Learn how to cook bacon in the oven. It takes just 20 minutes and it comes out perfectly every time – no mess, no splatters, no burns. Easy and delicious!
Ah, bacon. Who doesn’t love to eat bacon. My family loves it. We go through at least three packages of pasture-raised, nitrate-free bacon each week – eating it for breakfast, packing it in my kids lunch box, or even just as an after school snack that’s packed with protein.
The only drawback with bacon is cooking it. At least it used to be for me. Cooking bacon in a skillet over the stove usually resulted in oil splatters everywhere and me getting burned.
Until now…
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
I’ve got a super easy way to cook bacon perfectly without the mess and you can even cook in bulk without adding extra time.
The secret? Cook bacon in the oven! This is what restaurants do to cook a lot of bacon at once. But you can do it at home too to save time and grease splatters (who else gets burned every time cooking bacon the traditional way?).
Try your oven-baked bacon with this delicious gluten-free egg quiche or these other 50+ Healthy Grain Free and Gluten Free Breakfast Recipes.
Save the Bacon Grease
I keep my lard in a glass container and store it in the refrigerator. I use it as my primary cooking oil for all my savory dishes – including stir fry, sautéed vegetables, browning meat, gluten-free fried fish, and even scrambled eggs. Believe me, once you use lard to cook your eggs, you’ll never go back to olive oil or butter. Lard has so much flavor and just a little bit goes a long way.
Plus, it’s so economical to use rather than buying cooking oil (find out what you want to avoid traditional soybean and other cooking oils).
Easy Clean Up
Cooking bacon in the pan without parchment paper will make clean up a lot harder. The bacon usually comes out easy but the bits and pieces from cooking can mean using some elbow grease to get it out. So use parchment paper to make clean up easy. I usually pour out the bacon grease right away (while it’s still warm) into an oven-safe glass dish. Then I let the pan cool off for 30 minutes. After that, I just fold up the parchment paper and toss it.
More Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Oatmeal
- 25+ Instant Pot Breakfast Recipes
- 50+ Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Breakfast Recipes
Did you try this Hawaiian ahi tuna poke bowl recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and comment below to let me know how it went. You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Equipment
- Baking pan
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 12 oz. package of nitrate-free bacon
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
- Cut bacon in half lengthwise so each piece is about 5-6 inches long.
- Remove bacon from package and line on parchment paper in baking pan. Line each piece next to each other – avoid overlapping.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Use tongs to transfer bacon to a plate with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
- Drain bacon fat into a glass container and store in the refrigerator to use later as a cooking oil.
Notes
Equipment & Tools
Want More Recipes?
Check out my new book, Gluten-Free, Real Food Recipes for Kids.
I wrote this book with YOU in mind. Parents who want to provide kids with wholesome meals without artificial colors, preservatives and other additives.
All the recipes are gluten-free – with many options for grain free or Paleo, dairy free, egg free and vegetarian.
What’s Included In This Book
It’s filled with 130+ pages of content and recipes, including:
- Real food nutrition 101
- Detailed information on how to properly soak and sprout nuts, beans, grains and seeds
- A guide on how to spot chemical additives and what to avoid
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- Tips on how to get kids to become better eaters and help in the kitchen
- 70+ gluten-free recipes – such as snacks and appetizers, beverages, condiments and dressings, main meals, desserts and more
Take a peek what’s inside Gluten-Free, Real Food Recipes for Kids.
Feature image credit: Bigstockphoto.com / Alex9500
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What if I don’t have a cast iron skillet?
You can cook bacon in the oven on a baking pan. It works great – just put down some parchment paper so it doesn’t stick to the pan and for easier clean-up.
Hi, Does the bacon grease get all over the over?
Not at all. It doesn’t splash like it does in the pan on the stovetop. It’s actually way less messy in the oven.
My husband of 33 years & I met & worked in the restaurant business for a long time & that’s where we learned this method, ’cause that’s how most of them do it. I love your blog, you have a lot of great ideas & tips & I follow you on Pinterest.
Hell yeah, mama!!! I’ve been doing bacon in the oven for years… With my huge crew it only made sense and no mess, as you said!! Very little shrinkage and perfectly crunchy 😉 yum. So glad I found your blog. I saw you on cheeseslave. Haven’t been there in a while, so, I’m glad I decided to stop in. Off to cruise around your site.