Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Posted: 12/21/2012
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Bacon wrapped water chestnuts are a simple but elegant appetizer. Watch them disappear at your next party!
Crisp whole water chestnuts, wrapped in smoky bacon and simmered in a tangy homemade barbecue sauce, are a standout appetizer. They hit all the buttons: crunchy, salty, sweet, tangy. Anything bacon makes a great appetizer, right?
Have you tried pig candy yet? Talk about an addicting finger food: crisp strips of bacon baked with a sugary spicy crunchy coating. And low-carb bacon guacamole appetizers combine two of my favorites! And of course, everyone’s had bacon wrapped dates, with various goodies stuffed inside. I think you’ll really love this recipe, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with fontina cheese and coated with a delicious brown sugar spice rub.
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.
About these bacon wrapped water chestnuts
This is such an easy appetizer to make. You’ll only need five ingredients and a baking dish.
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 the bacon wrapped water chestnuts for ten minutes so the bacon browns and crisps up.
Take the pan out of the oven and pour an easy three ingredient sauce over the water chestnuts.
Pop the pan back in the oven for half an hour. This appetizer smells so good! Downright appetizing!
You can keep them 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. Just watch them disappear! Yup, you probably should have made a double batch!
What’s in this recipe:
- Bacon – I always reach for center cut but regular ol’ bacon works great here. We don’t recommend thick cut because it will be harder to wrap, and it will take longer to cook.
- Water Chestnuts – Make sure to grab the whole ones, not sliced!
- Brown Sugar – This will get so caramelized and delicious when it bakes!
- Ketchup – It’s part of the easy bbq sauce and lends so much flavor to these little bites.
- Worcestershire Sauce – It’s hard to say, hard to spell, but great in recipes.
Make it your own:
With only five ingredients, it’s hard to change the recipe up 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.
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.
More yummy (easy) appetizers
- Pickle Rollups with Ham
- Tomato Bruschetta
- Mexican Spinach Dip
- Pepperoni Pizza Dip
- Seasoned Oyster Crackers
- Spiced Pecans or Rosemary Roasted Almonds
- Pizza Mac and Cheese Muffins
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
appetizers
Bacon wrapped water chestnuts are a simple but elegant appetizer. Watch them disappear at your next party!
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. (16 oz.) bacon
- 2 (8 oz.) cans whole water chestnuts
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cups ketchup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare baking dish (9×11") by spraying lightly with cooking spray.
- Cut the bacon slices in half and wrap each water chestnut with half a strip of bacon. Secure with tooth pick and set evenly in baking dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire in a small bowl.
- Remove baking dish from oven, and pour off excess fat. Pour sauce over water chestnuts and return dish to oven. Bake for 30 minutes more.
- Place on a platter and serve immediately or put appetizers in a crockpot the last 30 minutes and let everyone serve themselves directly from the crock pot.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1g, Calories: 213kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 28mg, Sodium: 779mg, Sugar: 18g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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.
Rachel @ yourtablecloth.com says
I love your blog thanks Merry Christmas
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen says
So happy for you Rachel! Carrian, my family loves bacon wrapped water chestnuts, they are the best thing ever!
Linda | The Urban Mrs says
Congrats, Rachel! Can’t wait to hear more of you and the baby stories and have a lovely holidays! I love reading Carrian’s blog and this is such a great appetizer recipe. Simply delicious.
Rachael {SimplyFreshCooking} says
So happy you had the baby, Rachel! Huge congrats to you and your family, and I hope you’re recovery is super fast! xoxo
Carrian, you’re awesome!! Bacon? Yes!!
Barbara | Creative Culinary says
So very glad to hear Rachel’s news; it seems like yesterday to me when she shared it with me before the world knew and it seems like forever when I think of her being sick EVERY day. I’m sure the wonder of a new baby boy will fade the not so wonderful ‘all day sickness’ that was endured!
You made me chuckle; I could hear that commercial with the dog…’Bacon, bacon, bacon, BACON!’ I hear you…and I also hear the continuance of traditions. I have my own and every measure, every mix with a spoon takes me back to a different time with people I love so I treasure the ‘oldie but goodies.’ This is simple and sounds perfect.