How To Cook Bacon On The Stove

Published 12/15/2021 • Updated 3/17/2024 In this post we’ll teach you how to cook bacon on the stove for a quick, no-fail way to make bacon! Your morning bacon will come out perfectly every time.

Perfect Bacon Every Time

Good morning bacon lovers! Today we’re completing your prefect with perfectly cooked bacon all thanks to this how to fry bacon tutorial. Is there really anything better than bacon, eggs, and a stack of pancakes? I think not. We often eat this not only for breakfast but for brinner too. You guys loved our Bacon in the Oven post (super simple and easy cleanup), but stovetop bacon is actually the way I was taught to make it growing up, so I figured Fit Foodie Finds needed a tutorial. It might not have as easy of a clean-up, but it’s faster and I love how crispy the edges of bacon get.

How long to cook bacon?

If you’re here for one reason and it’s to figure out how long you need to cook bacon on the stove, the answer is 4-5 minutes on each side. This timing is recommended for medium-cut bacon.

What You Need for Stovetop Bacon

You only need 1 ingredient to get started along with a few kitchen tools to make perfectly cooked bacon on the stove.

Bacon

The only ingredient necessary for this recipe is BACON. Technically, any kind of bacon will work (pork, turkey, thin-cut, thick-cut, etc.), but we recommend buying regular-cut pork bacon. When possible, we recommend buying high-quality organic bacon. We promise it will cook and taste better.

Frying Pan

A basic frying pan will do when using the pan fry bacon method. In these photos, we’re using our favorite nonstick pan called the Always Pan. We like using a nonstick pan because it makes for easy cleanup. You’re more than welcome to use a cast iron pan (we’ve done this countless times) as well since that weathers really well with bacon grease.

Paper Towel-Lined Plate

A paper towel-lined plate is important for letting the bacon rest a little after cooking and for soaking up that extra bacon grease. Always Pan

How to Fry Bacon (step-by-step)

Serving Suggetions

The Best Breakfast Potatoes: These are the best breakfast potatoes you will ever eat. Perfectly cooked on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Make a big batch of breakfast potatoes and enjoy! We love using leftover bacon grease in place of butter or oil in baked goods and savory recipes. It adds so much flavor to whatever you are cooking. Try this trick in any of the following:

Chicken and Rice Scrambled Eggs Roasted Red Potatoes

Hard-Boiled Eggs: Are you ready to get PERFECT hard-boiled eggs every single time? This hard-boiled eggs recipe is foolproof and will get you the exact kind of yolk you want! Sheet-Pan Pancakes: Take the ease out of making pancakes with this Sheet Pan Pancakes recipe. Instead of pour, flip, and repeat, bake your pancake batter in a sheet pan for a hands-off breakfast that serves a crowd!

Serving a Crowd – Make Curly Bacon!

Ever need to cook bacon for a large number of people in a short amount of time? We have a secret trick that will allow you to cook an entire lb. of bacon at once very quickly. We call this method – Curly Bacon.

Storage

Let bacon cool. Then, transfer it into an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat: either reheat on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.