Weight Watchers Recipe of the Day: Air Fryer Turkey Bacon
I was at CostCo recently and spontaneously picked up this NuWave Air Fryer (affiliate link) because it was on sale. I have been wanting to try one for a while now, but wasn't sure if it would really be worth it.
I already have so many kitchen gadgets and slow cookers and don't really have the room for one more countertop appliance.
But I guess may curiosity won out in the end 😉
I haven't really made much yet other than frozen sweet potato fries which turned out excellent.
While it does take a little getting used to, I am getting much more comfortable now with my air fryer (affiliate link) cooking experiments.
WW Friendly Air Fryer Turkey Bacon
Trying to figure out what would cook well in the air fryer, I came up with bacon.
Specifically turkey bacon. Uncured turkey bacon. Yum!!
I love bacon...who doesn't... But never really cared for cooking it.
And whenever I would fry it up on the stovetop, it would make a mess splattering all over and and kind of stink up the whole kitchen for a day or two.
I know bacon can be baked too, but here in Phoenix I don't always like to turn on the oven—even this time of year it can be really warm outside and turning on the oven just makes the house that much warmer.
Believe it or not we're just getting to the time of year when we don't need to run air conditioners all the time!
So after a bit of "Googling" to see what I was getting myself in for, I broke out my almost brand new air fryer and got to work.
Trader Joe's Uncured Turkey Bacon
The first thing I realized was that the turkey bacon strips were too long, so I decided to cut them in half.
And they fit perfectly in the little air fryer basket.
The downside was that I only cooked 2 full slices at a time. I could have probably fit in a few more pieces, but I really was going for crispy, crunchy bacon.
For me, one big issue with the air fryer is its size.
It's kind of a large machine, but you really can't fit too much food in it because you want to make sure there is enough room in-and-around the food for the air to flow, so everything cooks and crisps nicely.
Air Fryer Turkey Bacon
I mean that's why we're air frying right - we want the crunch, but want to stay relatively healthy and keep our deep fried foods to a minimum.
Because of it's size, I personally think air fryers work well when cooking for one or two, but I wouldn't want to try and feed a family with it.
If you're cooking for a larger family and found a way to make your air fryer (affiliate link) work, please let us know how in the comments below!
They do make larger air fryers, like this Nuwave Brio 10 Quart Digital Air Fryer (affiliate link), but they can get pricey and I'm sure it will take up a lot of space on the counter.
Recipe Notes
I really happy with these results though. The bacon was still a little chewy, yet nice and crispy, crunchy on the outside.
I ended up doing three rounds of cooking to prepare the entire package. Each round was 10 minutes total and best practices for air fryers are stopping halfway through and giving things a shake (or in this case turning them over).
Not too bad considering I could do other things while the bacon was cooking, I just had to remember to check it around the 5 minute mark.
I used Trader Joe's Uncured Turkey Bacon and the simple list of package ingredients include:
- Turkey Thighs
- Water
- Sea Salt
- Raw Sugar
- Celery Powder
- Paprika
- Onion Powder
- Spice
Since this bacon is uncured, it doesn't have any artificial anything—including nitrates—and you can actually understand (and pronounce) all the ingredients.
Trader Joe's Uncured Turkey Bacon Package
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Air Fried Bacon?
Each 1 slice serving of this turkey bacon has 30 calories and:
1 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
1 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
1 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
1 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
If you like this easy air fryer turkey bacon, be sure to check out my other Weight Watchers friendly recipes including: Slow Cooker BBQ Green Beans with Bacon, Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Bacon and Creamy Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta
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If you've made this Air Fryer Turkey Bacon, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Air Fryer Turkey Bacon Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 package (about 8 ounces) Uncured Turkey Bacon
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 360F.
- Slice turkey bacon slices in half and place as many pieces that will fit in a single layer in air fryer basket.
- Cook for 5 minutes. Open air fryer and turn the bacon over.
- Place basket back in air fryer and continue to cook for 5 more minutes, or until bacon is cooked to your satisfaction.
- Repeat with remaining bacon pieces until it is all cooked.
Equipment
Recipe Notes
Kitchen tools I used to make this turkey bacon: NuWave Air Fryer (affiliate link)
Watch how to cook bacon in a Large Capacity Air Fryer (affiliate link):
More Easy Recipes with Bacon Made Lighter
- One Skillet Chicken with Bacon & Green Beans (SkinnyTaste)
- 7 Skinny BLT Recipes (Simple-Nourished-Living)
- Bacon Cheeseburger Chili (HungryGirl)
- Garlic Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast (DrizzleMeSkinny)
- Barbecue Chicken Bacon Wraps (EmilyBites)
Search for More WW Friendly Recipes with Bacon
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Margo Stites
That bacon looks so good. I would love to have this fryer.
Cheri
I love bacon in the oven. The air fryer bacon looks so good!!
Lana
This was a great recipe and inspiration for me to use my air fryer more often!
It turned out great. I purchased the perforated liners so cleanup was a breeze.
Sonja E Strom
So glad I found this and the references to WW which I have been on for a couple of months. Ninja Foodi is new, love turkey bacon and recipe was a great find!
Brittany
I feed an entire family off the air fryer with the “special” air fryer I got for Christmas. It’s a lot bigger and has way more functions. It’s the Cosori 12-in-1 air fryer oven. So not only does it air fry, but you can also bake, roast, rotisserie, toast, etc. it’s amazing!! And it’s like a big toaster oven that comes with 3 different racks plus the rotisserie sticks, so it has plenty of room.
LynnieD
Perfecto!
Erin
Thank you for the tips! I made this today. I cut the bacon in half. Some of the pieces did move around while cooking, but other than making some curl up a bit there was no problem. I took the bacon out one minute early. It was super crispy/crunchy. I may try a few minutes less next time. Thank you again!
Robert
Here was my test: 6 pieces in an IP Omni Plus at 390 for 10 minutes. I checked on them at 5 minutes and then put them back in to finish. They came out good but maybe a little chewy..
I then put the 4 pieces left in the package in a 390 for 10 and didn’t check them. They are crispy but kinda burnt.
There is a sweet spot in there.
Note: I used no oil or salt.