Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Bacon wrapped water chestnuts are a simple but elegant appetizer. They’re a perfect fit for every occasion, from cocktail parties to game night.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 45 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: large baking dish, wooden toothpicks
Servings: 32 appetizers
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.
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.
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.
More Appetizer Ideas
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Ingredients
- 16 oz. bacon
- 2 cans (8 oz. each) whole water chestnuts
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 11 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Cut the bacon slices in half and wrap each water chestnut with half a strip of bacon. Secure with tooth pick and arrange in a single layer in the baking dish. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until bacon is done.16 oz. bacon, 2 cans (8 oz. each) whole water chestnuts
- Meanwhile, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire in a small bowl.2 cups ketchup, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- Remove baking dish from oven, and pour off excess fat. Pour sauce over water chestnuts and return dish to oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Place water chestnuts on a platter and serve immediately.
Notes
- I don’t recommend thick cut bacon for this recipe.
- Crockpot Method: Prepare bacon wrapped water chestnuts as directed through step 3. Remove the partially baked chestnuts from the baking dish and transfer them to a crockpot, keeping them in a single layer as much as possible. Top with the sauce, cover, and cook on high for at least 30 minutes, or until sauce is heated through. Keep on warm setting and serve directly from the crock pot.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!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.
I love your blog thanks Merry Christmas
So happy for you Rachel! Carrian, my family loves bacon wrapped water chestnuts, they are the best thing ever!
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.
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!!
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.