How to Make Bacon in the Oven
After learning to cook bacon in the oven, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to how I was cooking it before. This method is SO easy, less messy, and so delicious.
I love bacon.
But I don’t love cooking it. So for a long time, it’s been something I avoided as much as possible.
The way it makes your house smell like bacon forever…never *quite* getting it the right crispiness…the splattering grease.
Ugh!
Until I discovered how amazing it is to cook in the oven! My sister recommended this to me, and I’ve never turned back.
It’s taken a little bit of trial and error, but hopefully my fails will make your attempts even more successful!
What Do You Need?
The bare basics of what you need are:
- Bacon
- Baking sheet (or similar pan with edges)
- I like to use brown sugar or black pepper as well
However, it will make your life a lot easier if you also have:
- A cooling rack
- Tin foil
I bought a cookie sheet at Costco several months ago that actually came with a little rack. I really like to use it for cooking bacon with. It was from Nordicware, and you can get it here.
However, that sheet was in the sink when I was taking these pictures, so I just used my regular cooling rack. I do find one that using one that’s a little closer to the surface without long legs work the best.
Tin foil helps make for a lot easier cleanup as it catches all the grease. I can’t stand cleaning greasy baking sheets!
What type of bacon?
You can really use whatever kind you like. However, I find the best results with thick cut bacon.
When it’s thinner cut, it doesn’t always seem to cook as evenly. I used a thinner cut variety for these pictures, and some parts got more done than others.
I just think thick cut is more delicious overall, anyways.
How Long Should You Cook it For?
This will depend on the thickness of the bacon. I usually cook my bacon for 20 minutes, and it turns out perfectly. Another breakfast option you can try is our baked scrambled egg. It complements wonderfully with the crispy bacon.
This batch I cooked for the pictures in this post should have been for 16 minutes – 20 minutes was too long. So if you are on the thinner bacon side, I would start around 15 minutes and go up from there. You can always cook it for longer, but there are few things sadder than burnt bacon.
Keep in mind that it keeps cooking for a little bit after you take it out, so if it doesn’t look 100% done, it probably will be once it’s sat for a few minutes.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place a cooling rack on top of your aluminum foil.
- Place a single layer of bacon on the cooling rack. Make sure no pieces overlap, because the pieces will get underdone that are covered up.
- Set the timer for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon.
- When the timer goes off, check and remove it if it’s ready.
Oven Bacon Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 pieces thick cut bacon
- Pepper (optional)
- Brown sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place a cooling rack on top of your aluminum foil.
- Place a single layer of bacon on the cooling rack. Make sure no pieces overlap, because the pieces will get underdone that are covered up.
- Sprinkle with pepper or brown sugar (not both) if desired
- Set the timer for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bacon.
- When the timer goes off, check and remove it if it's ready.
