How To Cook Bacon On The Stovetop 🥓

Frying your bacon on the stovetop is the easiest method of cooking it. Follow these simple steps to always make nice and crisp bacon in a pan.

Unfortunately, cooking bacon in a pan or skillet sometimes may result in soggy and greasy or overcooked and not at all pleasant pork. It is not that hard to fry bacon on the stove though, and in a few minutes you can prepare a nice and tasty addition to your breakfast or other meal.

How To Cook Bacon On The Stove

Put a large frying pan or cast iron on the stove over medium heat. Add bacon slices, make sure not to overlap them.

Let your bacon cook for about 3 minutes, without touching or moving it. Turn with a tongue or two wooden spatulas and let the other side cook for 3 minutes.

Depending on the heat, your bacon should be ready by this time or it might just need a little bit more cooking to get it perfectly done. I usually cook it for another 1+1 minutes on both sides.

Once ready, take the slices out of the pan and put them on a plate or a wire rack. Some people suggest to use a paper towel to absorb excess fat, but if you cook your bacon properly there wouldn’t really be any excess fat. If you do use a paper towel though, make sure to remove the bacon after a minute and put it in a clean plate so it won’t stick to the paper.

Keep the plate warm in a 120 F (50 C) oven until you serve the bacon.

Tips For Pan Frying Bacon

• Don’t put too many bacon slices in the pan. Use a larger skillet and make sure the slices don’t overlap each other.
• Don’t add any additional fat or oil.
• Cook your bacon over medium heat.
• Use a nonstick pan or a cast iron skillet for better results.
• Pour off the excess fat if you cook more than one batch.
• Use only medium heat. Pan frying bacon over high heat is the main reason you end up with a burnt and unpleasant result.
• A perfect pan fried bacon has a nice golden color. Don’t overcook your bacon.

How Long To Cook Bacon On The Stove

Using medium heat, you should cook bacon on the stove for 4 minutes on each side.

For better results cook for 3 minutes on one side, turn, cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Turn again, cook for 1 more minute on the first side, and yet another minute after turning it one more time.