How to Cook Bacon in the Oven (Easy Clean Up)

Avoid a splattered stove top and pan scrubbing by cooking your next batch of bacon in the oven. It comes out perfectly cooked, whether you like it chewy or crispy.

Bacon may be the most popular meat in America. We see it on nearly every menu in every diner and cafe. Entire cookbooks are devoted to it and just about everyone has their favorite way to eat it. In the past few years, we have even seen candied bacon and chocolate-covered bacon.

Jump to:

• Quick Bacon FAQs
• Ingredients
• Instructions on How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
• My Top Tips for Perfectly Cooked Bacon
• How to Reheat Cooked Bacon
• More Ideas for Using Cooked Bacon
• 📖 Recipe

Everyone knows that cooking bacon is very messy. Pan-frying it causes splattering across the cooktop. I've tried a splatter guard to minimize the splatter and still the clean-up is tedious.

Then, there is the electric griddle which is also a pain to clean. Microwaving bacon works well, but it can be tricky... and you can have splatter in the microwave.

But if you cook bacon in the oven you eliminate much of the clean-up and you can save time making breakfast by baking a batch of bacon at a time instead of a couple of strips each day.

And why does baking bacon cause less splatter? Because bacon can be cooked slowly in the oven which makes it splatter much less meaning clean-up is so much easier. Generally, all you will need to do is put your baking pan in the dishwasher, so clean-up is a breeze.

Let's see. Less clean-up, less time, and more bacon! Sounds like a winning strategy doesn't it?

So, let's cook!

Ingredients

• Uncooked Bacon - You can use any brand and type of bacon. Smoked, maple, unsmoked, uncured, etc.

Please see the recipe card for the exact quantities.

Instructions on How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Prepare. Preheat the oven to 400°F/204°C and line a large baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. If you do not have parchment paper or aluminum foil, spray the baking pan lightly with a non-stick cooking spray.

Place. Place strips of bacon at least ¼" apart on the lined baking pan. Do not let the strips of bacon touch.

Bake. Bake the bacon for 18 to 20 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure the bacon cooks evenly.

Cool. Using tongs, transfer the bacon to a triple layer of paper towels to drain.

If you are serving the bacon now: Transfer the bacon to a serving plate or to individual dishes to eat now.

If your plan is to store the bacon: After the bacon has cooled, blot each slice with a paper towel to remove excess fat. Store the bacon in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight wrapping or container. You can wrap the strips of bacon in parchment paper, cling wrap, or aluminum foil. Or place them in an airtight container with a lid or zipper-sealed plastic bag.

My Top Tips for Perfectly Cooked Bacon

♡ Make sure to place strips of bacon at least ¼" apart so that they don't stick together while cooking. This gives beautiful single strips of bacon every time.

♡ If you cook two pans of bacon in the oven at the same time, switch the pans between the racks in addition to rotating them at the midway point of baking.

♡ Cut bacon slices in half. This is a great trick to control portion sizes which saves calories and money.

How to Reheat Cooked Bacon

• Use a Skillet - Place strips of bacon in a large skillet and gently heat them over medium heat until they are warmed.
• Use the Oven - Place the cooked bacon in a parchment-lined baking pan and bake at 300°F for just a few minutes until the bacon is warmed.
• Use the Microwave - Place a few strips on a paper towel-covered microwave-safe plate and cover with another paper towel. Microwave the bacon for 30-second bursts until the bacon is warmed.

More Ideas for Using Cooked Bacon

📖 Recipe