A quick cooking tip for how to freeze bacon slices raw for long-term storage and the convenience of being able to use the individual pieces for recipes.
I cooked for many years without realizing I could freeze bacon. Well, I knew you could throw a pound of bacon in the freezer, but you couldn't use it until thawing, putting me right back where I started. Can you relate?
There are so many recipes (most?) that do not need an entire pound of bacon like Mediterranean Scramble, Bacon-Corn Tart, Bacon Caesar Slaw, and Curried Lentils with Bacon & Cabbage. If you're like me, getting the bacon required for the recipe often goes something like this:
- wrestle a few slices off the slab
- wrap it back up
- then try to plan a bunch of meals in the next week to use it up before it turns too brown and unappealing.
- clean up the raw bacon juice that often leaks in the fridge - yuck.
When I read a number of years ago that you could partially cook and freeze bacon slices on a cookie sheet before packaging them up, I was all over that. The convenience of being able to pull just a few slices from the freezer for recipes was wonderful.
But it wasn't perfect - there were all those steps and dirty pans. But mostly partially cooking the bacon meant you wouldn't get much bacon fat from each piece after freezing. And often when a recipe calls for 2-3 pieces of bacon, it also calls for the 1 or so tablespoons of rendered fat to sauté onion and other vegetables.
Then one time I didn't have time for all the partial baking, so after separating the slices, I just laid them on the baking sheet raw and froze them. I have no idea if this is a technique known to everyone and I'm just late to the party, but I found that it was:
- easier to freeze them raw
- they stored just as nicely
- all the bacon fat was preserved for recipes
Since I don't think there are many actual new things under the sun, I don't really think I invented this technique as much as just stumbled on it. And one thing I've found since starting this blog is that there are others out there like me, so I decided to share my little bacon cooking tip with you all.
It really is the BEST way to store bacon and then use it easily in recipes - I think you'll love the convenience if you haven't done this before!
How to Freeze Bacon Slices
You'll love how easy it is to freeze individual bacon slices, too.
1. Separate a pound of bacon slices and lay the individual pieces on the largest baking sheet you have. Even then they may not fit perfectly, like mine above, so I just make more room by bending the slices to fit. It doesn't matter that if the frozen slices are wavy or flat, they cook just the same - and may fit better in your skillet, anyway.
2. Place the pan in a freezer until frozen, usually a few hours (you don't have to cover it). Honestly, it's usually the next day for me, but I try not to go more than 24 hours, since they are uncovered.
3. Remove the pan from the freezer and use a spatula to help remove the slices, one at a time from the pan.
4. Place slices in a gallon sized freezer baggie or other container with an air tight seal.
5. Seal the baggie/container and label the baggie with the date frozen, just for reference. Store in a freezer you can easily access - meaning your kitchen fridge/freezer - since you'll want to be able to grab a couple slices whenever you need them.
Brian and I even made a video for this how to freeze bacon tip for those who are more visually inclined:
That's all there is to it! Tell me, do you freeze bacon?
Dano Dunn says
My method is close to what L Cecil does -- I'll cut three full slices in half, then wrap in waxed or parchment paper. This amount works perfectly for a 3x3 bacon weave for BLTs, my go-to sammy.
Jami says
Great tip - thanks!
Kathy says
When you see an idea like this you think, "why didn't I think of that?" Brilliant! I will be doing this today. Thank you!
Jami says
Thank you - glad to help!
Buster Baker says
I knew there must be a way to do that, I just did not know the best routine. Walla, there you are! I am going to do half my bacon that way and half I will cut in half and wrap each half in a piece of parchement paper and see which works for me best. Thanks.
Jami says
Glad to help!
Jenny says
Hi Jami, I've been freezing bacon for years too. I save the sheets of plastic you get meat wrapped in at the deli, or that separate pre-rolled sheets of pastry. I then layer my bacon between the plastic sheets, stacking it up in a pile. For large pieces of bacon like shoulder I do one slice at a time, but for streaky I put two down then fold the plastic over and put another two on top etc. I then put the whole stack in a zip-lock bag and freeze. I find it takes up less room in the freezer and is just as easy to take out and use. My kids hate washing the bits of plastic, but it saves me money and means I can have bacon on hand whenever I need it.
Jami says
Great idea, too, Jenny!
Andibeth says
Great idea, Jamie! I just put two pans of bacon slices in my freezer. I can't tell you how many times I've thrown out expired bacon. Thank you for helping us save money! Love your blog!
Jami says
Yeah! I was so hoping others might be able to use this little tip. 🙂
Lisa @ Cook Eat Paleo says
I love this idea! I can't wait to try it!
Jane says
What I started doing (in the last year) is take the couple slices we're going to use from the fresh pound, then put 2 or 4 slices into individual plastic bags and freeze the bagged bacon. No pan (or room for one in the freezer) required. When I want to use them, I just grab a bag from the freezer. It's worked great.
Deloris says
Yes, I've frozen bacon but your idea is better than the way I did it. I rolled each individual slice then froze overnight. We would get bacon at Costco so there was a lot of it and this is the only way it would be good until we could use it.
Cherie says
Yes, we owned a catering business for 10 years so purchased everything in large quantities. We are lucky enough to have a walk-in freezer so we still buy things on sale in bulk and freeze them. Bacon can be frozen raw, partially or completely cooked. We bake it on a sheet pan lined with parchment, cool and freeze in freezer bags. It also lasts at least a week in the fridge, completely cooked. It's great to have ready-to-go bacon on hand all the time !!! Makes breakfast sandwiches and BLT's fast and easy.
Jami says
Oooh, that sounds a little dangerous for me, Cherie, to have cooked bacon available at all times, ha!
L Cecil says
I freeze bacon all the time, BUT, I always cut the slices in half for easier frying and there are just two of us. I make up packages with 12 half slices...a good size to use in potato soup or for breakfast. I open freeze fruits and veg but never thought of doing it with the bacon...thanks.
Dee says
Excellent idea. I don't think I have seen this idea before. Some ideas are so simple I think we just blow past them and look for more difficult solutions....human nature. I will do this for sure. Thanks.
Debbie in Oregon says
Brilliant! I'm doing this FOR SURE! Thanks for such a great tip.