A single slice of cooked pork bacon contains roughly 43 calories. That number comes from a standard pan-fried strip weighing about 8 grams after cooking, with 3.5 grams of fat and nearly 3 grams of protein per slice. Three slices, a typical breakfast serving, lands around 130 calories.
Calories by Cooking Method
Bacon loses a surprising amount of weight during cooking. A raw strip shrinks to about 30% of its original weight when pan-fried or baked, and closer to 26% when microwaved. Most of what disappears is water and rendered fat, which concentrates the remaining calories into a smaller, crispier strip.
The cooking method changes the final calorie density slightly. Per 100 grams of cooked bacon, pan-fried comes in highest at about 40 grams of fat, while microwaved bacon drops to around 37 grams of fat. The practical difference per slice is small, but microwaving does render out a bit more grease. Baking falls in between. If you’re tracking calories closely, the biggest variable isn’t your cooking method. It’s how crispy you cook it, since crispier bacon has lost more fat to the pan.
What Else Is in a Slice
Bacon is mostly fat and protein with almost zero carbohydrates. Each cooked slice delivers about 3.5 grams of total fat, including 1.15 grams of saturated fat. Protein comes in at roughly 2.9 grams per slice, making bacon a calorie-dense but moderate source of protein.
Sodium is where bacon really stands out. Cooked pan-fried bacon contains about 2,428 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams. For a single slice, that works out to roughly 194 milligrams, so a three-slice serving delivers close to 580 milligrams of sodium. That’s about a quarter of the commonly recommended daily limit from just one breakfast item. Bacon is cured with salt and either sodium nitrites (in conventional bacon) or celery-derived nitrates (in bacon labeled “uncured”), both of which contribute to the high sodium load.
On the positive side, cooked bacon is a good source of selenium, B vitamins (especially niacin and B12), phosphorus, and zinc. These nutrients become more concentrated after cooking because the water cooks off.
Turkey Bacon vs. Pork Bacon
Turkey bacon is often marketed as the lighter alternative, but the calorie gap is smaller than most people expect. A 2-ounce serving of turkey bacon has about 218 calories compared to 268 calories for the same amount of pork bacon. That’s only a 50-calorie difference.
The real advantage of turkey bacon is fat content: 14 grams of total fat versus 22 grams in pork bacon per 2-ounce serving. Saturated fat drops from 8 grams to 4 grams. Protein stays comparable, with turkey bacon providing 17 grams and pork bacon 20 grams per serving. If your main concern is calories alone, the swap saves you less than you might think. If you’re watching saturated fat or total fat intake, turkey bacon makes a more meaningful difference.
Canadian Bacon: A Lower-Calorie Option
Canadian bacon (also called back bacon) comes from the loin rather than the belly of the pig, which makes it dramatically leaner. A three-slice serving of Canadian bacon has about 60 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, and 10 grams of protein. Compare that to three slices of regular streaky bacon at roughly 130 calories, 10.5 grams of fat, and 8.7 grams of protein.
That’s less than half the calories and a fraction of the fat, with more protein. Canadian bacon is closer to deli ham in texture and taste than it is to crispy streaky bacon, so it won’t scratch the same itch for everyone. But if you want bacon flavor at breakfast without the calorie load, it’s the most efficient trade.
Counting Calories From a Full Package
A standard package of raw bacon weighs about 16 ounces (454 grams) and typically contains 16 to 20 slices. After cooking, that package yields only about 140 grams of finished bacon, thanks to the roughly 70% weight loss. The entire cooked package comes out to approximately 540 to 560 calories.
If you’re logging calories from a recipe that calls for bacon, remember that the nutrition label on the package usually lists values for raw or “pan-fried” bacon. Check whether the label references a raw or cooked serving weight, since the calorie count per gram is very different before and after cooking. A 15-gram raw slice and an 8-gram cooked slice contain the same number of calories, just at different densities.
How Bacon Fits Into Your Diet
At 43 calories a slice, bacon isn’t especially high-calorie compared to other breakfast proteins like sausage links (which often run 80 to 100 calories each) or a two-egg scramble (about 140 calories). The more relevant nutritional concerns are saturated fat and sodium, both of which add up quickly if bacon is a daily habit.
The World Health Organization classifies processed meat, including bacon, as a Group 1 carcinogen for colorectal cancer, meaning there is sufficient evidence that it increases risk. The risk scales with how much you eat, and no safe threshold has been established. WHO’s guidance is straightforward: people who eat processed meat should moderate their intake. That doesn’t mean a few slices on the weekend pose a serious threat, but daily consumption over years is where the risk accumulates.
For most people, the practical takeaway is simple. A few strips of bacon a couple of times a week fits comfortably into a balanced diet. The calories are modest, but the sodium and saturated fat mean it works better as a supporting player than a daily staple.