How to Cook Turkey Bacon in the Oven
Making turkey bacon in the oven is the easiest, best way to cook it! Get crispy turkey bacon with no more splatters on your stovetop.
Believe it or not, I went through a long stretch of my life where I didn’t like bacon. I’m not really sure why, but I can definitely tell you that that phase is OVER. I love bacon now! In fact, maybe I love cooking bacon in the oven and bacon gravy a little too much.
As I approach a milestone birthday in terms of getting older, I know that I should be watching my health and probably not eating bacon as often as I would like to. But, I feel like there’s a compromise, and that compromise is turkey bacon.
Just like ground turkey or chicken make a decent swap for beef in Asian sloppy joes and Mediterranean meatballs, turkey bacon can be subbed in for regular bacon just about anyplace you want to use it, like Dr. Pepper baked beans and my leftover mashed potatoes recipe.
Today, I’m sharing with you my tried-and-true method for how to bake turkey bacon. While turkey bacon in the air fryer is my favorite when it’s really hot out and I don’t want to heat up my kitchen, the oven is the best way to cook it at all other times!
Can you cook turkey bacon in the oven?
Yes, you can cook turkey bacon in the oven! While it seems like a lot of people grew up making bacon in a skillet, I think that cooking turkey bacon in the oven is a far easier, more efficient, and less messy way to cook turkey bacon.
Is turkey bacon already cooked?
This really depends on the brand, but most national brands of turkey bacon are smoked or cured, but NOT cooked, so you will need to cook the turkey bacon before you eat it.
Unless the package specifically says that the turkey bacon is fully cooked and ready to eat, you should cook it.
Why cooking turkey bacon in the oven is the best way to cook turkey bacon:
The #1 reason why cooking turkey bacon in the oven is the best way to cook turkey bacon is that it keeps your stovetop clean and your house less smelly!
Say goodbye to grease splattering out of the skillet and onto your stovetop and backsplash, and the smoke smelling up your whole house.
Beyond the less mess/smelliness factor, there are a few other advantages to using the oven. First, it’s a great method to use when you’re preparing brunch food ideas for a crowd. Don’t forget the yogurt parfait bar and bloody mary skewers.
The turkey bacon is just cooking away in the oven, 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 turkey bacon. It’s not shriveled up little pieces – it’s mostly flat, perfectly cooked turkey bacon.
It’s so beautiful, it can even be one of the centerpieces of a breakfast charcuterie board or the hero of a bacon frittata.
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How to cook turkey bacon in the oven:
- Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. I love using pre-cut parchment paper sheets for cooking turkey bacon in the oven. Please make sure the pan is rimmed, or you’re going to have some turkey bacon mess on your hands.
- Lay your turkey bacon out on this pan in a single layer. You might need two pans. They can be a little closer than shown here, but just make sure the turkey bacon pieces aren’t overlapping or anything.
- Bake your turkey bacon in the oven at 400° for 15 to 18 minutes or until it reaches your desired level of crispness, flipping it once halfway through cooking. Maybe make yourself a caramel coffee or iced coffee caramel while it bakes!
- When the oven baked turkey 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 it at 400 degrees, but the temperature is flexible.
Don’t stress out about oven temperature too much. You have some flexibility here. If the only thing I’m making in the oven is the turkey bacon, then I like a 400 degree oven for baked turkey bacon.
However, if you have other items going in the oven at the same time (say, a veggie quiche or sweet potato breakfast casserole), and those require a slightly different temperature (like 375 or 425), don’t worry about it.
Just put your turkey bacon in the oven, and adjust the cooking time up or down by a few minutes based on the temperature. It may only need 10 to 12 minutes at 425 degrees, or up to 15 to 18 minutes at 375 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 cook turkey bacon in the oven MAY depend on the brand of turkey bacon you’re using.
I’ve found that 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees is just about right for most turkey bacon from the grocery store.
However, if you’re using 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 turkey bacon you’re using is on the thinner side, set a timer for 10 minutes and check it at that point. If it’s really thick cut turkey bacon, you could be baking turkey bacon up to 22 to 25 minutes to get it crispy.
Do I need to flip it?
While I do NOT flip traditional bacon as it cooks in the oven, I’ve done many tests and figured out that when you cook turkey bacon in the oven, it comes out a little better and more evenly browned if I flip it once halfway through cooking.
However, if you forget to flip it, it’s not really a big deal, and it’ll still turn out perfectly delicious and crispy enough to sprinkle on top of colcannon soup. Baking turkey bacon is still the best way to cook it!
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How to Cook Turkey Bacon in the Oven
Ingredients
- 12 ounces turkey bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line rimmed baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Arrange bacon over parchment or foil in single layer.
- Transfer to oven and cook 15 to 18 minutes or until bacon reaches your desired level of crispness, turning once halfway through. Use tongs to transfer bacon to paper-towel lined plate to blot excess grease, then serve immediately.
Notes
- If you think the turkey bacon you’re using is on the thinner side, set a timer for 10 minutes and check it at that point. If it’s really thick cut turkey bacon, you could be baking turkey bacon up to 22 to 25 minutes to get it crispy.
