One of my favorite appetizers to make during the holidays, these bite-sized bacon-wrapped water chestnuts are SO easy to make and full of flavor!
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 8-10 minutes | Total Time: 18-20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 can whole water chestnuts, drained
½ c. soy sauce
½ lb. bacon
½ tsp. pepper
Wooden toothpicks
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475°.
Soak toothpicks in water for 2-3 minutes. This will prevent them from burning.
Cut bacon in half. Using a paring knife, stretch out bacon for a thinner texture but be careful not to rip bacon apart.
Drain water chestnuts, pat dry, and set aside.
Mix pepper and soy sauce together in a small bowl.
Take a cut piece of bacon, wrap around water chestnut and place toothpick through the middle of the chestnut. Be careful to pierce the middle as the chestnut to avoid it splitting in half.
Place in soy sauce mixture, wrapped chestnut fully submerged, and let sit for 15-20 seconds. Then place on tin-foil lined cookie sheet, slightly sprayed with olive oil spray to prevent the bacon from sticking.
Place chestnuts in oven and broil on each side for 3-4 minutes, until bacon is cooked to desired temperature, around 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven to prevent burning or flare ups from the bacon cooking.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 or so minutes.
Enjoy with your favorite friends!
Notes:
Do not use thick-cut bacon for this recipe as the chestnut could burn since the bacon will take longer to cook.
You can place multiple wrapped chestnuts in soy sauce mixture to soak. I usually wrap 3-4 chestnuts then soak all at the same time to speed up the preparation process.
Since bacon has a lot of sodium, I use low sodium soy sauce.
Discard / save for later the smaller and non-whole chestnuts for salads or stir fry, or feel free to snack on them as-is (I am a notorious water chestnut-snacker!).
Following Whole30? Use coconut aminos in lieu of soy sauce to make this recipe Whole30 compliant.
