Oven Baked Bacon Recipe

🌡️ Temperature and time

Preheat the oven to 400°F and put the pan on the middle rack. Count about 20 minutes for regular bacon, and roughly 5 minutes more for thick-cut. I never flip it, and it cooks perfectly on both sides. Every oven is a little different, so take a look during the last few minutes. Thin bacon can go from golden to burnt quickly, so don’t wander too far from the kitchen.

👀 How to tell it’s ready

Look at the edges: they turn dark and nicely golden, and the fat has rendered. At that point, it’s your call: some people like it really crispy, others a little less. Keep in mind it’ll firm up a bit as it cools. If you want it just right, pull it a minute before it looks perfect. Taste one slice if you’re not sure: that’s the best test, and nobody’s going to complain.

🥓 Which bacon to pick

It really depends on what you feel like eating. I love maple smoked bacon, especially in my crescent sandwich with maple ham and bacon. For a regular brunch, I go with regular or thick-cut. And when I want to chop it into a salad or a recipe, I often use thick slices, which stay meatier. Thick slices hold their shape when you chop them, so they don’t crumble into dust in the salad.

🧻 The aluminum foil

I like aluminum foil because it covers the sides of the pan too. The grease stays in the foil instead of baking onto the pan, and there’s almost nothing to clean. Let the grease cool so it sets, fold up the foil and throw it out. Your pan is ready for next time. No soaking, no scrubbing, and no burnt grease stuck in the corners of your favorite pan.

💧 Bacon grease

Personally, I throw it out. But you can definitely keep it: let it cool a bit, pour it through a strainer into a jar and keep it in the fridge. It gives a bacon flavor to anything you cook in it. Never pour it down the sink, it hardens in the pipes. A jar in the fridge keeps for a good while, so you always have some on hand for potatoes or eggs.

🍽️ Two packages at once

For a big brunch crowd, you can put two pans in the oven at the same time. Swap racks halfway through so both cook evenly. The pan that ends up on top may need a little more time, so keep an eye on it. One pan per 375 g package, and you feed everybody at once. Keep the first batch warm in a low oven while the second one finishes.

🌀 In the air fryer?

I’ve made bacon in the air fryer, and it’s cool. The problem is you can’t make much at a time, just a few slices. For a whole package or a brunch, I definitely suggest the oven. Everything cooks at once and everything’s ready at once. And you get the same golden, even result as the air fryer, just for the whole family.

📅 Make-ahead prep

For a brunch, line your pans with foil the night before and set out a plate lined with paper towels. In the morning, the bacon goes in the oven while you make the eggs and coffee, and everything hits the table at the same time. For a salad or a recipe, cook the bacon ahead, let it cool and chop it when you need it. It stays crispier that way. Bacon chopped too early softens in the fridge, so wait until the last minute.

❄️ Storage

Cooked bacon keeps for 3 to 5 days in the fridge in a closed container. To reheat it, a few minutes in the oven at 400°F does the job, but a skillet works too. It absolutely freezes, so never waste bacon! Freeze the slices flat and separated, then put them in a bag: you take out just what you need. Frozen bacon reheats straight from the freezer, a few minutes in a hot oven or skillet, so you always have some ready.

✅ What to serve with my oven baked bacon recipe

Put it in my crescent sandwich with maple ham and bacon or my egg and maple bacon croque madame. Chopped, it’s perfect in the best potato salad with bacon. And for a sweet version, try my maple candied bacon.