Air Fryer Bacon Perfect Every Time

Whether you prefer back bacon or streaky bacon, smoked or unsmoked, here’s all of the tips and tricks you need to cook bacon in the air fryer perfectly every time.

Why you’ll love this Air Fryer Bacon recipe

⭐️ Perfectly crispy bacon ⭐️ Cooks quickly with little mess ⭐️ No oil, no faffing

⭐️ How many rashers to cook at once

Quite simply, as many as your air fryer can fit in a single layer. Touching each other is fine (as they will shrink as they cook) but don’t lie them on top of each other. I have a Russell Hobbs XXL and find it plenty large enough for 8 rashers.

⭐️ Oil

You don’t need any oil to cook! Simply put the rashers into the air fryer and it will cook in its own fat.

⭐️ Type of bacon

Feel free to use any bacon you prefer. In the UK, most people have the leaner back bacon for breakfast, but you can also cook streaky bacon the same way (this is the standard type eaten in the US). The slight combination you get of the two found in Australia is also fine to cook like this.

⭐️ Lining the air fryer

Adding a liner such as foil doesn’t work with bacon in an air fryer as it’s not heavy enough to weigh it down, so it tends to fly around inside, which makes it a bit pointless! If you’d like to use foil UNDER the tray instead to help with cleaning (so long as your air fryer design gives you this option), then this can be helpful.

⭐️ How to get it crispy

There are two ways you can cook the bacon – the quicker way or the crispy way. There’s only one easy step and a few minutes between the two, however it’s up to you whether you want to do a little extra for crispiness. ➡️ Firstly, you can simply cook the bacon for 5 minutes, drain the fat off and eat it like that. ➡️ OR, you can cook for 5 minutes, drain the fat, turn over and pop it back in for another 2 – 3 minutes for delicious crispy bacon. (It’s a no-brainer for me but you do you!) There is also a third option if you’re wanting slightly overdone bacon, which is great for bacon bits that will be crumbled in dishes like my Loaded Potato Skins (or if you just like well done bacon!) ➡️ After the first two steps, drain it for a second time, and add another 2 minutes of cooking.

⭐️ Best temperature to cook at

Cook at 200c (or 390f) on ‘air fryer’ mode.

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I part-cook my bacon until it’s just cooked and not yet coloured, then keep it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days (4 – 5 minutes in the air fryer). When I want a bacon sandwich, or bacon added to a dish, I place it in my preheated air fryer for just 3 minutes. (You can cook it a little longer than this for even crispier results.) The benefit of this hack means you are always just a few minutes away from a bacon sandwich which can heat up while you fry an egg… just saying!