Ultra Easy Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Appetizer | Keto
Bacon-wrapped shrimp is a super easy party snack recipe that everybody loves. You can serve this surf and turf finger food for any holiday gathering, and they are sure to disappear.
I feel like bacon-wrapped shrimp might be the official game day appetizer of the NFL. If it’s not, maybe it should be!
Bacon makes almost every recipe better, especially if you’re looking for easy keto Super Bowl recipes for some primo game day food. No store bought snack can compete!
This easy appetizer recipe is perfect for Christmas, New Years, and always a must for the big game. Make these along with some smokin’ Buffalo chicken wings, and you’ve got yourself a party.
This healthy Super Bowl recipe is perfect for everyone doing low carb or the keto diet, and it’s pretty much allergy free, so almost everyone can enjoy it. Love me some saturated fat in the form of bacon. Mmmmmmmm.
As a bonus, it’s easy to assemble, easy to transport, and easy to reheat. It’s perfect if you need a make-ahead appetizer recipe.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
- Easy. This recipe for bacon-wrapped shrimp has to be the easiest appetizer recipe ever created.
- Keto. If you’re looking for an easy keto recipe or even a keto snack, this recipe is it.
- Delicious. Bacon-wrapped shrimp is a real crowd-pleaser. I highly recommend doubling or even tripling the recipe. If you happen to have leftovers, they are super easy to reheat.
Recipe Notes
There are a few different ways to cook bacon-wrapped shrimp and a few tricks to getting super crispy bacon.
This recipe can be made in the oven, but shrimp all wrapped up in a slice of bacon is also amazing on the grill, and it’s perfect for the air fryer.
Ingredients
- Buffalo Seasoning. I make my own blend with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne red pepper. You can find the exact recipe in the recipe card.
- Shrimp. Use tail-off or tail-on shrimp, whichever you prefer.
- Bacon. I used apple smoked bacon. I usually buy bacon at the butcher counter. It has less water in it, and I find it gets crispier faster than the packaged kind.
- Maple Syrup. Maple syrup is optional. If you want this to be a keto appetizer recipe, you can leave it out or use keto-friendly maple syrup, like ChocZero’s Maple Syrup.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1 – The Shrimp
I usually buy my shrimp frozen and then thaw them out. If you can find fresh shrimp, by all means, do that! I chose to use tail-off shrimp for this recipe.
Start by thawing the shrimp and rinsing them. Pat them dry. In a small bowl, season them with a little bit of Buffalo seasoning blend, and then set the shrimp aside.
Step 2 – The Bacon
I bought thick-cut applewood smoke bacon from the butcher’s counter. You’ll need about 10 slices for 30 shrimp, give or take.
PRO-TIP: Bacon from the butcher has less water in it. Therefore, it crisps faster. Packaged bacon has a higher water content so you have to cook all the water out before it starts to brown.
This is a pet peeve of mine, especially when you are frying bacon and it’s popping you with hot grease, which is a result of water from the bacon leaving the grease. I just want fat in my bacon, please. I usually splurge on butcher bacon because it’s just better.
Cut the bacon into thirds and then wrap one slice around each shrimp. It helps to gently pull the bacon and stretch it.
You can keep the bacon secure with toothpicks, especially if your shrimp are larger and the bacon isn’t staying in place.
I use a wire rack placed over a heavy baking dish. I find that this allows the bacon to get crispier all around without flipping, and it’s also a little less greasy.
If you don’t have a wire rack, then use a foil-lined baking sheet for easier clean up. You might want to flip the shrimp over halfway through cooking.
Step 3 – Cook
Preheat the oven to 425℉.
Place the bacon-wrapped shrimp into the oven and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.
If you are using the maple syrup, then add a little bit of Buffalo seasoning to the maple syrup and brush it onto the bacon-wrapped shrimp about halfway through cooking.
You can also broil these for an extra 2 minutes of cooking time if you feel like the bacon isn’t crispy enough. The fat of the bacon keeps the shrimp nice and juicy.
I love to serve these with a little ranch dressing, which you can make with either sour cream or Greek yogurt.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Bacon can take sometimes take longer to cook than what is wrapped inside the bacon, like shrimp, chicken breasts, or veggies. One option to make the cooking times even is to pre-cook or “par cook” the bacon.
This simply means to partially cook the bacon before you wrap it around the other meat.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Add the bacon to a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Make sure you watch it as oven temperature will vary.
When it comes to picking the best-sized shrimp, there are so many options.
Shrimp are classified by size. The numbers you see mean the average number of shrimp per pound. 51/60 means there are between 51 and 60 shrimp in one pound. The smaller the number, the larger each shrimp is.
51/60 – small
41/50 – medium
36/40 – med-large
31/35 – large
26/30 – extra large
21/25 – jumbo
16/20 – extra jumbo
I used 31/35 size in this recipe. For this recipe, you can use anything larger than that. I wouldn’t go any smaller.
Either way is perfectly fine.
I used tail-off for this recipe because in wanted them to be bite-sized nuggets of bacon deliciousness.
Tail on is great if you’re not using tooth picks. Then you can just pick them up by their little ship tails.
Other Game Day Recipes That You’ll Love
- Super Bowl Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls with Blue Cheese Dip
- Healthy Buffalo Chicken Meal Prep Bowl [make a Buffalo chicken bar]
- Easy Vegan Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Appetizer
Ingredients
- 30 shrimp (medium to large), tail-on or tail off
- 10 slices bacon, I recommend thick cut
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup, use keto maple syrup if you are following a keto diet
- choczero's keto maple syrup, optional
Buffalo Seasoning Blend {use 1/2 for the shrimp and 1/2 for the maple glaze}
- ½ teaspoon garlic
- ½ teaspoon onion
- 1 teaspoon paprika (affiliate link)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Mix Up the Buffalo Seasoning
- Add all of the seasoning together in a bowl and toss. You might not use all of this mix.
Make the Maple Glaze
- Add 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and 2 teaspoons of Buffalo seasoning to a small bowl.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
- Preheat. Set the oven temperature to 400°F.
- Thaw. If the shrimp are frozen, thaw them. Give them a quick rinse, drain the water off and gently pat dry.
- Season. Add a few teaspoons of the Buffalo Seasoning Blend to the shrimp and toss well.
- Wrap. Cut the bacon into thirds. Wrap one piece of bacon around each shrimp. You can use a toothpick to secure the bacon if you need to.
- Bake. Bake the shrimp for 10 minutes.
- Add maple glaze. About 10 minutes in, remove the shrimp and brush on the maple glaze. Return the shrimp to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes. NOTE: If you want the bacon to be crispier, you can broil the bacon-wrapped shrimp for 2 minutes at the end. Watch them closely.
Made these tonight. Ingredient list, worked out perfectly . only had regular bacon, so I pre-cooked it. Bu the way; loved your tips ! I was thinking the marinade might be good on salmon.
Great directions…
Tasted Very good.
First time I tried one of your recipes, been trying to stay Keito. I’ll be back!
Barbara, Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I’m so glad that these came out great! I’m also moving towards a keto diet. I’ve been having blood sugar issues. Stay tuned for more keto-friendly recipes coming up this year. I hope to see you around.
Made these tonight. Ingredient list, worked out perfectly . only had regular bacon, so I pre-cooked it. Bu the way; loved your tips ! I was thinking the marinade might be good on salmon.
Great directions…
Tasted Very good.
First time I tried one of your recipes, been trying to stay Keito. I’ll be back!
This will be perfect to have while watching the games!
Thanks, Barbara! This appetizer is so easy. No matter how many I make they disappear.