Making Air Fryer Bacon is so EASY! Enjoy crisp and evenly cooked bacon in under 10 minutes with the easiest cleanup. This is my family’s go-to method for cooking small batches of bacon.
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Air Fryer Bacon
We love Air Fryer Recipes like Air Fryer Chicken Wings and Air Fryer Baked Potatoes, not only because they cook faster, but they turn out extra crispy with little to no extra oil. If you crave crispy bacon, then this recipe is for you!
The air fryer method is so much easier to make than stovetop or baking in the oven because it’s quick, less messy and there’s no need to pre-heat the oven. You can make that epic BLT Sandwich in half the time.
Helpful Reader Reviews
“Oh my goodness! Thank you Natasha.Crisp and no greasy splatters all over the kitchen.Fantastic, just fantastic.” – Heather ★★★★★
“Thank you soooo much for this recipe. It is the best! In the past I have avoided cooking bacon on th stove or in the oven because of the greasy mess. After trying your recipe in my air frier, as you stated, I will be cooking bacon this way from now on. It is so quick and easy. As for messiness…there was NO MESS! I followed your recipe to the letter…” – Sheila ★★★★★
How to Cook Bacon in Air Fryer
- Arrange bacon in a single layer without overlapping to ensure even airflow and crisping.
- Air Fry at 350˚F for 7-10 minutes, or to your desired crispness (see cooking time chart below). It varies depending on the thickness of your bacon.
- Drain – Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess fat and enjoy!
How Long to Cook Bacon in the Air Fryer
The cook time for this recipe can vary depending on the doneness of your bacon, the thickness of the bacon, and the style of your air fryer. Also, we do not preheat the air fryer for bacon.
- Regular Cut Bacon – for softer bacon, air fry at 350˚F for 7 minutes, and for crispy bacon, cook 8 to 9 minutes
- Thick-Cut Bacon – for softer bacon, air fry at 350˚F for 9-10 minutes, and for crispy bacon, cook 10-12 minutes.
Do I have to preheat the air fryer?
This depends on your air fryer. Some air fryers recommend preheating, but it is not necessary for bacon and I never preheat my air fryer for anything, to be very honest.
Can I use turkey bacon?
Yes, if you want to use turkey bacon, this recipe works great. Just cook the turkey bacon as you would regular bacon. Since turkey bacon is leaner and thinner, reduce the cooking time and air fry for 5-7 minutes
Does Bacon need to be flipped in the air fryer?
Since the air circulates, there’s no need to flip the bacon halfway. It will be perfectly crispy on both sides.
How to prevent bacon smoking?
Since the smoke point of bacon fat is 400˚F, we air fry at 350˚F to avoid any smokiness while cooking bacon. Also, if cooking in batches, be sure to drain the drip pan of any oil and wipe clean with a paper towel. Another tip that was shared by one of our readers is to put a thin slice of bread flat in the bottom of the air fryer (beneath the basket – this only works in the basket-style air fryer) to absorb grease, simplify cleaning, and reduce smoking.
You only have to try cooking bacon in the Air Fryer once for it to become your new favorite way to cook bacon.
Use Cooked Bacon for
- Sandwiches – BLT Sandwich, Breakfast Sandwich, or Eggs Benedict
- With Eggs – Omelettes, Scrambled Eggs, Poached Eggs, or Deviled Eggs
- Wraps – Tortilla Breakfast Wrap, or Chicken Wrap – Valentina’s Corner
- Salad – Pasta Caesar salad – Valentina’s Corner
- Topping for Pierogi, Zuppa Toscana, or Clam Chowder
Crispy Air Fryer Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon , (6 oz regular bacon, or 8-12 oz thick-cut bacon)
Instructions
- Place the bacon strips in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Cut strips in half if needed to fit more.
- Air fry regular cut bacon at 350˚F for 7-9 minutes, or until bacon is browned and reaches desired crispiness. Air fry thick-cut bacon for 10-12 minutes.
- Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate then serve. If cooking bacon in batches, be sure to discard any oil in the drip pan before repeating the process.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
Thanks so much. I cooked at 176 deg C for 7 minutes, turned the bacon and did another 6 minutes and it is lovely. I did only two slices (streaky) and obviously mine was cut thick.
Hi Laraine! That’s great. Thank you for sharing your results.
Oh my goodness! Thank you Natasha.
Crisp and no greasy splatters all over the kitchen.
Fantastic, just fantastic.
Thank you, Heather! We love this method.
YES!!! This is my no. 1 issue with cooking bacon. Thank you Natasha!
You’re very welcome!
I found that most pieces of bacon curled up while cooking in my air fryer and needed almost double the amount of cook time to get them close to crispy. I wasn’t a fan of this method of cooking bacon, although a few pieces came out tasty. I still think approximately 12 -14 minutes at 410 degrees in the oven for regular cut bacon (thick cut is about 18-22 minutes) can’t be beat! Love all the great recipes on this site! Thanks for all the hard work in putting the content of this website together for everyone to enjoy!
You’re welcome! Thank you for the feedback, Joe!
I had to cook thick bacon about 15 minutes, flip it, then do another 15. Next time, I’ll try at 400ºF and see if that makes a difference on cook time. It’s not as crispy as a pan fry, and I’m not a fan of soft bacon.
Hi, are you using an air fryer or a traditional oven? Here is our Oven baked Bacon recipe. Also, if using a thick cut bacon, it can take longer.
seems very easy im trying this as soon as I get home very helpful thanks xx
You’re welcome! 🙂
I’m sorry but to say any sort of crispy bacon is going to be done at 350 for 7-9 minutes.
These are made in the air fryer, not the oven. So they crisp up nicely at 350˚F for 7-9 minutes for regular-cut bacon and 10-12 mins for thick-cut bacon.
Yes they were crispy. Thanks for sharing. This was an easy recipe and easy clean up. Just like most of us busy Mom’s need.
I’m so happy I found this recipe. Making bacon in the air fryer frees up time. And doesn’t make the whole house hot like the oven would. I did have to cool my bacon about twice as long as recommended to get it crispy.
Love cooking bacon this fast easy way. I do have to wipe down inside of oven air fryer but still so much quicker than stove top.
Bacon in the air fryer is a game changer!! Thanks for the easy recipe that cooked my bacon perfectly and no splatters all over my stove!
You’re very welcome! 🙂
I have a Ninja Foodi and this recipe works perfectly. No mess either. I do three thin slices in each basket and all the grease ends up in the bottom but you still get the good smell of bacon frying!
I’m so glad you tried this recipe, Edith! Thank you for your review and feedback!
I have a Foodi too. Do you put the sheet pan at on the rack to catch the oil or let it drip down to the crumb tray?
I have a Ninja air fryer too, I worry about the bacon spitting all over the inside top of the oven, does it do this or just drip to the bottom?
What a game changer!. I’ve been using a bacon grill in the microwave for years. I don’t like it at all. My husband isn’t picky. The only month we use the oven is Feb. Too hot, otherwise. Then I discovered the air fryer. Cue a choir lol The flavor was outstanding. The texture was amazing. It wasn’t dried out jerky, or crumbly crispy that you can’t actually taste the bacon. It was perfect. I didn’t have any splatter or smoke. For cleanup, I drained the grease and used paper towels. Easy.
For reference, I have an Instant Vortex Plus. There is no way to bypass the preheat, so I put my bacon in, set it at 350 for 7 minutes, letting it preheat but not removing or turning the bacon. Perfection.
As an aside, when I cooked my bacon in the microwave, I always covered in paper towels. No splatter.
Wonderful feedback, Christy. Thank you for sharing that with us.
It is much faster to just do it in the microwave unless you are using paper thin bacon. Less prep cutting the strips. Less cleanup. Less power. Throw it on a plate and zap it. Turns out much more cripsy than soft bacon jerky. And yes. I kept putting it back in and putting it back in. I even turned the heat up to 400 and then 450. The benefit is it is definitely not as greasy. If you are trying to make enough bacon for a family? Forget it. This can only handle little batches at a time and by the time you are through you’ve spent more than double the amount of time you would have to make the way you were used to making it. Everything isn’t always the best in an air fryer and this one is definitely a thumbs down.
I personally don’t enjoy microwave bacon; to me not even thoroughly cooked bacon should have the texture of jerky; it should almost splinter when you bite into it. I know tastes differ, but I greatly appreciate your recipe and clear, thorough instructions!
Thank you, Susan.
I microwave bacon too in paper towel and a splatter cover…perfect, but I prefer the grill over all. I can’t imagine the air fryer being mess free so I won’t even bother with that method…although recrisping already cooked bacon in the AF is a distinct possibility.
Awesome! However I used one of those non stick pads under the bacon turned out great! Had to cook a few minutes longer and clean up was soooooo easy!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Diana!
Thank you very much Natasha for sharing all great recipes to us !❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍👍👍🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
You’re very welcome!
How is this less messy someone explain. I have the toaster style and it’s a disaster with the Grease. What am I missing?
I wondered the exact thing! I think there is something they are not telling us.
I have a basket style Ninja Foodi air fryer. I put a couple of pieces of bread under the basket to help absorb grease as it cooks. Contains the mess a bit.
Have you tried putting foil on the bottom drip tray in your toaster style?
Would still need to do a wipe down, just like with a hamburger, its so much easier
Gentle reminder – the great majority of the world INCLUDING the English speaking world, does not use imperial measurements. Please at the very least provide a big link to a converter.
Great recipes!
Thanks for your understanding.
Rosie in New Zealand
Hi Rosalene, if you click Jump to recipe then click Metric, it converts the ingredients. Hope that helps!
Definitely do NOT cook bacon with an oven air fryer. It is the messiest thing when cooking bacon. Your basket gets super dirty, it takes longer to cook than with regular bake, the drip pan gets all the oil from the bacon and the heating source also gets dirty (try to figure how to clean that part). It creates tons of smoke even at 350 F and even after 13 minutes the bacon was not as good as when I use bake for 9. I tried it following this recommendation, but it is not worth it at all. Keep using a cooking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Much, much better.
I bought a gadget called a Yummy Can. You use it in the microwave to cook bacon. no splatters, easy to clean. Much better than oven, micro,, or air fryer.
I tried bacon for the first time in my Gowise basket fryer. It was awesome!! I tried with two layers ( with rack). Top got done in 10 minutes but had to bottom layer in for another 3 minutes. Wonderful!
That is great! Thank you, Patricia.
my air fryer (LNC) has heating elements on top and bottom so bacon grease smoked like crazy when dropping on the bottom
For my airfryer I had to turn up the temperature. If I did it at 350 it would have to cook for 13 minutes. At 375 it cooked for 8. So I guess it just depends. But it was DELICIOUS!
My daughter, who lives with me, bought herself a Cuisinart toaster oven airfryer just like yours. Which level do you put your basket on? Right now I’m at the trying to figure it out phase! I am dying to try it. I also want to try your chicken wings.
Hi Peggy, There are 2 rack levels. I keep the little drip pan that it came with on the bottom level and line that with foil so I can replace it making the cleanup a breeze. I then put the air fryer basket on the upper rack level which is the center of the toaster oven and the best spot to air fry in the toaster oven style air fryer from my experience.