How to Make the Best Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
These bacon wrapped shrimp are delicious. I love how we brush a spicy glaze made with maple syrup and chili sauce — use Sriracha sauce or Gochujang paste — over the bacon before baking. As the bacon crisps up in the oven, the glaze caramelizes. It’s excellent. We love this easy shrimp appetizer. It’s incredibly easy to make, and we have the secret to making it best. We like our bacon crispy, so we’ve developed a method to guarantee that our bacon becomes crispy while making sure our shrimp are cooked to perfection (no floppy bacon or overcooked shrimp here!). First, we par-cook the bacon. Cooking the bacon for a little bit before wrapping it around the shrimp gives the bacon a jump start. This way, it will crisp up much better in the end, and we won’t need to worry about overcooking our shrimp to cook the bacon. The bacon only needs a 10 minute head start in the oven, which allows some of the fat to start rendering, but it doesn’t need to be crispy yet. I cook the bacon until it’s about halfway done. Then, I take it out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Now the bacon’s halfway cooked, let’s add lots of flavor, which we get from the easy maple glaze. Combine maple syrup and spicy Sriracha chili sauce (or use Korean Gochujang). Then, brush it onto both sides of the bacon and the shrimp. Once the shrimp are wrapped with the bacon (and secured with a toothpick), we brush even more glaze over the bacon wrapped shrimp right on the baking sheet. The shrimp bake for 5 minutes. Then, we like to turn the oven to broil and broil for 4 to 6 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. By par-cooking the bacon, the final bite has perfectly cooked bacon and shrimp. If we wrap the shrimp with raw bacon, the time it takes to get the bacon all crisp and delicious means you’ll most likely overcook the shrimp. No good. With our easy method, we get the best of both worlds—crispy bacon wrapped around perfectly cooked shrimp. For more shrimp recipes, take a look ar our garlic shrimp with cilantro and lime or these party-friendly baked shrimp cups. For more delicious appetizers, take a look at our homemade crab rangoon (crab and cream cheese stuffed wontons), this creamy crab dip which can be served hot or cold, and our easy shrimp ceviche. 10 strips thin cut bacon 20 extra-large shrimp, shelled with tails left on (about 1 pound) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot chili sauce Half a lemon, cut into wedges, for serving 1 scallion, finely chopped, for serving 2Place bacon slices, in one layer, onto the baking sheet. Slide into the oven, and then bake for about 10 minutes or until the bacon has rendered some of its fat, is starting to brown on the edges, but is still floppy. 3Take the bacon out of the oven and transfer it to paper towels to drain excess fat. Discard any fat on the baking sheet, but leave the foil intact. 4Stir the maple syrup and Sriracha in a small bowl. Lightly brush both sides of the par-cooked bacon with glaze, then cut in half, crosswise, making 20 half-strips of bacon. 5Season the shrimp with salt, then wrap each with a half-strip of bacon and use one of the soaked skewers to secure it. 6Place each shrimp onto the baking sheet. Then, brush or spoon the leftover glaze over the wrapped shrimp. 7Bake the shrimp for 5 minutes. Turn the oven to broil, and then broil for 4 to 6 minutes, rotating the shrimp once until the bacon is crispy. Serve shrimp with lemon wedges on the side and scallions scattered on top.
