Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

One of my favorite appetizers ever, these finger-licking sweet and savory chestnuts are sure to be a hit at any party!

Well, 2020 is just two short days away!! With all the excitement and chaos the New Year’s festivities bring, they can often leave you scrambling for manageable and crowd-friendly appetizers. We’re looking for something easy that both adults and children will love, but also fancy enough to celebrate tomorrow night. Enter: these chestnuts. *insert heart eyes*  A mild and crunchy white aqautic vegetable (no, it’s not an actual nut) wrapped in bacon, and generously dipped in a sweet and smoky sauce, then baked and broiled to sticky, caramelized perfection. They’re such a treat and our family loves them! It’s basically impossible to eat just one. The texture and flavors force you to take just. one. more. If you decide to make these for an upcoming party or gathering, please let me know how they turned out! I appreciate your feedback. 🙂

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Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts with Sweet and Salty Sauce

This appetizer features bacon-wrapped crisp water chestnuts dipped in a sweet and savory sauce, then baked to caramelized perfection. It's sure to be a hit at any party!
Servings 39 chestnuts

Ingredients

Chestnuts:

  • 2 cans whole water chestnuts 227 ml or 7.6-8 oz per can
  • 1 package bacon*
  • 39 toothpicks

Sauce:

  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup original BBQ sauce
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F with rack in the center. Line a 17"x 12" bun pan with parchment paper.
  • Use 1/3 to 1/2 slice of bacon to roll each chestnut up tightly. Place on baking sheet and tightly secure bacon to the chestnut with a toothpick. If the slice of bacon is too wide, fold it in half, then roll.
  • Bake chestnuts in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then, pour off any fat that rendered while baking.
  • Preheat oven to 425 F. Whisk together all ingredients for the sauce. Dip each chestnut generously into the sauce, tapping off the excess.
  • Bake in 425 F oven for 28 min, or until sauce is sizzling and looks nicely caramelized.
  • To finish, broil the chestnuts for 2 minutes until further caramelized and slightly charred. Transfer to your serving platter and enjoy!

Notes

*If wrapping each chestnut in half a strip of bacon, you'll need another package. If you wrap each chestnut in 1/3 of a slice of bacon, you probably won't need the whole package. I wrapped most of the chestnuts with half a slice of bacon, and the others with a third of a slice. (I really couldn't tell the difference between them) If you have a chestnut left over, just use some bacon from some of the wrapped chestnuts where you used half a slice of bacon. 
There will be sauce left. Either open another can of chestnuts and dip more, or you can use it as a sauce for wings (another awesome appetizer) So good!
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Monica
Monica
4 years ago

I agree these are my favorite holiday appetizer! It’s a Christmas tradition to make these every year and they are always the first to be done at our house. Crowd pleaser for sure. Great job on the pix Denea👍. I enjoy your posts!

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MyWayGourmet
MyWayGourmet
4 years ago
Reply to  Monica

They’re a hit here too!! Thanks for your review😃

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SEO Company
SEO Company
4 years ago

Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂

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MyWayGourmet
MyWayGourmet
4 years ago
Reply to  SEO Company

Thank you!

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Evelyn Hofer
Evelyn Hofer
4 years ago

We so enjoyed these with our last guests!thankyou for sharing.

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MyWayGourmet
MyWayGourmet
4 years ago
Reply to  Evelyn Hofer

They’re always a hit here too! Glad you enjoyed them:)

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