Air Fryer Bacon

Air Fryer Bacon – Cooking bacon in the air fryer doesn’t get easier and I’m showing you how and for how long to cook bacon based on your texture preference!

You’ll love making bacon this way to eat by itself or to include in other recipes like this breakfast egg roll recipe! You can add it to sandwiches as well, maybe some Breakfast Bagel Sliders?

Air Fryer Bacon

I’ll admit… for years, I hated frying bacon. The mess, the popping of hot grease all over my hands when flipping. The burning, the smoke. It became something I would dread but would keep doing it because who doesn’t love to EAT bacon? Plus, I absolutely love serving it alongside my favorites like biscuits and chorizo gravy (or for something quick and easy, white gravy recipe) and brioche french toast.

So I heard about cooking bacon in the oven. I gave it a try, it was better than frying it on the stovetop, but the pan was such a pain in the butt to clean, I’d have to be SUPER careful pulling the pan out of the oven so the grease didn’t slosh (is that a word?) around and spill… it just wasn’t that much better.

But then. THEN I got the air fryer.

When I first got the Chefman air fryer, I was grabbing everything in sight to see if it would taste better or make things easier. Everything from air fryer cheeseburgers to imitation crab meat. (The crab meat was interesting, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.)

Well let me tell you… cooking bacon in the air fryer has CHANGED my LIFE. For real. Not only is it so much easier to cook and clean up, it gives the bacon a texture that I dream about now. If you haven’t jumped on the air fryer train yet, maybe you have a George Foreman kicking around? Bacon works there, too!

More Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love:

• Air Fryer Burgers
• 20+ Air Fryer Recipes
• Air Fryer Brats

So let me dive in and fill you in on how to cook bacon in the air fryer in case you have one and want to give it a try, or in case you’re thinking about getting an air fryer and want to see what this bad boy can do.

How to Cook Bacon in the Air Fryer

It is so incredibly easy to make this, so feel free to scroll down and head right to the printable recipe card for the instructions, but I thought I’d give you tips along the way, different cooking times/outcomes, and bacon details to help make you the air fryer bacon extraordinaire.

What Kind of Bacon is Best

Well, we could start a riot if I sat here and claimed that there is a brand/type of bacon that is the best in the world. So I think I’ll refrain from that and just list out OUR favorite bacon details.

• thick-cut
• applewood
• hickory
• peppered
• butcher shop fresh bacon
• whatever’s the cheapest (For real, sometimes I can’t pass up the super cheap bacon when I see packages out there that are $10. But man that $10 bacon is good. Ammiright?)

Separate the Bacon

Most bacon comes stuck together like in the photo above. So I recommend you open the package and pull it all apart, right away. It will be much easier to grab a slice as you’re cooking multiple batches.

How Many Pieces of Bacon at a Time?

Depending on the size of your air fryer, will depend on how much you can cook at a time.

With mine, I can cook about 4 pieces at a time. (Possibly 5-6 if they’re smaller.) However, you don’t want the bacon to overlap, or there will be pieces of the bacon that won’t cook.

Do I Have to Spray NonStick Spray in the Air Fryer?

My air fryer recommends that I don’t use a nonstick cooking spray. It says that it can damage the nonstick surface. (But I’m not going to sit here and lie, saying I’ve never done that.)

For bacon, I don’t spray it because even though the bacon can and has stuck just a little bit, it’s never bad enough to need to spray.

How Long to Cook Bacon in Air Fryer

Depending on how you like your bacon, will depend on how long you want to cook it.

For us, we have two people in our house that want floppy bacon, and two people that want crispy/crunchy bacon.

So, this is another reason I love cooking bacon in the air fryer because I can cook it differently for different preferences around here.

What Temperature to Cook Bacon in the Air Fryer

I’ve found that I prefer cooking bacon on 400°. It’s high, so it cooks faster, which is ideal when I have two little boys starving in the morning.

Floppy/Crispy Bacon

Note that air fryers can be different so cook times and temperatures will vary. It’s best to keep an eye on it the first time you cook bacon in the ai fryer so you can get an idea of how yours works.

First Photo: As you’ll see in the photo collage below, I cooked the first batch of bacon at 7 ½ minutes to get the “done”, yet floppy bacon.

Second Photo: If you’ll notice, the second photo has the same cook time as the first. This is because the air fryer is cold and needs to heat up for the first run but the bacon in the 2nd batch cooks faster because the air fryer has already been heated up.

So the “7 ½ minute” bacon will be a little more done than the first round. I mention this because I want you to keep in mind that when you’re doing multiple batches, your bacon may take less time, the more you cook.

Third Photo: I cooked that batch of bacon at 8 ½ minutes. This gave a crispy bacon result (my fave!).

Crispy Bacon Tip

One thing that I want to mention before we get in to the “tip” is that cooking the bacon in the air fryer (or at least in my air fryer) I love that the grease drips down in the bottom and the bacon doesn’t sit in the grease.

I believe this helps give the bacon flavor/texture that I love so much!

The TIP: Whether or not you cook your bacon in a pan, oven or air fryer… when the bacon is done, you can remove the bacon and place it on a plate, on top of a paper towel. This allows the grease to soak up, and gives more of a crispy texture!

Recipes for Bacon

If you’re looking for different ways to use your bacon (if you’re not planning on eating it outright) here are recipes you’ll adore! Personally, I even love adding a few slices on a biscuit after cooking biscuits in the air fryer!)

• Bacon Brioche Sandwich
• Mini Waffle Breakfast Sandwiches
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
• Easy Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
• Easy Broccoli Raisin Bacon Salad
• Italian Chopped Salad
• The BEST Side Salad Recipe
• BLT Hot Dog
• Baked Turkey Burgers (with bacon)
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescent Bites
• The BEST Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Cheese
• Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Cranberries

Easy Breakfast Recipes You’ll Love

We love having air fryer apple fritters with bacon, but you’ll also love these:

• The BEST Pancakes Recipe
• Biscuit and Gravy Casserole with Eggs
• Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Recipe