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Rolling bacon into spirals and freezing them separately lets you pull out one slice at a time instead of thawing the whole package. Here’s how to freeze uncooked and cooked bacon, and how long it actually keeps.
Table of Contents
Why I Always Keep Bacon In The Freezer
I learned early on how much a single slice of bacon does for a pot of soup. Not a whole package, just one slice rendered down at the start of a potato soup or a zuppa toscana. It changes the whole thing.
The problem was buying a pound to use one slice. I’d cook a few, leave the rest in the refrigerator, and find them a week and a half later past their prime.
Rolling them into spirals and freezing them fixed it. Now I open a package, roll what I’m not cooking, and freeze it the same day. When a recipe calls for a slice or two, I take out what I need and the rest stays where it is.
It’s five minutes of work on the day you shop, and it’s why I always have bacon and never throw any away.
How to Freeze Uncooked Bacon
If the package is still sealed, you can put it straight in the freezer. Write the date on it first. An unopened package keeps its quality longer than an opened one, since no air has reached the meat.
The trouble comes once you open it. A whole opened package freezes into one solid block, and you end up prying slices apart with a knife or thawing all of it to use two. Freezing the slices separately solves that.
What you’ll need:
Bacon, a rimmed baking sheet, parchment or wax paper, and a freezer bag or container.
How to do it:
- Roll each slice into a spiral. Start at one end and roll it up like a sleeping bag. It takes a few minutes for a whole package.
- Space them on a lined baking sheet. Leave about a finger’s width between spirals so they don’t freeze together.
- Freeze until solid, at least an hour.
- Transfer to a freezer bag, press out the air, and write the date on the bag.
Once they’re frozen individually, they won’t stick together in the bag, so you can take out one spiral or four without touching the rest.
If a baking sheet won’t fit in your freezer
One of our readers, Jane, freezes her spirals in an ice cube tray instead, one to a compartment, then moves them to a bag once solid. It takes up far less room, which matters if your freezer is small.
How To Freeze Cooked Bacon
Cooked bacon freezes well, and for a single cook it’s often the better option. You cook the whole package at once, freeze it in slices, and then breakfast or a soup topping is a minute away instead of ten.
- Cook the bacon however you normally do. The oven is easiest for a whole package, since you’re not standing over a skillet turning slices.
- Drain and cool it completely. Warm bacon will steam inside the bag and form ice crystals. Let it come to room temperature on paper towels first.
- Freeze it in a single layer, on a lined baking sheet, so the slices don’t stick together.
- Transfer to a freezer bag, press out the air, and date it.
To reheat, put a slice or two on a paper towel and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, depending on how many you’re heating. It comes out crisp and there’s no pan to wash.
If you use bacon crumbled more often than in slices, chop it after cooking and freeze the pieces loose on a tray, then bag them. You can pinch out a spoonful for a twice baked potato or a cobb salad without thawing anything, or scatter it over a bowl of clam chowder.
How Long Bacon Keeps In The Freezer
Use frozen bacon within a month for the best quality. That’s shorter than most meats, and shorter than a lot of sites will tell you.
The reason is the cure. Bacon is salt-cured and high in fat, and the curing salts speed up the way that fat turns rancid. That happens slowly even at 0°F, which is why bacon doesn’t get the several-month window that chicken or beef does. The National Center for Home Food Preservation puts opened bacon at a month at most, and the USDA lists the same figure.
Unopened packages hold up longer. A sealed package can go up to about four months, since no air has reached the meat. Quality still slips the longer it sits.
Opened bacon should go in the freezer right away. Not after it’s sat in the refrigerator for a week. The clock on rancidity starts once air reaches the fat, so freeze what you’re not cooking the same day you open it.
Cooked bacon keeps about a month too. Same reason, and cooking doesn’t slow the fat down.
Kept at 0°F, frozen bacon stays safe well past these windows. What changes is the taste. Bacon held too long picks up a stale, slightly off flavor that comes through in whatever you cook it in, and no amount of crisping fixes it. Writing the date on the bag is what keeps you from finding out. The same goes for everything else in there, and I cover it in how to freeze food for one.
Should You Freeze Bacon
Freeze it if you won’t finish the package within a week. Otherwise the refrigerator is fine, and simpler.
Opened bacon keeps about a week refrigerated, according to the USDA. If you cook bacon often enough to get through a package in that time, freezing adds a step without buying you much. When you’re cooking for one and a package lasts you a month, freezing is the only thing standing between you and throwing half of it out.
There’s a real argument against it, and it’s worth knowing. Bacon doesn’t freeze as well as most meats, because the cure and the fat mean quality starts slipping within a month rather than holding for half a year. So freezing bacon isn’t long-term storage the way freezing a chicken breast is. It buys you weeks, not seasons.
That’s still enough. A month is the difference between using a package and wasting most of it.
Can You Cook Bacon From Frozen
Yes. Frozen bacon cooks safely without thawing. It just needs about 50% more time in the pan. According to the USDA, meat can be cooked from frozen in the oven, on the stovetop, or on the grill.
The catch with spirals is shape rather than safety. A frozen spiral won’t lie flat in a pan, so if you want a straight slice, give it a few minutes on the counter until it relaxes enough to unroll. If you’re crumbling it into a soup or a sauce, like a white bean soup, skip that and drop it in as is.
If you’d rather thaw it first, put a spiral in the refrigerator for a few hours, or use the defrost setting on your microwave. Cook it soon after either way, since bacon doesn’t sit well once thawed.
Don’t thaw bacon on the counter. Some sites suggest it, and it’s the one method the USDA warns against, since the outside warms into the range where bacteria grow while the middle is still frozen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if you thawed it in the refrigerator. Bacon thawed that way can go back in the freezer, though the quality drops a little each time. If you thawed it in the microwave or in water, cook it first and freeze the cooked slices instead.
Uncooked, if you want flexibility. Raw slices work in any recipe and taste closer to fresh once cooked. Freeze it cooked when convenience matters more, since reheating a cooked slice takes 20 to 30 seconds instead of several minutes at the stove. Both keep about a month.
Leave the block at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, then slide a thin spatula or a butter knife between the slices and work them apart. Don’t force them while they’re solid, since the slices tear. Refreeze what you don’t use only if it’s still cold, and freeze them individually the next time.
The refrigerator if you’ll use it within a week, the freezer if you won’t. Opened bacon keeps about seven days refrigerated, according to the USDA. Cooking for one usually means a package outlasts that, so the freezer is where the rest belongs.
Yes, if it’s unopened and sealed. Write the date on it and put it straight in the freezer. Once a package is opened, the original wrapping doesn’t seal out air, so move the slices to a freezer bag or wrap them individually.
Single Serving Recipes That Use Bacon
A slice or two of bacon does a lot of work in a small recipe. Pull a spiral or two from the freezer and cook them straight through, or let them sit a few minutes if you want a flat slice. Here’s where I use them most.
Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
Bacon, Egg and Cheese Cup
Pasta Carbonara For One
Quiche Lorraine For One
Lentil Soup For One
Baked Stuffed Fish
Single Serve Clam Chowder
Bacon earns its place in a soup more than anywhere else, since one slice flavors the whole pot. There are more in our soup recipes for one.
Five minutes with a package of bacon on the day you buy it means you’ll never throw half of it out again. Roll, freeze, and take out one slice whenever a recipe calls for it.
How To Freeze Bacon In Individual Slices
Equipment
- freezer bag or container
- parchment paper or wax paper
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon (about 16 slices)
Instructions
- Separate the bacon slices and lay them flat on a work surface.
- Roll each slice into a spiral, starting at one end.
- Place the spirals on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, leaving about a finger's width between them so they don't freeze together.
- Freeze for at least 1 hour, until the spirals are firm and hold their shape.
- Transfer the frozen spirals to a freezer bag, press out the air, and write the date on the bag.
- Return the bag to the freezer and use the bacon within 1 month for best quality.
Notes
- An unopened package can go straight into the freezer. Write the date on it first.
- If a baking sheet won’t fit in your freezer, freeze the spirals in an ice cube tray instead, one per compartment.
- Bacon is cured and high in fat, so it goes rancid faster than other frozen meats. Use it within a month.
- Cook bacon soon after thawing, or cook it straight from frozen with about 50% more time.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I have been using this technique for years with a slight variation. I have a few extra plastic ice cube trays, so I put the spirals in each cube cavity and then freeze it. When frozen I then put the frozen spirals in a ziploc bag. There is not always space in the freezer for a sheetpan, so this works for anyone who has a small freezer.
What a great idea! I am one of those people with no room for a baking sheet in my freezer (sometimes not even room for and ice cube tray haha) so this sounds like a great solution! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!!!
This is a game changer for me, don’t have to throw half used bacon packs away. Job done!
Thank you so much I will do that with my bacon and I will try a lot of your foods
Great Idea. Never thought of that. Thank you.
I have ried this and it works perfectly. I can just pull out of the freezer and cook what I need and not have the waste. Thank you
For years (even when cooking for family), I separate the bacon after opening the package and then lay each slice on a cookie sheet and freeze. After an hour or two the bacon has frozen enough to be put in a ziplock bag. I then take out how many slices I need.
I prefer baked bacon so I will bake the whole pound and then freeze it in a ziplock bag. It works great for everything from breakfast sandwiches 2 soup or a BLT. Just take it out of the freezer microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds depending on how much your heating and you’re good to go