When done right, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp are one of the easiest, most delicious appetizers you can make. There are a couple of secrets to making them perfectly succulent.
First, it's important to partially cook the bacon before wrapping around the shrimp. Second, take it easy on the seasoning. I'll explain.
Why pre-cooking the bacon is important.
It takes 8-10 minutes to make juicy, flavorful shrimp in the oven. Baking bacon until crispy takes 15 to 20 minutes! So starting with raw bacon when making bacon wrapped shrimp means overcooked shrimp, or worse, undercooked bacon. For properly crispy bacon, you need to give the bacon a head start. It’s worth the effort as it adds very little time or complexity. (The same goes when making Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and you pre-cook the bacon right on your grill!)
When I'm serving seafoods like shrimp, crab and scallops, I like to prepare them as simply as possible, adding only ingredients that accentuate their already delicious flavors. (As in these recipes: Crab Cakes, Crab Salad, Shrimp Salad, Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Salt and Pepper Shrimp).
Bacon wrapped shrimp are the same. Many recipes call for heavily seasoning them with spices or sauces, but I disagree. Shrimp wrapped in bacon needs just olive oil, salt and pepper to be utterly delectable! And if you want to serve them with a dipping sauce, this remoulade sauce is perfect.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Step 1: Cut bacon strips in half crosswise and arrange on an oven safe rack set in a baking sheet. Cook bacon at 425˚F for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on bacon thickness.
Step 2: Toss tail-on, peeled and deveined shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper.
Step 3: Wrap each shrimp with a piece of bacon, securing with a toothpick and return to oven safe rack.
Step 4: Bake 10 minutes until shrimp and bacon are juicy and cooked through. Serve.
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Recipe Video
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon halved crosswise (see recipe note)
- 16 large shrimp peeled except for the tail and deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Arrange bacon slices, leaving space around each, on oven safe rack placed inside a baking sheet. Bake 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of your bacon. It should still be pliable when you remove it from the oven.
- Meanwhile, place shrimp in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, salt and pepper; toss to coat.
- When partially cooked bacon slices are cool enough to handle (about 5 minutes after you remove from oven), wrap each slice of bacon around one raw shrimp, securing with a toothpick; return to oven safe rack. Repeat with remaining shrimp.
- Bake 10 minutes more until shrimp are pink and bacon is cooked through. Serve.
Notes
- If your bacon strips are very long, cut them into thirds crosswise instead of in half. You want the strips to be long enough to wrap the shrimp, but not so long that a large area of the bacon overlaps.
- For thick cut bacon, increase par-cook time by a few minutes, until bacon is starting to crisp, but is still pliable.
This is the recipe I was looking for! Perfect. If I want to take them to a dinner party about 3 blocks away, should I keep them warm or do the final bake there instead?
Either way should work, Karen. But if you have the option / don't mind baking them there, I recommend it so they're super fresh.
I'm a year behind, but I'm making a similar version of this tonight 🙂
THANKS for your help!!! Have a terrific Thursday & SMILE,...it's contagious 🙂
Thanks, Jay! Glad you're enjoying the recipe. So true, smiles are contagious. 🙂
Looks like a great recipe. Hoping to make it for a Christmas Eve gathering. Is there any reason I couldn’t prepare these to the point of cooking in the oven? I’m thinking of stopping just before baking the wrapped shrimp and refrigerating till time to bake.
Hi Brenda! Yes, absolutely. You can pre-cook the bacon and wrap the shrimp up to a day in advance (ideally the morning of the party) and then bake them just before serving.
This dish is wonderful. Two of my favorites combined together. Love the idea wrapping the shrimps with bacon. Thank you for this recipe and also for the tips in seasoning the shrimps.
Thanks so much, Mae!
These are fabulous! It certainly makes sense to slightly cook the bacon first. I’ve made bacon-wrapped scallops and used some paprika creme inside (not my recipe) which were fabulous, but I also like the idea of dipping the bacon-wrapped shrimp in a sauce/dip.
Paprika creme sounds delicious! Thanks so much, Mimi!
I do love shrimp, and I normally go easy too. Just some oil/butter, garlic, salt, and maybe fresh herbs are enough for a delicious meal. But you cannot spoil shrimp with some bacon, and this recipe looks and sounds super delicious!
Thanks so much, Ben!
While I've had bacon wrapped scallops many times, I've never had bacon wrapped shrimp. And I love shrimp. I really need to try this the next time we have dinner guests. This would be a crowd pleasing appetizer for sure!
Thanks, Leanne! I hope you give these a try! 🙂
One of my favourite appetizers when we go out. That and bacon wrapped scallops, which I presume would follow the same tip of cooking the bacon a bit first. I think that's a great tip! I also love the idea of "less is more". These look terrific!
Thanks so much, Katherine! Those are two of our favorites too!
Everyone loves shrimp...then you go and wrap them in bacon. Who could possibly resist.
Well said, Karen. Thank you! 🙂
Anything wrapped in bacon is calling my name...these will be gone in no time!
haha...man after my own heart, Kevin!
My family will go crazy for these! Believe it or not, I'm already dreaming about backyard soirees for the warmer months and I'm collecting ideas for fun nosh - this will definitely be on that list!! Pinned!
That's just what I'm dreaming about these days too, Annie!! Hope you love them!
Great tip on the bacon here, Marissa! I haven't made bacon-wrapped shrimp in a long time, and I think I need to get on that. It's a delicious combo for sure! And it's a great recipe for entertaining with friends!
Thanks, David! Yes, perfect for entertaining!
Marissa, I absolutely adore bacon and shrimp together. I've used the bacon similarly, but have never partially cooked it first. That's such a great tip, and I'm excited to try it. Wishing I had this platter in front of me in real life! Yum!
haha...wish I could share, Valentina!! Thank you.
What a yummy appetizer! (Or dinner if you're me!) And you always have the best tips--I never would've thought to partially cook the bacon first but it totally makes sense!
Thanks, Kelsie! Truth: Keith and I ate ALL of these for lunch the day that I did the video and photos. They definitely can make a meal on their own. 🙂
This is going to become at staple at the beach for us this summer Marissa! I am so excited! I'm always looking for easy, tasty recipes to WOW my guests and this is surely to be one of them! Thanks so much for sharing! And for making be look like the hostess with the mostess!
Woohoo!! I love to hear that, Mary Ann!!
Love the suggestion of partially cooking the bacon beforehand! What a brilliant idea...ain't nobody got time for floppy bacon, am I right 😉 ?? This would be perfect for easy entertaining. I'm sure they'd disappear in a flash. Pinned! Happy Friday to ya!
You always make me smile, Dawn! And, truly, no one wants floppy bacon... 😉
Hi Marissa! I agree about keeping things simple, quite often people think more is better and that's just not true. I made bacon wrapped shrimp and bacon wrapped pineapple for an appetizer party this past December and in no time flat they were gone! I also like to make bacon wapped dates stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese. Now I want to have a party! 🙂
I bet you throw an amazing party, Dorothy! Bacon wrapped pineapple sounds AMAZING!
Marissa, these look delicious! Your tips and techniques are so helpful. Great idea to cook the bacon a bit first. And you're so spot on about the seasoning!
Thanks so much, Kelly!
Bacon and shrimp!! You have just combined two of my favourites in one! What a treat!
So good, right!? Thank you!