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Frozen Bacon in the Air Fryer

Hot and crispy bacon that goes from freezer to table in just 30 minutes? That’s right! It’s so easy to make frozen bacon in the air fryer without any thawing or defrosting.

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plate of air fryer frozen bacon

It happens to the best of us… you completely forgot to put that block of frozen bacon in the fridge to thaw overnight.

So now it’s breakfast time, you’re craving some hot and crispy strips, and you wonder: can you cook frozen bacon in the air fryer? 

The answer is a resounding YES! Stick that whole block in the air fryer, cook until you can pull the strips apart, then continue as usual.

You can go from freezer to table in just 30 minutes!

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Here’s what I’m going to teach you in this post:

  • The easiest method for cooking frozen bacon in the air fryer
  • Tips for making the best air fryer bacon
  • What to serve with your hot and crispy bacon
  • How to avoid any potential issues when cooking bacon in the air fryer

Not only is this method super convenient, but oh my goodness, the cleanup is a breeze!

When I cook bacon on the stovetop, I am wiping my walls, counter, and stove from the splatter. The air fryer totally eliminates that problem while making the crispiest bacon possible!

Air Fryer I recommend: Large, easy to clean, square basket, burner on top and bottom. Click to see it.
raw bacon in an air fryer basket

How to Make Frozen Bacon in the Air Fryer

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

STEP ONE: Wedge the frozen block of bacon in the air fryer. Make sure the air fryer can properly close.

STEP TWO: Set the air fryer temperature to 360 degrees F and cook for 8 minutes. 

STEP THREE: Once the time is up, use tongs to pull the strips apart and lay them in as much of a single layer as possible. Overlap is okay.

raw bacon in air fryer

STEP FOUR: Cook for an additional 10-14 minutes, checking frequently and flipping every 3-4 minutes. 

STEP FIVE: After 10 minutes, remove strips that have reached your desired level of crispiness and space out the remaining strips. Continue to check and flip every 2 minutes, removing any pieces that have finished cooking.

crispy air fried bacon

STEP SIX: Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to remove any excess grease. Serve and enjoy!

Do You Have to Defrost Bacon Before Air Frying?

Nope! That’s the beauty of this recipe. When you cook the bacon for the first 8 minutes in the air fryer, this defrosts the block enough to pull apart the strips.

After that, you cook the bacon like normal!

Tips to Cook Frozen Bacon in the Air Fryer

  • Make sure you can push the frozen block of bacon down far enough in the basket that you can properly close the air fryer. 
  • Bacon has a smoke point of 374 degrees F, which is why we want to keep the heat lower. Cooking at 360 degrees F will help keep the bacon from smoking. 
  • Once you separate the bacon, try to lay the strips in as close to a single layer as possible, but overlap will happen since there is so much in there at once. As they cook down, the overlap will lessen. 
  • Remove the bacon strips from the air fryer as they finish cooking so they won’t get overdone, but the remaining pieces have plenty of time to crisp all the way up.
  • Making thick cut bacon? No problem! Just add a few extra minutes to the cooking time to ensure the bacon gets nice and crispy!
several pieces of cooked bacon

What to Serve with Air Fryer Bacon

How to Separate Frozen Bacon

The air fryer is my favorite way to separate a frozen block of bacon! It defrosts right in the air fryer so you can separate the strips into the basket and continue cooking. 

You can also move the bacon to the refrigerator the night before, let it sit in cold water for a few hours, or microwave it on the defrost setting.

But personally, I think using the air fryer is the easiest option, and it’s definitely the fastest!

air fryer bacon being held by tongs

Why Should You Not Cook Bacon in an Air Fryer?

This is a myth! If you’ve ever seen or read that you can’t cook bacon in the air fryer, please know this isn’t true. It’s perfectly safe to make bacon in the air fryer, plus it turns out insanely delicious!

If I had to guess, I bet some people’s air fryers started to smoke when they tried to make bacon, so they assumed it was a bad idea.

Excess grease is one of the main reasons your air fryer might start to smoke, but don’t worry; that’s an easy fix!

Just put a slice or two of bread in the drawer under the air fryer basket to soak up extra grease. This should help.

Baked-on grease can be another issue. If your air fryer is in need of a good cleaning, check out my article on How to Clean an Air Fryer!

hand holding a piece of bacon

Other Bacon Recipes You’ll Love:

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crispy air fried bacon

Frozen Bacon In The Air Fryer

Samantha Erb
Hot and crispy bacon that goes from freezer to table in just 30 minutes? That’s right! It’s so easy to make frozen bacon in the air fryer without any thawing or defrosting.
4.41 from 5 votes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Course Air Fryer Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 3 -4 servings
Calories 54 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 pack of frozen bacon regular sliced

Instructions
 

  • Wedge your block of bacon into your air fryer. It will be fine as long as you push it down far enough that you can properly close the air fryer. 
  • Set your temperature on your air fryer to 360 degrees. The smoke point is 374 degrees, so I wanted to stay away from that. Cook it for 8 minutes. This gives your bacon time to defrost. 
  • Once your bacon has softened, you will be able to use your tongs to pull the strips apart. I tried to separate and lay them as close to a single layer as possible, but overlap will happen since there is so much in there at once. As they cook down, the overlap will lessen. 
  • Cook for an additional 10-14 minutes, checking frequently. To start, I would flip them with tongs every 3-4 minutes. Then at the 10 minute mark, I would remove strips that were the desired crispiness. Then I would space the remaining strips out more and check and flip every 2 minutes till they were all done. 
  • Transfer them onto a paper towel lined plate to remove any excess grease. Serve and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 54kcalProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 194mg

This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!


samantha

About Samantha

I’ve always had a love of cooking and creating new recipes, so it only made sense to create a food blog so I could share those recipes with you. This site is designed to provide easy and flavorful recipes with as little ingredients as possible. That means you still get great flavor combinations without all that extra time and effort. Read more...

3 thoughts on “Frozen Bacon in the Air Fryer”

  1. Absolutely amazing method! Of course I forgot to take the bacon out of the freezer the night before and quickly did a search to see if it was possible to thaw quickly, came across this recipe and was amazed at how this can work in an air fryer! I just got an air fryer this year so I’m still a bit unfamiliar with it. However, this was so easy!! Did the steps exactly and got perfect, crispy bacon! Life changer!! Thank you!

    Reply
4.41 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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