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Bacon wrapped shrimp is a delicious appetizer, snack or meal. This recipe calls for jumbo shrimp and turkey bacon and when preparing with these ingredients, each shrimp packs six grams of protein! That’s a ton of protein and very little fat and zero carbs (not including the hot honey). You can use regular bacon for this recipe, but it yields less protein and adds more fat. I do think the final product is better with pork bacon because it’s….the real thing, but the turkey bacon is a great macro conscious substitute. Turkey bacon is thicker than regular bacon and doesn’t wrap around the shrimp easily. To help it be more pliable, I butterfly it down the middle, keeping the top intact. This makes wrapping the shrimp much easier.
The hot honey is very simple to make. You just add cayenne and kosher salt to the honey to make it both spicy and a bit more savory. The recipe calls for 1/4 tsp of cayenne, but you can obviously add more if you like a lot of heat. Start off with 1/4 tsp or even an 1/8th if you don’t know how you handle spice. Remember, you can always add more but you can’t take away once it’s been added.
The air fryer I use is a Ninja DG551 Foodi Smart XL 6-in-1. I like this machine because it doesn’t only air fry food perfectly, but it also grills, roasts, bakes, broils and dehydrates. The only other cooking feature I’ve used is the grill feature to grill burgers. It made one of the best burgers (that was frozen) that I’ve ever eaten. And I’m not just saying that because it’s the dead of winter and I miss my outdoor grill. Highly recommend that machine.
While you’re here check out more appetizer recipes here!
Tips for the Best Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
- If you’re not using the same air fryer that I use, do a test round with a couple shrimp. Not all air fryers cook at the exact same.
- If using regular bacon, you don’t need to butterfly the strips, just cut in half.
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb Jumbo Raw Shrimp peeled, deveined, thawed
- 8 oz Bacon or Turkey Bacon
Shrimp Seasonin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
Hot Honey
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Thaw shrimp. Pull tails and shells off shrimp if not already shelled.
- Cut bacon strips in half. If using turkey bacon, cut in half then cut each half down the middle lengthwise, stopping with 1/2 inch at the top. You don't want to cut it all the way in half. You want to butterfly the turkey bacon.
- Mix seasoning in a small bowl.
- Dry off the shrimp and cover the shrimp with the seasoning. Toss.
- Wrap each shrimp with bacon. Securing both ends with toothpicks.
- Place in air fryer basket and spray with oil.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- While the shrimp cooks mix together the honey and cayenne pepper.
- Remove the shrimp from the basket and add to a bowl. Top with the hot honey and serve.