Oven-Baked Bacon Recipe (VIDEO) (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to bake bacon at 350 or 400? ›

Bake at 400 Degrees F.

Some recipes recommend baking bacon at other temperatures or starting the bacon in a cold oven, but I found that a preheated 400 degrees F is the best temperature for baking bacon.

Once you place the bacon in the oven, heat it to 400 degrees F and bake the bacon to your desired crispness. It should be done in about 20 minutes (note that this time is slightly longer than other recipes, because the bacon will be in the oven while the oven pre-heats.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Arrange the bacon in a single layer on 2 aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheets, or, for extracrispy bacon, arrange on 2 wire racks set over 2 foil-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake until the bacon is browned and starts to ripple, or to desired doneness, 10 to 20 minutes.

Nope! You don't have to flip it while cooking. You just lay the bacon on a baking sheet, stick it in the oven, and set a timer. The strips of bacon bubble away in the oven (no splattering!) and gradually become the crispy, golden-hued, irresistible bacon we know and love.

It's so incredibly simple! Just preheat oven to 375°F, and arrange your bacon on a slotted pan (like Rach's!) and bake to crisp for 15 to 18 minutes. (Again, if you don't have a slotted pan, Rach says you can make your own by putting a wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet with a rim.)

Cooking bacon in the oven can help you achieve evenly crisp bacon slices to prevent burnt ends and chewy and raw middles.

Cooking bacon in the oven doesn't take any longer than in a pan. Oven bacon gets just as crispy, if not crispier, and there's very little mess to clean up after. Making a batch of bacon in the oven also means you can do other things while it's cooking.

The easiest way to tell is by the color of the pork. Just like with many other types of meat, uncooked bacon will be light pink with white strips of fat. When it's ready to eat, those rosy hues will have darkened to a reddish-brown color, and the fat will morph into a tan or golden shade.

Wondering how to cook bacon in the oven without a rack? You'll have to scroll down a bit more — but you're going to need foil either way! Line the entire pan with foil including up and over the rimmed sides. This way, all you have to do is fold it up and toss it once the grease cools and solidifies.

In my experience, using the convection baking setting bakes the bacon faster than the standard baking setting. Either one is fine and will give you perfectly crisp bacon but you just may need to continue to bake the bacon longer after coming to temperature if using the standard baking setting.

Do you have to use parchment paper for bacon in the oven? ›

A baking sheet or parchment paper? The best way to cook bacon in the oven is on parchment paper because it allows for an easy cleanup. Once you're done and it's cooled down, simply roll all that grease up into the center of the parchment paper and throw it away!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place bacon slices, one next to the other, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

The Right Temperature for Baking Bacon

While 375°F is my ideal temperature, if you're cooking something else in your oven, you can toss a sheet of bacon in at almost any temperature, and it'll be okay. If you're cooking it hotter, just keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Even if you're in a hurry, we really don't recommend this method. Stovetop (medium-low heat): We started with a cold pan, put the bacon in, and turned the heat to medium-low. It took 18 minutes to cook and the result was bacon with a great bite, good color, and rich flavor. This one's definitely a winner.

Bacon cooks best low and slow. Whether on the stove or in the oven, don't cook it at a temperature that's too high or you risk uneven cooking, or worse, burned bacon. It's not worth rushing, so plan accordingly.