26 Popular Store-Bought Bacons—Ranked by Sodium

It's no secret that Americans love bacon. From breakfast fry-ups with eggs and toast to fancy appetizers with dates and blue cheese to smoky pasta dishes, cured pork, beef, and even turkey strips are everywhere. Though it's certainly tasty, bacon isn't always the healthiest option. Many store-bought bacons can contain a shocking amount of sodium per serving. This sodium keeps the cured meat tender and savory, but it can also cause health issues in the long run if this cured meat is a regular part of your diet.

The FDA recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, or about one teaspoon of table salt. Some of the bacon on this list contains nearly a quarter of that allotment in two slices.

There are dozens of options in the bacon department of most grocery stores. From various kinds of meat to special wood varieties used for smoking to sweet and savory cures, there's no shortage of options in the bacon department. But if you're not flipping the package to inspect its nutrition panel, you may be tossing a serious sodium bomb into your cart.

To help steer you in a healthier direction, we've found 25 popular store-bought bacons and ranked them in descending order from the lowest sodium content to the highest. We used a serving size of 14 to 20 grams for each variety of bacon, about two slices of regular bacon or one thick-cut.

Here's how 25 different types of bacon rank in sodium content from lowest to highest. Read on, and for more, check out 25 Unhealthiest Deli Meats—Ranked by Sodium.

Lowest Sodium Bacon: North Country Smokehouse Uncured Sugar Free Applewood Smoked Bacon

Coming in as the lowest-sodium option, the uncured sugar-free applewood smoked bacon from North Country Smokehouse has a healthier 120 milligrams of sodium per two-slice serving with just 4 grams of fat. This bacon is also Certified Humane and free of added nitrates, nitrites, fillers, and dyes. You're better off picking up a package of North Country's quality bacon at the grocery store than any of the higher-sodium options on this list.

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Niman Ranch Uncured Applewood Smoked Bacon – No Sugar

Niman Ranch is associated with premium-quality, carefully raised beef, lamb, and pork, including cured bacon and charcuterie. The brand's uncured applewood smoked bacon is made without sugar and has a modest 135 milligrams of sodium per slice. This bacon is also free of nitrates, nitrites, and artificial flavors and colorings, so you know you're getting quality pork and seasonings.

Butterball Original Turkey Bacon

Butterball is known for turkey, so it is not surprising that its turkey bacon would make the list. This thicker-cut poultry bacon offers 135 milligrams of sodium and 2 grams of fat per slice, with less than 1 gram of saturated fat. Turkey is naturally leaner than pork, but Butterball has infused its bacon with flavor from sugar, oil, and nitrites.

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Wegmans Center Cut Uncured Bacon

If you shop at Wegmans, it might be time to switch to the store-brand bacon, which has a reasonable 200 milligrams of sodium and 5 grams of fat per serving. With 60 calories and 5 grams of protein, this uncured bacon is close to the top of the list when it comes to nutrition ratios.

Hormel Black Label Lower-Sodium Bacon

Hormel makes a lower-sodium version of its signature Black Label pork bacon, though it's still not the lowest-sodium option we found. Two slices pack 7 grams of fat, including 2.5 grams of saturated fat. This bacon is made with added nitrites.

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Jimmy Dean Thick Cut Hickory Smoked Premium Bacon

We came across several store-bought bacon types that rang in at 200 milligrams of sodium per serving, including this thick-cut option from Jimmy Dean. Its 7 grams of fat are on the higher end, and it's important to note that these nutritional facts come from a single slice of bacon.

Aldi's Never Any! Uncured Bacon

This simple pork bacon from the Aldi store brand has a similar nutritional profile to the Whole Foods organic product, with slightly fewer calories and a third less fat per serving. It gets its flavor from a simple saltwater cure. It has 8 grams of protein, which is on the higher end for bacon.

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Whole Foods Organic Uncured Applewood Smoked Bacon

This Uncured Smoked Bacon is made by Whole Foods using organic ingredients. The slices are medium thick and have a fair amount of marbled fat throughout—offering 9 grams per two-slice serving in addition to 240 milligrams of sodium.

Wright Thick Cut Hickory Smoked Bacon

These thick, meaty slices of hickory smoked pork bacon are substantial—each slice weighs 14 grams after cooking. You'll also get 250 milligrams of sodium and 7 grams of fat—and that's in a single slice.

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Pederson's Uncured Hickory Smoked Beef Bacon

This bacon is made from lean beef, rather than pork, which gives it a more iron-rich flavor and a lower fat content—just 1.5 grams per one-slice serving. Its 250 milligrams of sodium still packs 9% of your daily allowance, though, so be wary of stacking up the slices at breakfast.

North Country Smokehouse Cob Smoked Uncured Bacon

This uncured bacon from North Country Smokehouse won our store-bought bacon taste test and has a moderate 260 milligrams of sodium per serving. The pork slices are smoked over corn cobs, which gives them a milder and slightly sweeter flavor than more traditional smoky bacon.

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Omaha Steaks Applewood Smoked Steak-Cut Bacon

Omaha Steaks delivers meat, seafood, wine, and desserts. Its applewood-smoked bacon is cut very thick—each slice weighs 2 ounces raw—and serves up 280 milligrams of sodium. This bacon has a rich, meaty flavor infused with smoke.

Applegate Naturals Uncured Sunday Bacon

Applegate's Sunday bacon, made simply from pork cured in water and salt, is a classic option with 280 milligrams of sodium and no added nitrites or nitrates. With just 5 grams of fat per serving, it is also one of the leaner bacon options we came across.

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Oscar Mayer Gluten Free Turkey Bacon

Oscar Meyer's version of lower-sodium and lower-fat turkey bacon contains a middle-tier 280 milligrams of sodium per serving, just a touch less than Applegate and Boar's Head. However, it still packs 2 more grams of fat than Applegate's turkey option. And though it's called "gluten-free," it's worth noting that nearly every bacon on this list is gluten-free.

Smithfield Hometown Original Bacon

This smokey option from Smithfield Hometown is one of the brand's original products and contains less than 300 milligrams of sodium per serving. It happens to be highly reviewed for taste and crispiness and doesn't contain added colorings to get its golden-brown hue.

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Boar's Head Uncured Turkey Bacon

The turkey bacon from meat purveyors Boar's Head contains the same amount of sodium per serving as Applegate Organics, with slightly less protein and more fat. It doesn't contain added nitrates or nitrites and isn't artificially colored with food dyes, two wins on the nutritional side.

Applegate Organics Uncured Turkey Bacon

Turkey bacon often sounds like a healthier alternative to pork or beef, but don't overlook the 300 milligrams of sodium per serving in these slices from Applegate Organics. On the bright side, each serving offers 10 grams of protein and just 3 grams of fat, a healthier ratio than most of the competition.

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Wellshire Thick Sliced Dry Rubbed Uncured Bacon

Despite containing fewer calories per serving than most of the bacon on this list, each thick-sliced piece of this uncured bacon from Wellshire Farms contains 310 milligrams of sodium. However, it has a cleaner and shorter ingredient list than most, containing pork, salt, and sugar.

Jimmy Dean Applewood Smoked Bacon

Jimmy Dean is synonymous with breakfast meats, and the brand's applewood smoked bacon is still in the top 10 for the highest in sodium. This bacon is also fairly high in fat and saturated fat, with 9 and 3 grams per serving, respectively.

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Oscar Mayer Center Cut Thick Sliced Bacon

This thicker-cut bacon option from Oscar Mayer has slightly less sodium, at 330 milligrams per two slices, but you're still getting added nitrites and 14% of your sodium RDA per serving.

Oscar Mayer Naturally Hardwood Smoked Maple Bacon

Dropping just below the frightening 400-milligram mark, this maple bacon from the lunch meat giant Oscar Mayer offers a sky-high amount of sodium at 370 milligrams per two-slice serving. The maple flavoring is artificial—if you're a purist, you're better off drizzling real maple syrup over your breakfast than seeking it out from this bacon.

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Hormel Black Label Maple Bacon

This bacon from Hormel comes in a sleek black package that looks and feels higher-end. Unfortunately, so is its sodium content. With more than 400 milligrams per serving, two sweet maple-flavored strips contain 18% of your recommended daily sodium allowance and will leave you thirsty.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Great Value Naturally Hickory Smoked Thick-Sliced Bacon

This bacon from Great Value, the Walmart store brand, is a budget-friendly choice, but it's not kind to your body, thanks to the 430 milligrams of sodium and 12 grams of fat per serving. All that, plus its 4 grams of saturated fat makes up 20% of your daily allowance.

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Snake River Farms American Kurobuta Bacon

Snake River Farms is a purveyor of high-quality specialty meats, including American wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork. Its Kurobuta bacon is preserved with 460 milligrams of sodium per two-slice serving, plus a whopping 10 grams of fat—that's about 8% of your daily recommended fat intake.

Kunzler Thick Cut Sliced Bacon

A single 18-gram slice of thick-cut bacon from Kunzler contains a whopping 465 milligrams of sodium plus 7.5 grams of fat and 2.5 grams of saturated fat. This is one of the richest and saltiest kinds of bacon we found, plus it contains added nitrites, which may be carcinogenic.

The Highest Sodium Bacon Is… Nature's Rancher Uncured Applewood Smoked Bacon

This bacon from Nature's Rancher, sold at Whole Foods, is an excellent example of how important it is to read a product's nutrition label. The serving size is a single slice, or about 11 grams, less than your typical two-slice serving of bacon. If you stick to the prescribed serving size, you'll consume 280 milligrams of sodium (still 10% of your recommended daily intake), but let's face it—most of us eat more than a single slice of bacon at a time, so it's all too easy to consume double that in a single meal. To more accurately compare this bacon with the others on the list, I considered a 22-gram serving size, or two slices.