Snoop Dogg's 3-Ingredient Bacon Upgrade Is Decadence At Its Finest

Few individual cuts of meat are as celebrated as bacon. It's common to eat on, in, or with other foods and on its own as a savory or even sweet snack. But, it's easy to forget that bacon eaten on its own should be seasoned with something to get the best flavor out of the meat. Snoop Dogg has the perfect seasoning blend.

Billionaire's Bacon, a recipe from Snoop's cookbook "From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen," calls for generously coating the bacon in a mixture of brown sugar, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. The simple, three-note flavor combination makes for a delightfully spicy-sweet candied bacon.

Snoop's Billionaire's Bacon is the perfect appetizer, party tray snack, or anytime treat. He recommends cooking the bacon in the hottest part of the oven — on the top rack for most models — to aid in caramelization. If done correctly, once rested, each bite will have an irresistible crunch that's followed up by the heat of red pepper, and it's all cradled in a base of black pepper.

Billionaire's Bacon is not Snoop Dogg's only food recommendation — have you ever put mayonnaise in mashed potatoes? — or even his only bacon hack. When pan-frying bacon, Snoop fries the bacon all in one clump instead of laying down individual strips. This might seem chaotic, but not only does it have the benefit of cooking all of the bacon all at once, but the increased curls of the bacon creates more nooks and crannies for grease to crisp up the edges. This same logic informs another hack, twisting raw bacon for extra crispiness.

However, it is not recommended that you combine Snoop Dogg's two bacon upgrades. Billionaire's Bacon requires the sustained, indirect heat of an oven to properly caramelize the sugar on all sides. Bacon also tends to curl up while pan-frying, which will interfere with a smooth caramelization. For the best results, Billionaire's Bacon should lay flat in high, indirect heat and elevated from the cooking surface with a rack, which is easiest to accomplish using an oven.