How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Wondering how to cook bacon in the oven? Follow this easy culinary school method to start cooking bacon that is perfectly crisp every time, without any splatters of grease on your stovetop!

Going to culinary school certainly introduced me to fancy kitchen techniques like making chocolate creme brûlée, crab stuffed salmon and a secret trick to making the best vegetable lasagna.

But it also introduced me to something so simple, so basic, so obvious, that I was left scratching my head as to why I hadn’t thought of it before: how to cook bacon in an oven. Truthfully, it might have been the most useful thing I learned!

Granted, before culinary school, I didn’t make bacon that often. Maybe once in awhile for phyllo cup appetizers or a bacon cheeseburger pizza, but not often for breakfast.

And I think two major reasons for that were how smelly it makes your house when you cook it, and how big of a mess it makes of your stovetop (grease splatters everywhere!).

After you learn how to make crispy bacon in an oven, well, your house will still smell bacon-y, but maybe a smidge less so than with the old frying pan method.

But those grease splatters? Well, the bacon still splatters a little inside the oven, but not nearly as much as it does when it’s cooked in a skillet.

And the splatter stays inside the oven and not all over your stove and countertop. Plus, there’s plenty of free stovetop space for a griddle, so you can make lemon pancakes or potato cakes!

So, are you now wondering how to cook bacon in the oven?

Read on for all the details you’ll need for making perfect oven bacon each and every weekend (or weekday). Or, if turkey bacon is more your speed, check out my tutorials on how to cook turkey bacon in the oven and turkey bacon in an air fryer!

“I tried this today, and this is an absolute genius way to cook bacon.  It doesn’t smell up the house, doesn’t splatter, and I’m sure my husband will love not having to clean up the stove after I cook bacon.  So this is a winner all the way around.  Thank you!!!”

-Susan

Why should you be cooking bacon in the oven?

Beyond the less mess/smelliness factor, there are a few other advantages to baking bacon in the oven. First, it’s a great method to use when you’re preparing brunch food for a crowd (think Easter or Mother’s Day).

The bacon can just cook away, unattended to, while you’re finishing up the rest of the meal on the stovetop (or prepping the rest of the ingredients for a baked potato pizza, if it’s dinner time).

Second, you get to eat almost cartoon-like perfect crispy bacon. It’s not shriveled up little pieces – it’s mostly flat, perfectly cooked bacon. If you want to pull out your phone and take a picture of it, well, I won’t judge!

It’s so beautiful, it can even the centerpiece of a breakfast charcuterie board or Easter charcuterie board, or the real star of a tomato sandwich.

How to cook bacon in the oven:

1. Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. I love using pre-cut parchment paper sheets for ease. Please make sure the pan is rimmed, or you’re going to have a huge bacon grease mess on your hands.
2. Lay your bacon out on the prepared pan in a single layer. If you need two pans, use two pans. Make sure the bacon pieces aren’t overlapping or anything.
3. Cook the bacon in the oven at 375° for 18 to 20 minutes or until it reaches your desired level of crispness. You don’t even need to flip it. Just let it do its thing for 18 minutes. Maybe make yourself a salted caramel cream cold brew while your bacon is in the oven?
4. When the oven baked bacon is fully cooked, use tongs to transfer it to a paper-towel lined plate to blot some of the extra grease before serving.

I cook bacon in the oven at 375 degrees, but the temperature is flexible.

Don’t stress out about oven temperature too much. You have some flexibility when cooking bacon. If the only thing I’m making in the oven is the bacon, then sure, I like a 375 degree oven for baked bacon.

Coincidentally, 375 is also the perfect oven temperature to roast squash for my sweet dumpling squash soup, which is topped with oven baked bacon!

However, if you have other items going in the oven at the same time (say, my vegetarian quiche recipe or a sweet potato breakfast casserole), and those require a slightly different temperature (like 350 or 400), don’t worry about it.

Just put your bacon in the oven at the temperature for your other dish, and adjust the cooking time up or down by a few minutes based on the temperature. The bacon may only need 14 to 16 minutes at 400 degrees, or up to 22 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

As long as you check it semi-frequently and take it out as soon as it’s done, it will turn out just fine.

How long to bake bacon at 375 degrees? Exact cook time MAY depend on the style of bacon you’re using.

The biggest question most people have about how to cook bacon in an oven is, “how long”?

I’ve found that 18 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees is just about right for most bacon from the grocery store (usually labeled “original” or “center cut”).

However, if you’re using bacon labeled “thick cut” or “thick sliced”, or something from a butcher shop that may be thinner or thicker, cooking time could vary a little bit.

Again, just keep an eye on it as it cooks.

If you think the bacon you’re using might be on the thinner side, set a timer for 14 minutes and check it at that point. If it’s really thick cut bacon, it could take up to 25 minutes to get it crispy enough to sprinkle on top of colcannon soup.

Your timing for bacon in the oven is also really going to depend on how you like to eat your bacon. Myself, I like it on the softer side of crispy. Some people like it super crispy. Cook it until its doneness suits YOUR taste buds.

Do I need to preheat my oven?

I’ve tried baking bacon in both a preheated and non-preheated oven multiple times, and I’ve included both methods in the recipe card below.

If you start with a preheated oven, baking bacon at 375 generally takes about 18 to 20 minutes.

However, also feel free to put your bacon in a cold oven. The fat will slowly begin to render as the oven preheats, which is just fine!

If you put the bacon in a cold oven and then turn the oven on, it will take around 26 to 28 minutes to bake. The oven baked bacon turns out great either way, so just do what works for you!

Do I need to flip the bacon in the oven?

I do NOT flip it as it’s cooking! You’re certainly welcome to flip it if you feel like it, but I never have (we didn’t in culinary school, either), and it still turns out perfectly crispy and delicious.

Alright, you’re now a pro at cooking bacon, so you’re ready to make make ahead egg muffins or cornbread breakfast casserole!

Note: This recipe was originally published in 2013. The recipe was updated in 2023 to be even better, the photos were reshot, and the post was revised accordingly. The original photos appear below.