.
Thanks for sharing this amazing blog post
No problem! Glad you found A Southern Soul.
~Donya
60 years ago, I had an old aunt who had 10 kids. She made at least a pound of bacon all at one time in her cast iron skillet, the bacon being crisscrossed (latticed) in the pan. She turned it all at once. It turned out perfectly. Any help to do that?
Can I put a pound in the over at one time? Do you really need to separate the slices?
I’ve never cooked bacon in a crisscrossed pattern. I do cook at pound at a time, separating the slices and put it on 2 pans. Hope this helps!
~Donya
No one is addressing the “splattered oven” problem. Does it get all splattered or not? Does placing another sheet of parchment paper on top of the bacon prevent splatters? Has anyone tried this? I would appreciate hearing from any of you regarding this…I don’t have a self-cleaning oven and if I have to clean my oven, I’d just as soon fry the bacon on top of the stove! Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions.
Natalie, I don’t have a problem with the splattering, yes, there is some grease that pops, but very little. If you are worried, just cook the bacon at a lower temperature but for longer. Since you are laying the bacon FLAT on parchment, most of the splattering is taken care of in the pan. I’ve never tried putting parchment on top, but give it a try and see how it works.
Good luck,
~Donya
Thank you, Donya. I appreciate your response!
I love the parchment paper idea! We particularly love thick sliced bacon and cooking it in the oven yields the most wonderful texture that the black skillet just cannot give. Thank you for sharing this. I also love to save the pan drippings and use them to grease my skillet for cornbread…it adds an extra dimension of flavor! Happy cooking from Beeswax Creek!
Thank you so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments. High five to saving some bacon grease too…green beans, cornbread and sometimes in salad dressing. 😉
XO,
~Donya
What, then, is the solution to splattering the oven walls? I use a flat griddle with a screen (on stove top) but still have to clean the stove top. A friend of mine does hers in the oven and sprinkles brown sugar on top. I’d love to try that once I figure out how to avoid a splattered oven.. I tried brown sugar once (on stovetop) and it was a terrible mess. I’ll try oven fry soon.
I have read several posts about cooking bacon in the oven….does this make a mess in your oven? Grease splattered everywhere? I am concerned about that. Oh, and by the way, Step 5 in your recipe is completely unnecessary, there is no such thing as leftover bacon!! Love your recipes!
Doesn’t the bacon grease splatter all over the oven? How do we keep it from doing so? Thank you!
As life rolls on, we learn a new way of cooking bacon. Personally, I have used several different methods of cooking bacon, finally I decided the oven with parchment liner in the 11 x 17 flat sheet cake baking pan is the absolute the best!! Enjoy11