If you bought yourself an air fryer or received one as a gift, perhaps you’ve taken it out for a spin or two (air fryer baked potatoes, anyone? Buffalo wings?). But now you’re looking for ideas to make more of this shiny and large new appliance. The air fryer must earn its keep!

Enter air fryer bacon. Bacon is absolutely one of the easiest and best things to make in the air fryer. The bacon crisps up perfectly, and I think the best part was realizing that you didn’t have to worry about splatting as you do when cooking bacon in a pan. Or even in the oven (I also like baking my bacon). The air fryer contains the oil completely, and then you can wash the removable components in the dishwasher (check your model to make sure everything is dishwasher safe).

Use your air-fryer bacon in any salad, such as Fully Loaded Spinach Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese or Slivered Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Dressing and Bacon. Or, replace the bacon in any of your favorite Breakfast Sandwiches or BLT with this air-fried version.

Air Fryer Bacon

You can cook the bacon exactly as crispy as you like it — I tried it with thin-cut bacon and medium-thick sliced, and I liked the thicker version better. It came out a little bit less greasy than pan-cooked bacon, even less greasy than pan-cooked bacon that has been blotted with paper towels.

You want to place the bacon in a single layer, though there can be a tiny bit of overlap since (as you know) bacon shrinks quite a bit as it cooks, so it will end up as a single layer as long as you don’t really crowd the basket. If you are cooking a lot of bacon, you will probably need to do this in batches. Depending on the size and configuration of the basket — some are round, some are square, and some are rectangular — you might want to cut your bacon crosswise to fit more pieces in neatly.

How to Cook Air Fryer Bacon

1. Put the bacon in air fryer: Place the bacon in a fairly single layer.

2. Cook: Set your air fryer to dual heat for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes is up, check, and if it is done, remove it to a paper towel-lined plate. If you prefer it crispier, add 1 to 4 more minutes.

How Long to Cook Bacon in Air Fryer

The amount of time varies from product to product, as you would expect. If you have a temperature choice, set it to 375 degrees; not all air fryers give you a choice to set the temperature; some just have on-and-off functions. Most regular or thick-cut bacon will get crispy between 7 and 11 minutes.

The air fryer is pretty forgiving in terms of opening it to test for doneness and then closing it and turning it back on since it requires no preheating and no changes in pressure. Not done? Add a few more minutes. And err on the side of less time vs. more til you get the hang of a particular food. Some air fryers allow you to see inside while the machine is running, but most don’t, so you’ll have to open it up and see.

Not only is cooking bacon (and everything else) in the air fryer generally much faster than in a conventional oven, but you also save the preheating time, which is about 15 minutes shaved off the preparation. That is a big check in the pro air fryer column.

Preventing the Air Fryer from Smoking

Sometimes, the air fryer will get smoky when cooking bacon. To reduce the smoke, you can place a piece of bread under the basket or insert to soak up some of the grease as it drips down.

What to Serve Wwith Air-Fryer Bacon

Fried Eggs and Smoked Salmon over Polenta Cakes

Breakfast Burrito

Swiss Chard Frittata

More Ways to Cook Bacon

• Candied Bacon
• How to Make Bacon Lardons
• How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
• Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts
• Puff Pastry Cheese Straws with Bacon