How to Bake Bacon

The easiest, cleanest way to get crisp, delicious bacon every time.

There are a number of ways you can cook bacon: in a skillet, in the microwave and, YES, in the oven. Cooking bacon in the oven renders a crisp, delicious slice that is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Unlike cooking in a skillet, baking is requires no babysitting and allows for simple clean-up.

Here are the easy steps to baking bacon:

1 Line a Baking Sheet with Foil

Line a large baking sheet or jelly roll pan (it needs to have sides) with aluminum foil. Measure out a third of a sheet of foil that will cover the sheet horizontally, tear off, and crumple. Unfold the sheet and lightly place into the pan, leaving as many crumpled edges as possible.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

TIP

Using a third crumpled sheet of foil will helps trap excess grease, making clean-up simple. When you are finished, you’ll be able to trap and discard much more grease in this crumpled sheet of foil versus having to pour out the renderings from the pan.

2 Add Bacon Strips to Pan

Add the individual strips of bacon to the foil-lined pan. Try to keep the strips separated. Depending on the cut of bacon (thick-cut versus regular), you’ll likely be able to get a full pound on the baking sheet.

3 Bake

Place the sheet of bacon into the preheated oven. Bake the bacon at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, depending on how crisp you prefer the slices (for a softer slice, cook around 20 minutes; for a crisper slice, cook longer).

TIP

If you have a thick-cut of bacon, you may need to increase your cooking time a few additional minutes, as it will take longer for the bacon to become crispy and render additional fat.

4 Transfer Cooked Bacon to Paper Towels

Line a plate or platter with a few paper towels. Using tongs, transfer the hot bacon to the paper towels. Place additional paper towels over the bacon slices, layer and stack more slices. This will help absorb more grease.

TIP

Let the bacon cool slightly for 5-10 minutes before handling.

5 Enjoy!

From here, you’ll have crisp, delicious bacon ready to be stacked on to a burger, added to a BLT or sandwich, enjoyed with eggs, crumbled into a salad or mixed into pasta. The possibilities are endless with salty and savory bacon!

About delightful.e.made

Erin, the “E” in Delightful E Made, delights in sharing the best of all that she cooks, bakes, creates and loves. She has a true joy for being in the kitchen and making things for the people around her. Follow her on Facebok, Pinterest and Instagram.