How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 45 minutes to bake Equipment you’ll need: large baking dish, wooden toothpicks Servings: 32 appetizers Bacon wrapped water chestnuts are always super popular at parties, partly because they’re so tasty, and partly because they’re just such a perfect finger food. Grab one by the nice little toothpick handle and pop the whole thing in your mouth. Crunch! Nothing messy about that! Serve the water chestnuts on a fancy serving tray, or keep them warm in a crockpot, immersed in the sauce, and let everyone help themselves.
How To Make bacon wrapped water chestnuts
This is such an easy appetizer to make. You’ll only need five ingredients and a baking dish. Wrap. Simply wrap the whole water chestnuts in a half a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. That’s the hardest part and it’s not very hard at all. Bake. Put the bacon wrapped water chestnuts in a preheated oven for ten minutes until the bacon browns and crisps up. Add the sauce. Take the pan out of the oven and pour an easy three ingredient sauce over the water chestnuts. Bake again. Pop the pan back in the oven for half an hour. This appetizer smells so good, just watch them disappear! Yup, you probably should have made a double batch. Serve warm. You can keep the bacon wrapped water chestnuts warm in the oven for a while if you’re not quite ready to serve them, or put everything in a slow cooker on warm.
Ingredient Notes
Bacon – Normally, I reach for center cut but I actually prefer regular sliced bacon here. I don’t recommend thick cut because it’s harder to wrap around the chestnuts, and takes longer to cook. Water Chestnuts – Read the label carefully so you’re sure to get the whole ones, not sliced! Brown Sugar – The sugar gets so caramelized and delicious when it bakes! Either light brown or dark brown sugar is fine. Ketchup – It’s part of the easy BBQ sauce and lends so much flavor to these little bites. Worcestershire Sauce – This product is hard to say (and hard to spell!) but the special blend of spices and ingredients is a workhorse when it comes to flavoring sauces.
Sauce Variations
With only five ingredients, it’s hard to change the recipe much without changing the total character of the end product. The sauce is the wild card. Make additions to this easy sauce like chili powder, sriracha, soy sauce, or other seasonings you like.
Make Ahead Tips
Wrap the chestnuts with bacon up to a day ahead and put the pan in the fridge, covered tightly. Mix the sauce up and store it separately. When it’s time to entertain, it’s so easy to bake them up.
Bacon Appetizers
Candied bacon, aka pig candy: Crisp strips of bacon baked with a sugary spicy crunchy coating. Bacon guacamole appetizers: This low carb appetizer is always a hit. Bacon wrapped dates: Stuffed with goat cheese and coated with a delicious brown sugar spice rub. Bacon jam: Serve this savory jam with crackers and cheese.
This recipe was originally contributed via a guest post from Carrian of Sweet Basil when I was expecting my second child. It has since been updated and new photographs have been added. Quick-Start Guide!
