Making perfect crispy bacon at home is really simple. Follow these steps and you’ll have perfect bacon every time (and even better it’s really easy and takes almost no effort!).
I love bacon, it’s so versatile. I’ll happily eat it for breakfast lunch or dinner (I have seen a few recipes about that also use it in cakes but that’s a step further than I’ve gone so far – although you never know!).
The problem is that I always seem to cook it to go along with lots of other things (especially if I’m making a cooked breakfast) so I don’t have time to keep an eye on it in the frying pan whilst juggling the eggs, beans, toast, tea… you get the idea.
- It takes no effort – put it in, take it out – that’s about it.
- It doesn’t need lots of attention – perfect when you’re cooking lots of things at the same time.
- It always turns out really nicely.
If you’re making a cooked breakfast you should also take a look at my guides to making perfect poached eggs and a healthy fried egg.
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
Subscribe to the Charlotte's Lively Kitchen mailing list to get your FREE printable grams to cups and cups to grams conversion charts for twelve popular baking ingredients
Really Easy Crispy Bacon
INGREDIENTS
- Streaky bacon - as much or as little as you need
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
- Lay out the bacon on a baking tray. Make sure that the rashers aren't overlapping.
- Put into the oven and cook for 15 minutes until crispy.
- Remove from the oven and serve.
NOTES
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Gluten-Free
- Egg-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
Hubbard says
It is taking over 30 min. And not done sorry won’t use it again.
Nicole says
I also cook in the oven , but I lay out on a plate first with kitchen towel over the top and microwave for 1 min , it renders out some of the fat and water .. then throw it on some foil in a baking tray pop in the oven.
Koreena says
I’m literally the biggest fail at bacon cooking I love crispy bacon so much and have attempted to get it that way for years but It always ends up hard or over cooked or rubbery. So I will be getting this method out next and will let you know how it goes.
David says
Best ever Bacon Recipe. thank you so so much.
Jo says
I’ve always struggled to perfect crispy bacon – but this method is spot on! I put the oven on at 200 (fan) and placed some streaky bacon on a cold baking tray, leaving space between the bacon. Put in the oven for maybe 20 mins (kept checking) and it came out perfect. Cooled them down; great for my pack ups:) x
Geoff Christmas says
I tried this in my table top halogen oven, the type with a glass bowl and heater in the lid, and it turned out perfectly, even though I used back bacon because that’s all I had. Thank you!
JennyB says
I used this oven-baking method with smoked streaky rashers of bacon sitting on a rack above a foil-lined grill pan, so the fat would drip away. It worked really well, after about 20 minutes the rashers were beautifully crispy and really tasty. We had them with home-made scotch pancakes and maple syrup as a weekend brunch.
Will definitely be doing this again, a hands-free and flawless way of cooking bacon to perfection!
Sue says
I always wondered how the Americans get their bacon so crispy and now I know! So easy! Thanks for this recipe. I’ll be using it a lot!
Vicki says
I’m American and never cooked bacon in the oven! The streaky bacon here in the UK is different, though-way less fat and never gets crisp, so I’m going to try this method
Pigeon says
Did it for 13 mins as my oven tends to run a bit hot. My husband LOVED it.
Margo says
I cook mine in the oven also but rather than allowing them to cook in the grease I use one of my metal racks that one uses to cool the cake layers on before putting their cake together. This way the grease drops into the pan & the strips are not as greasy. They still come out looking just like Charlotte’s look! It might be the oven I use but it takes mine about 19 minutes to cook. When using the cake rack to cook them on , I place the strips going across the width of the rack & not lengthwise. I also overlap the strips by the smallest fraction of an inch, not even 1/4 of an inch. This way I can get 11 or 12 strips on my rack depending on the bacon width, if need be & they do separate as they cook. One other thing, having grown up in the southern portion of America, I save my bacon drippings & keep them in the refrigerator as I use them to season vegetables like fresh green beans or a pot of dried beans. I know, I can hear the gasps of all who yell about fat & cholesteral, but the flavor is worth it & one doesn’t use that much of the drippings to season a pot of beans or any other vegetable that you might like to season this way!
Julia Kruz says
Crispy bacon looks so delicious but too high-calorie for me. I don’t eat fried meat cause of trans fats:( Anyway i note your recipe to cooking book and definitely will prepare it for my husband)
Steve says
My wife’s favorite food is Bacon Sandwich toast. I thought of surprising her on Valentine’s Day, but it failed. Hope I would give a perfect crispy bacon on her birthday which falls on March 5 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
That’s a shame, it maybe your over operates at a slightly different temperature to mine. Perhaps try leaving in for a bit longer to see if that helps.
Tony Goodwin says
No way, Charlotte. I gave up after 30 minutes at 220. Cooked but far from crisp.
Punkie says
I also cook my bacon in the oven, but I pre-heat my oven to 400 degrees and after turning my bacon pieces in a flour mixture lightly salted and peppered, I put them on a baking sheet & cook for about 20 minutes or until the desired crispness. No need to turn over, just check at about the 17 minute mark to make sure they are not too crisp. I prefer crispy and these are fantastic. I have never done it in the oven without the flour as it seems to keep the “splatter” down. Yours is at 200 degrees, so I’m wondering how crisp the bacon would get in the same amount of time.
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried them coated in flour before, it sounds lovely. Do you mean 400F? I cook at 200C which is about the same as 400F.
Nadine says
Very happy for this new way to bake bacon! Notice other people are telling you about OTHER ways to make it. Appreciate your way, never did it that way. Your way is what this is about and my thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks, I hope it works well for you x
Joan Lomas says
When I seen this I just knew that you discovered the easy way to cook bacon. I started doing this over a year ago. I love it. Don’t have to keep an eye on it like you do on top of the stove.
Charlotte Oates says
It’s so simple isn’t it!
Karen says
Cooking it in the microwave is even quicker and doesn’t heat up the
kitchen on hot summer days, but I will admit it’s tricky- it can burn
fast, so you have to watch it carefully. I like to lay my pieces on paper
towel as well; it really cooks nice and not so greasy.
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks for the tip. Ive not tried it in the microwave before so I’ll have to give it a try. It turns out brilliantly in the oven but it would be good to have another way for when I’m in a bit of a hurry.
William says
Want fast bacon with 5 minutes plus heat up? Use you George Foreman Grill with drip tray heated up to 200 Celsius and cook thick bacon 4 -5 minutes and drain on a paper towel and serve while everyone else is still watching the oven
Charlotte Oates says
That’s a great suggestion. Unfortunately I don’t have a George Foreman grill so I’m going to stick to cooking it in the oven.
Joan Lomas says
I have been cooking bacon in the oven about two years now. I just decided to try it one morning because I didn’t want to stand over the frying pan watching it…solo I started cooking it in the oven.
Charlotte Oates says
It so simple isn’t it! I’ve always got other things on the go when I cook bacon so it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about, with the added benefit that it comes out brilliantly each time. Everyone should try it 🙂