Can You Freeze Turkey Bacon?

Bacon is the perfect food! It seems like it goes with everything. You can have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can put it on your sandwiches, wraps, and salads. You can add bacon to casseroles and soups. Your options are pretty much unlimited!

Some people prefer to use turkey bacon because it is a healthier alternative as far as bacon is concerned. It has less fat in it and produces less grease.

It is also a great alternative to pork if your lifestyle restricts pork as well. Turkey bacon makes a great substitute and will do just about anything that pork bacon can do. 

Can you freeze turkey bacon? The good news is that you can freeze turkey bacon, much like you freeze regular bacon, for up to 6 months. You just want to be sure to pre-freeze it, package, and store it properly.

The process is pretty simple although there are a few tips and tricks you should be aware of. Of course, that’s why we’re here. 

In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know about freezing turkey bacon. We will talk about the process and cover how you should handle both cooked and uncooked turkey bacon to preserve it for the long haul. 

Keep reading to learn how to freeze turkey bacon and more. 

A Complete Guide to Freezing Turkey Bacon

Turkey bacon is often advertised as a low-fat alternative to traditional pork bacon. Whether you need an alternative due to diet restrictions or even due to religious restrictions, turkey bacon can fill that void that pork bacon leaves behind. 

Turkey bacon is made from smoked turkey that has been chopped, formed, cured, and smoked to be turned into something that closely resembles and can potentially replace bacon.

You cook it in the same ways and it typically puts off less grease since it is lower in fat content. 

Turkey bacon can be used in all of the same ways that you might use pork bacon. Whether you’re making fresh BLT’s or you need it as a breakfast side, it provides you with a pretty great option! 

Those who are familiar with handling pork bacon know that you can freeze it to preserve it. Luckily, you can freeze turkey bacon also. The processes are pretty similar and you can freeze both cooked and uncooked turkey bacon. 

Freezing your turkey bacon cooked does require a couple of extra steps just to ensure it maintains its quality in the freezer but it’s still an easy process overall. 

In the following sections, we will break down the processes for both cooked and uncooked turkey bacon. 

Can You Freeze Uncooked Turkey Bacon?

Uncooked turkey bacon is incredibly easy to freeze. If you have an unopened package that you just don’t think will get used, toss that package into a heavy-duty storage bag and slide it in the freezer. 

Some people would tell you that you can just put the unopened package in the freezer, but we recommend the bag because it gives it another layer of protection.

Now, if your package is opened, you need to determine whether you want to freeze it so you can just grab out individual slices or whether you want to freeze all of it together. 

Here are our recommended steps for freezing uncooked turkey bacon:

1. If you are freezing your turkey bacon all together, you can simply wrap it in wax paper and place it in a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight container. When you freeze it all together like this, you should plan to use it all at the same time as well. If you want to freeze to be able to pull out individual slices, proceed to step 2. 
2. Roll the turkey bacon into small coils. Your coils might resemble a snail shell.
3. For uncooked turkey bacon, we recommend a pre-freeze process to avoid your bacon sticking together and tearing apart: place the coils on a baking sheet that has been covered in wax or parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer uncovered. 
4. Freeze in this manner overnight or at least 6 hours. Once the coils seem pretty solid, you can then package them up. 
5. Place into a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight container. 
6. Seal, label, and date all packaging. 
7. Store in the freezer in this manner for up to 6 months. They will most likely last longer but this is the recommended time frame for best quality. 

If you only plan to use a few slices at a time, we recommend that you use the coiling method. This gives you the best way to pull out what you need when you need it.

If you freeze it all in a single stack or package, it will most likely freeze together and then have to be thawed in order to be used. 

Once you thaw the whole thing of bacon, we don’t recommend re-freezing it. For this reason, it’s important to plan ahead or just go ahead and make the coils and go through the entire process in order to ensure you won’t have any wasted turkey bacon! 

You can also store uncooked turkey bacon in the fridge for a limited period of time. We recommend storing it in the fridge for 5-7 days at the most. 

Now, let’s talk about cooked turkey bacon. 

Can You Freeze Cooked Turkey Bacon?

If you cooked up that entire package of turkey bacon and then ended up with a bunch of leftovers, no worries!

You can freeze your cooked turkey bacon as well, which gives you a nice option so you don’t have to worry about tossing out leftovers. Cooking it now and freezing it might just help you later when you need something quick and don’t have time to cook your bacon. 

Freezing cooked turkey bacon also requires a pre-freezing process. This is simply because bacon tends to stick together when you freeze it all at once without the pre-freeze. The process isn’t overly complicated but there are a few tips to be aware of. 

Here are our recommended steps for freezing cooked turkey bacon:

1. Be sure the bacon has cooled to room temperature. Pat it dry from any grease. 
2. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and layer your bacon in a single layer across it. You can make several layers if needed, just separate each layer with wax paper. 
3. Once you’ve laid out all of the turkey bacon, cover the top with plastic wrap or just another layer of wax paper and place it in the freezer. 
4. Pre-freeze in this manner overnight or for 6-8 hours. We recommend that you pre-freeze for no less than 4 hours. 
5. Once it is frozen, you can place the cooked turkey bacon into heavy-duty freezer bags or an airtight container. We do recommend that you still keep a layer of wax paper in between layers of bacon to ensure they don’t freeze together and make it challenging to just pull out what you need. 
6. Label, date, and seal all packaging. 
7. Freeze cooked turkey bacon for up to 6 months in this way. It could potentially last longer but this is the timeframe recommended for the best quality. 

If you skip the pre-freeze process just be aware that your bacon will most likely stick together in the freezer and you will have to use the entire thing when you pull it out since it will need to thaw to be used. 

Using Turkey Bacon After Freezing

Turkey bacon can be used shortly after it has been pulled from the freezer. The thawing time is fairly minimal. The exception to this rule if you froze a whole package or a large amount of bacon together. This is primarily related to uncooked turkey bacon. 

It is possible that if you did not follow the coiling process, your bacon may stick together. If that is the case, we recommend that you allow your frozen package to thaw out in the fridge overnight to prepare it for cooking and avoid that issue. 

Otherwise, if you used the coil method, you can let it sit out for about 30 minutes and it should be thawed enough for you to use. 

Related Questions

We hope that you find this guide to freezing turkey bacon to be a valuable resource so that you can successfully freeze your bacon. 

We invite you to review the following question and answer section for some additional details that could be helpful to you. 

Is Turkey Bacon Really Healthier?

Turkey bacon is lower in both fat and calories by a pretty significant amount. Cholesterol is not much affected. The protein levels are also lower. Turkey bacon is still a highly-processed food. If you compare the two, it is better but not necessarily healthy overall. 

What Part of the Turkey Does Bacon Come From?

Turkey bacon can come from various parts of the turkey. Some bacon is made from the thigh meat while other bacon is made from ground turkey meat that includes both light and dark meat. 

Up Next: How To Cook Turkey Bacon In The Microwave