Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

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

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.