This air fryer bacon will be your new favorite way to cook bacon! Crispy, perfectly cooked bacon in just minutes and clean-up is so simple.
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We love bacon around here!
Bacon is one of our favorite breakfasts and adds so much flavor to pizza, pastas, salads, soups and more (including a couple of our favorites, Perogies with Bacon and Onions and One-Pot BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pasta).
But have you even made bacon if you haven’t slaved over the stove, flipping strips and avoiding a burn?
And then you still have clean-up to deal with! Greasy splatter mess everywhere. Not how I want to be spending my weekend when I could be hanging with the family.
Thankfully, there’s a better way!
Bacon in the air fryer will change breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner forever. With this method, the bacon practically cooks itself!
You can whip up a batch of these simple Sheet Pan Pancakes, Breakfast Potatoes or these Whole Wheat Pancakes to round out this easy breakfast or make bacon ahead to crumble over recipes like Classic Potato Salad or these BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Nachos.
If you don’t have an air fryer but you love crispy bacon, check out my post on How to Cook Bacon in the Oven!
What tools will I need to make bacon in the air fryer?
- Air fryer – I used an 8-quart air fryer for this recipe but any should work the same. A larger basket will allow you to fit more at once.
- Pair of tongs – these will help carefully flip the strips for even cooking.
- Measuring cup – for measuring the right amount of water to add to the bottom basket so smoke isn’t an issue.
- Paper towels – to make clean up a breeze.
- A plate – to transfer cooked bacon to after it comes out of the air fryer.
How do I make bacon in the air fryer?
Air fryer bacon is so easy and I have a few tips to make it even more simple — be sure to check out the complete recipe below!
- You will preheat the air fryer for optimum cooking.
- Add water to the basket to prevent smoke during cooking.
- Place bacon in the basket. Add a little bend in each slice so they fit well in the basket and cook up nice and pretty.
- Cook then carefully flip using tongs then finish cooking.
- To clean up, place several paper towels into the bottom basket to soak up the warm grease then just discard them in the trash can!
Air Fryer Bacon FAQs
Air fryers don’t actually fry!
They are countertop convection ovens that use forced, heated air to crisp and cook the food.
Air fryer recipes usually have a shorter cook time and they use no fry oil!
I prefer a nice, good quality, thick cut bacon for this recipe. Thick cut bacon can be found in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.
This is one area I don’t cut corners on — less expensive packages of bacon seem to be all fat! I just but it in bulk when it is on sale and store it in the freezer.
If you are using a thinner cut of bacon, you may want to check the bacon half way through the cook time and adjust as necessary.
6 slices of thick cut bacon fit well in a 5-8 quart air fryer. If you are working with a smaller unit, you can cut your slices to fit better, and you may have to do more batches
Total cook time will be 15 minutes, flipping once during cook time. Some thicker slices might need 2 more minutes.
Cooked Bacon will finish crisping up as is cools slightly. You will know your bacon is done when it is rich in color and bubbly on the surface.
If you prefer your bacon softer and less crispy, you can also open the air fryer basket to peek at the doneness earlier — simply pop it in and restart to cook longer!
You will want to store leftover air fried bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Cooked bacon will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
If you want to keep it longer, you can also chop it up and freeze it in a freezer safe container or zip top bag — this is a great, quick addition to homemade pizzas, pastas, salads and more!
More Air Fryer recipes to try:
Air Fryer Bacon
written by Ashley Fehr
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 350F for 5 minutes
- Add water to the bottom of air fryer basket.
- Arrange 6 bacon strips in a single layer in the basket of the air fryer, bending slightly to fit if necessary.
- Cook at 350F for 10 minutes.
- At the end of the cook time, carefully flip bacon over using tongs and cook an additional 5 minutes or until desired crispness is reached.
- Move bacon to paper towel lined plate and keep warm.
- Repeat steps until all bacon is cooked.
- Allow grease to cool slightly, place several paper towels into the grease. Carefully discard grease saturated paper towels in trash.
Nutrition Information
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Sheila says
What brand of air fryer do you use? Is 5.8 qt the largest one? I want to purchase one and there are so many brands to choose from!
Ashley Fehr says
I have a few — anywhere from 3.7 quarts to 8 quarts. With the oven-style air fryers with the racks, you’ll be able to fit more food in because you can’t really stack the food. But we like the results from the basket air fryers better so that’s what we have. Ours are Chefman brand and we have been happy with them!
Dannii says
We love making bacon in the air fryer. It gets perfectly crispy.
Ashley Fehr says
It’s the best way!
Jeannette says
These are just DIVINE! Love how they can be made super crispy and perfect for any meal. Absolutely yum!
Ashley Fehr says
Definitely a winner!
Jamie says
I love making this for my breakfast! The bacon comes out perfectly everytime!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Jamie!
Vicky says
I love crispy bacon and the convenience of doing it in the Air Fryer is brilliant!!
Ashley Fehr says
So easy!