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If you thought that bacon couldn’t get better, then you must try Air Fryer Bacon. Here, I use the Ninja Foodi to crisp bacon easily without the hassle, mess, or time of cooking it in a skillet, pan or oven. This tutorial uses pork bacon, but you can also make air fryer turkey bacon too.
Why Make Bacon in an Air Fryer
You may have heard that the secret to making evenly cooked, crispy bacon is to make it in the oven. And while the oven certainly is easy, it takes nearly twice as long as air frying.
Overall, Air Fryer Bacon gives all the goodness of crisp bacon without having to deal with splattering bacon grease or a long wait (as you do when you make it in the oven).
Ingredients & Tools Needed
- Ninja Foodi: as I mentioned in popular posts like my Garlic Parmesan Wings, the Foodi crisps like no other. So, it becomes the perfect tool for getting crispy bacon. It comes with a dishwasher-safe cooking pot, making for an easy clean-up.
- Water: I add a little bit of water to the bottom of the cooking pot to minimize and prevent the grease from smoking.
- Tongs: Besides the three tools pictured, you’ll also need some tongs to flip the bacon while cooking.
How to Cook Bacon in an Air Fryer
To make bacon in the Ninja Foodi or another air fryer, add two tablespoons of water to the bottom of the cooking pan.
Next, add the basket to the cooking pot and place 6-7 slices of bacon in the basket. You need to avoid overlapping the bacon slices so they cook evenly (photo 1).
Once the bacon is in the air fryer, cook it at 400 degrees for 5 minutes (photo 2).
Flip the bacon and continue cooking for 5 more minutes, or until it’s crispy enough for you (photo 3).
Enjoy the bacon with your eggs or as part of the suggested recipes below (photo 4).
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
Sugar-free Bacon Options
If you are keto or low carb, remember not all varieties of bacon are your friends. Some include added sugars, which can kick you out of ketosis.
Some of my favorite options for sugar-free bacon are:
- Butcher Box: This was the very first sugar-free bacon I tried and it’s awesome! It only comes in one flavor and as part of a meat order. If you order using my link, you will always get some amazing deals including free bacon and savings on your first box.
- Naked Bacon: I love that these are Whole30 approved and that they tend to have foodie flavors like Jalapeno and Chipotle. If you’d like to try them, use DRDAVINAHS for 10% off.
How to Not Set off Your Smoke Detectors: Tips to Minimize the Smoke
When you bake bacon in the oven or cook it in an air fryer, it can get smokey. And, if you live in a house that has sensitive fire alarms, you should follow these tips:
- Set your air fryer up near the stove and turn on your range’s exhaust fan
- Don’t skip adding the water to the bottom of the air fryer as I have listed in the recipe
For the most part, I don’t notice the smoke as much when I use my air fryer, but this is definitely a list to follow when cooking bacon in the oven.
In the air fryer, pork bacon takes about 10 to 12 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon and how thick of a cut of bacon you get.
If after 10 minutes the bacon needs more time to crisp, you can add an additional two minutes. Don’t be afraid to pop open the lid and check to make sure it is as crispy as you want it.
Recipes to Enjoy Air Fryer Bacon With
Though you can improve almost all recipes with bacon, here is a sampling of my favorites to use air fryer bacon with:
You can also use it as a side dish for keto breakfast favorites like keto pancakes and Mexican frittata.
Other Ninja Foodi Recipes
The Ninja Foodi is an amazing, multi-purpose device that is a great addition to any kitchen. If you are looking for more Foodi recipes, check out my entire Ninja Foodi recipe collection. My top recipes from that collection are:
- Air Fryer Eggs
- Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
- Italian Sausage Meatballs
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
- Ninja Foodi Pot Roast
Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Bacon
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 slices sugar-free bacon, thin-cut works best, see post for tips for thicker cuts
- 2 tbsp Water
Instructions
- Add the water to the bottom of the cooking pot
- Place the air fryer basket (or a rack) in the cooking pot. Add 6-7 slices of bacon.
- Air Fry the bacon at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes per side
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
