Is There a Bacon Made With Beef

If you've never tried beef bacon, you should! It's fabulous. Fatty and flavorful, it makes an excellent alternative to pork bacon.

Cooking it is easy too - you can pan-fry it, but since I make an entire package at a time, I find it easiest to bake it in the oven.

Three beef bacon strips served on a white plate.

I know I'm not alone in feeling that bacon is probably one of the best things a person can eat. 😍 I make pork bacon often - whether oven bacon, microwave bacon, or simply pan-frying a couple of slices with eggs for my breakfast.

When I saw beef bacon on a restaurant menu a few weeks ago, I had to try it. I was immediately hooked! It wasn't as crispy as pork bacon, but it was so flavorful. Back home, I realized that I can get it at Whole Foods. I immediately started experimenting. The recipe below is my preferred way of cooking it.

Jump to:

Ingredients
Instructions
Expert tips
Frequently asked questions
Serving suggestions
Storing leftovers
Related recipes
Recipe card

Ingredients

You'll only need one ingredient to make this recipe - an 8-oz package of smoked uncured beef bacon. As I've mentioned above, I use the Wellshire Farms brand:

A package of beef bacon placed on a white serving plate.

Once you open the package, you should get about 8 slices, some wider and some thinner, but all of them are cut very thin:

Raw beef bacon slices arranged on a white plate.

Instructions

So how do you cook beef bacon? There are three main methods:

Oven baking. This is my preferred method. It's easy: you place the bacon slices on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, then bake them in a 400°F oven until they are well-browned. This should take 15-20 minutes. In my oven, it takes 20 minutes.

Broiling. Arrange the slices on a foil-lined broiler-safe rimmed baking sheet. Set the oven to broil on high (500°F) and position a rack 6 inches below the heating element (not directly below). Broil the bacon until well browned, about 7 minutes. Keep a close eye on it so that it doesn't burn.

Pan-frying. This is suitable if you're making half a package, as the whole package won't fit into the skillet. But you could always use two skillets or a double-burner griddle. Place the slices in a large cold skillet. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon until browned, turning often, for a total of about 10 minutes.

A photo collage showing the steps for cooking beef bacon in the oven.

Expert tips

Regardless of the preparation method, be sure to place the cooked strips on paper towels to absorb extra grease and stop the cooking process.

You can strain the rendered fat, save it in an airtight container in the fridge and use it for cooking. It's simply tallow and it's perfect in many recipes or just for frying eggs.

Frequently asked questions

What is beef bacon?

It comes from the short plate, right under the short ribs and between the brisket and the flank. This is the belly of the cow, also used to make pastrami. It's perfect for bacon because it's well-marbled and it has a great beefy flavor that the smoking beautifully highlights. A diagram of cow parts showing where beef bacon comes from

Is beef bacon the same as pork bacon?

It's a matter of personal taste, but to me, it's at least as good. It's not as crispy, but it's very rich and it has a wonderful beefy flavor and lots of beautiful marbling.

Can you microwave this bacon?

No. Unlike pork bacon, which you can microwave into crispy perfection, beef bacon should be pan-fried, broiled, or oven-baked. It needs to be browned, and the microwave can't do that.

Serving suggestions

Naturally, you'd serve this tasty bacon for breakfast or brunch. I like to serve it with fried eggs, as you can see in the photo below. It's not too difficult to time cooking the eggs to the last 5 minutes the bacon needs to spend in the oven.

You can also use this bacon in many recipes that call for pork bacon, such as:

Cobb salad
Bacon deviled eggs
Lettuce sandwich
Avocado chicken salad

Storing leftovers

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. They're actually very good cold (yes, seriously), and you can also reheat them very briefly in the microwave, covered in a paper towel.

Start with just a few seconds for every two slices and see if you need to add more. The reheated slices will be chewy, but still very tasty.

A two-photo collage of beef bacon: one of the bacon served with eggs, and one of three bacon strips.

Duck Bacon
Bacon Egg Cups
Microwave Bacon
Bacon Chips

👩🏻‍🍳 I typically publish a new or an updated recipe once a week. Want these recipes in your inbox? Subscribe! You can unsubscribe at any time.

Recipe card

Oven-Baked Beef Bacon

Beef bacon is amazing! It's fatty and flavorful and makes an excellent alternative to pork bacon.

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 160 kcal

▢ 8 oz beef bacon

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.
Arrange the bacon slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. It's okay if they touch each other, but they should not be stacked on top of each other.
Place the pan in the oven and bake the strips until well browned, 15-20 minutes.
Be careful when removing the pan from the oven - its bottom will have quite a bit of hot rendered fat.
Using tongs, remove the strips to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve immediately.

You can strain the rendered fat, save it in an airtight container in the fridge and use it for cooking. It's simply tallow and it's perfect in many recipes or just for frying eggs.

Nutrition info was taken from the Wellshire Farms beef bacon package. It's also available on their website.

Most of our recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate and the carb count excludes sugar alcohols. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read our Terms of Use carefully before using any of our recipes.