For The Crispiest Breakfast Turkey Bacon, Break Out The Air Fryer

Bacon is full of sweet and smoky umami, but if you don't eat pork for any reason then your go-to for breakfast burritos might be the turkey kind instead. Some will argue that turkey bacon doesn't constitute the real thing at all, but it pretty much looks like bacon and it's still delicious when cooked right. One of the biggest differences between pork and turkey bacon is the latter is far more lean and, therefore, trickier to get crispy enough to pile onto a breakfast sandwich. To cook turkey bacon to its utmost crispiness, turn to your air fryer.

If you typically cook turkey bacon on a baking sheet in the oven or in a pan on the stovetop, you're aware that it often turns out soggy or oily. On the flip side, turkey bacon will be crunchy straight out of the air fryer thanks to its ability to fry up foods without additional fats. This happens because an air fryer induces hot air quickly that crisps food like turkey bacon despite it being so lean. Even better, this method makes for easy clean up since you don't need to use a pan or baking sheet, and especially if you own silicone liners for your air fryer. These are pretty much the same reasons why you should cook pork bacon in an air fryer too.

Set your air fryer to between 360 and 380 degrees Fahrenheit to make crispy turkey bacon. Line the bottom of the air fryer basket with the slices of turkey bacon, but don't overcrowd the pan or pile strips on top of each other. Cook for about five minutes, then flip each piece over and cook for another five minutes. After just 10 minutes, the turkey bacon should be cooked and crispy at this setting. To save a few minutes, set the air fryer higher to 400 degrees and cook it for about six minutes, flipping halfway through. If you need to cook more bacon than your air fryer allows at one time, do so in batches being mindful that the second (or third) round might crisp a bit faster since the fryer will already be hot.

Your turkey bacon should come out so crispy that it can replace pork bacon in nearly any recipe, or just eat it with eggs and toast for a hearty breakfast to start your day. Use the crispy turkey bacon to make a leaner savory breakfast bagel casserole, or replace pork bacon with the turkey variety in our ultimate egg sandwich recipe. And if you don't already have a go-to brand of turkey bacon, check out our ranking of grocery store bacon brands that includes turkey bacon as a runner up.