Million Dollar Bacon
Take your bacon to the next level with this million dollar bacon recipe. Oven roasted with brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper, this sweet and spicy candied bacon is almost too good to be true.
Why you’ll love this million dollar bacon
- If you’ve ever had the bacon at First Watch, you already know how good this recipe is. This candied bacon is the perfect balance between crispy and chewy and it’s so easy to make at home in the oven.
- A variation of this recipe is featured in Snoop Dogg’s cookbook, but he refers to it as billionaire bacon.
- This version is slightly different, since it uses smoked paprika rather than cayenne pepper to enhance the flavor of the bacon without adding extra spice.
Ingredients & substitutions
- Bacon – Thick cut is the way to go. I personally like pecan-smoked bacon the best, but anything you like will work.
- Brown sugar – Dark or light brown sugar will work, but we normally use light brown.
- Crushed red pepper flakes – Feel free to adjust this amount to make your bacon more mild.
- Smoked paprika – If you don’t have smoked paprika, regular paprika will work, or you can swap cayenne pepper to make your bacon extra spicy.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make this candied bacon
Mix the seasoning. Start by mixing the brown sugar with the peppers and paprika. I like to use a fork or a whisk to do this, but just make sure it’s evenly distributed.
Season the bacon. Lay your bacon on a baking sheet lined with parchment and then spread the sugar mixture on top of the bacon.
Roast the bacon. Put your bacon in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes. Keep an eye on it after 20 to make sure it doesn’t burn. If the edges are starting to blacken, remove the bacon right away.
Remove the bacon from the oven and use a pair of kitchen tongs to transfer it to a fresh sheet of parchment on a cooling rack. You can put it on paper towels, but there’s a chance the sugar will cause it to stick, so I recommend parchment for this.
Let the bacon cool for a bit – about 5 to 10 minutes – before serving.
Everything you need to know about cooking bacon in the oven
It normally takes about 20 – 25 minutes to cook bacon in the oven. This will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon and the temperature of your oven.
Though I usually bake my bacon at 400˚F, for this recipe the heat has been lowered to 375˚F. The caramelization process of the sugars makes the bacon burn slightly faster. The lower temperature will give you just a bit more breathing room.
No flipping is needed. Even thick cut bacon will cook wonderfully without being flipped in the oven.
Neither. You should position your baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
More bacon recipes you will love
- Bacon wrapped water chestnuts
- Instant pot baked beans with bacon and brown sugar
- Asparagus quiche with bacon
- Cheddar chive waffles & eggs with strawberry candied bacon
More dairy free breakfast recipes
- Breakfast pizza
- Oatmeal banana chocolate chip muffins
- Scrambled eggs without milk
- Apple cinnamon oatmeal
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 pound bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a mixing bowl, stir the all ingredients except bacon together until well combined.
- Arrange bacon on prepared baking sheet and spread sugar mixture over bacon slices.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bacon is crispy and caramelized.
- When bacon is cooked, remove from oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack lined with parchment paper.
