This thick cut air fryer bacon recipe uses the perfect method to get crispy bacon fast and easy using your air fryer or Ninja Foodi. Great for quick breakfasts or any recipes that use bacon. Once you try this, you may never be able to cook bacon any other way.
People usually say that love is the food for thought, but I disagree with this. For foodies, bacon is the only food for thought. I'd like to think that's why bacon is used in so many recipes. Just the smell of bacon frying heightens everyone's appetites.
Before air fryers took over, I would cook bacon in the oven because it was SO easy to cook up a large amount of bacon at once. These days I make bacon in my favorite air fryer. I love that I can quickly cook up just the amount I need as a breakfast protein or for recipes.
This makes quick healthy breakfasts and recipes using bacon so much easier!
Jump to:
❤️ Why You'll Love Air Fried Thick Cut Bacon
Cooking bacon in an air fryer is quick and hands-off, leaving you the time and space to work on other things.
The texture of air fried bacon comes out perfect every time.
The air fryer catches the grease, so no splatter and less clean up!
🥓 What You'll Need
This should come as no surprise, but for this recipe all you need is thick cut bacon (about ¼" thickness). It's usually sold right next to regular bacon. If not, ask the meat counter to slice it for you or check with your local butcher.
Oh, and you're also obviously going to need an air fryer. I love my Ninja Foodie, but I've also heard great things about PowerXL. The beauty of air fried food is the crisp it helps achieve -especially with bacon.
📖 How to Cook Bacon in the Air Fryer:
1️⃣ Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees. Take 2-3 slices of thick-cut bacon and cut them in half with a sharp knife.
2️⃣ Place the strips in a single layer on the bottom of the air fryer. Do not overlap slices. You may need to work in batches depending on the size of your air fryer basket.
3️⃣ Set the time for 15 minutes and being cooking. Take a peek inside the basket to check if anything needs to be re-spaced. The bacon will shrink down a bit. Tongs are usually very helpful with that. Begin checking for your desired doneness after 10 minutes.
4️⃣ Once cooked to your liking, remove from air fryer with tongs and blot away any extra grease with a paper towel. Enjoy!
👩🏻🍳 Chef's Tips
The most important advice I can give is do not overlap the bacon strips.
Also, keep in mind that air fryers heat differently so the cook time will vary and bacon shrinks as it cooks. Thick cut bacon works best in the air fryer as it doesn’t curl up, spoil its shape or move around much.
I don't always preheat the air fryer, but I like doing it for thick cut bacon because it gets a good sear on the strips right away.
You can open up the air fryer to check on things. If the bacon is moving around too much, don’t worry -just use the tongs to place the bacon back in a single layer
Always remember to drain the grease from the cooked bacon before starting a second batch
While I use aluminum foil in a lot of my other air fryer recipes for easier clean up, using aluminum foil for air fryer bacon is not recommended.
If you are buying high quality bacon, you can save the bacon grease leftover in a glass mason jar and as a healthy fat or cooking oil.
🦃Can I Cook Turkey Bacon in the Air Fryer?
Yes! Turkey bacon can be cooked in your air fryer though it may need a time adjustment as turkey bacon has less fat and a different texture.
1️⃣ To cook air fryer turkey bacon, cut the strips of turkey bacon in half.
2️⃣Place on a single layer in the air fryer basket.
3️⃣Cook at 350 for 10 minutes flipping half way through.
4️⃣Add additional 2 minute cooking time increments until desired level of cooked is reached.
🔀 Variations
Before cooking raw bacon, you can make it even better by sprinkling the strips with seasonings. For candied bacon, sprinkle the strips with brown sugar before cooking. Keep things classic with salt and pepper or use your favorite spice blends (lemon pepper, Cajun etc.)
🔁 Storing & Reheating
Storing: Cooked bacon last for 3 -5 days stored in the refrigerator. If it starts to smell or changes color. toss it.
Reheating: Rewarm for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave. You can also reheat it in a 375 degree air fryer for 2 to 3 minutes
More Air Fryer Breakfast Recipes
- Air Fryer Frozen Biscuits
- Air Fryer Frozen Sausage Patties
- Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes
- Air Fryer Scotch Eggs
Thick Cut Air Fryer Bacon
Ingredients
- 2-3 slices Thick Cut Bacon
Instructions
- Take 2-3 slices of thick-cut bacon and cut them in half with a shiny sharp knife
- Place the strips in a single layer on the bottom of the air fryer basket avoiding any overlapping of strips over each other
- Then 10 minutes on 375 degrees flipping halfway.
- Do take a peek inside the basket to check if anything needs to be re-spaced. Tongs are usually very helpful with that.
- Use tongs to remove bacon from the basket and place them on a Paper Towel to blot the extra grease
Notes
- Thick cut bacon works best in the air fryer as it doesn’t curl up, spoil its shape and get moved around much by the circulating air
- Never get afraid of opening up the air fryer while it is running to check on things. If the bacon is moving around too much, don’t worry, just use the tongs to place the bacon back in a single layer
- Always remember to drain the grease from the cooked bacon before starting a second batch
- While I use aluminum foil in a lot of my other air fryer recipes for easier clean up, using aluminum foil for air fryer bacon is not recommended.
- If you are buying high quality bacon, you can save the bacon grease leftover in a glass mason jar and as a healthy fat or cooking oil.
- The easiest and productive solution to this problem is to add a little water to the lower pan
- You can also add a piece of bread to the lower pan to soak up the grease
- Sometimes people add rock salt, which we use to make ice cream. The pieces are big enough not to be blown away with the air blowing through your fryer and they will soak up the grease You can also use a parchment paper to line your fryer basket, as these papers have little holes in them to allow air circulation. There are a few types of parchment papers, made specifically for the air fryers. Check your model for the exact dimensions, as their size may vary.
Nutrition
❔FAQ
If I am buying a regular cut bacon, cooking at 8 minutes flipping halfway through usually does the trick. If I am air frying thick cut bacon, I bump up the cooking time to 10 minutes and flip halfway through. Some air fryers have slightly different temperature variants which is a another good reason to check on your bacon half way through.
The bacon doesn't need to be heated at a higher temp than 375 degree Fahrenheit. Tempering it above this may cause the air fryer to smoke. Every air fryer is different, so make sure you check on it halfway through to adjust cooking time or temperature.
The most popular air fryers for bacon are: Ninja, Gourmia, Farberware, Philips, Brio and Gowise, Cosori.
The easiest and productive solution to this problem is to add a little water to the lower pan.You can also add a piece of bread to the lower pan to soak up the grease. Sometimes people add rock salt. The larger granules will will soak up the grease. You can also use parchment paper to line your fryer basket, as these papers have little holes in them to allow air circulation.
This was the first thing I tried in my new Ninja XL Air Fryer. Oh, my! No more greasy oven. The paper towel I drained my bacon on was barely greasy. I did have to adjust the time down a few minutes to get the bacon just like we like it, but this is my new go-to recipe. Can't wait to try more recipes from your website!