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.
I only have frozen cooked shrimp. Will they work?
Hi Tina! I don't recommend using previously cooked shrimp for this recipe. They're likely to come out hard / rubbery from being overcooked.
Are you starting with raw shrimp before placing in oven?
Hi Mike! Yes, the shrimp is raw when you wrap it in the partially cooked bacon before baking.
can I take the tails off before cooking for easier eating?
Hi Landa! Sure, though the tail makes a nice 'handle' if you're serving these as an appetizer and don't mind finger foods.
If you can find it try using jalapeño bacon. Its unbelievably tasty.
Great tip, Dayle. Thanks!