What goes great with Super Bowl parties, date night or a good glass of Chardonnay? Shrimp appetizers!!  Shrimp is versatile and when paired with bacon, makes a unique snack for any occasion.

This dish is one I have made for several events and holidays; Christmas, Super Bowl parties or as an hors d’oeuvre taken to our wine club. The mix of seasonings, the sweetness of shrimp, and saltiness of bacon is delightful to the palette.

One of the best features is that it only has five ingredients and I love recipes that are easy to prepare so you can enjoy the festivities instead of being trapped in the kitchen… although it’s not a bad place to be trapped.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients:
12 large shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied
1 8 oz package of cream cheese (regular or light), softened
1/2 package of onion dip seasoning
1/2 package of ranch seasoning
8-10 strips of thin sliced bacon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Clean and peel the shrimp leaving the tail piece on. Butterfly the shrimp by slicing the back curved part with a knife. Be sure not to cut all the way through. You want a nice flat shrimp piece.

Mix the cream cheese with the seasoning packets. If you do not want to use onion or ranch, you can always use a vegetable dressing mix or Italian seasoning mix. It’s truly up to you. I like the onion and ranch since it gives it a nice bite to the cream cheese.

Take a small spoonful of the cream cheese mix and place it on the butterflied shrimp.

Then wrap the shrimp in bacon. Make sure it is a thin slice of bacon. If it is too thick, it will not stay wrapped while baking. What I like to do is slice the bacon lengthwise first cutting off any excess fat. This gives you a long skinny piece of bacon that is full of meat. Do leave some fat on for flavor, but cut any excess off.  You don’t want it to come out greasy. Continue this process until all shrimp are wrapped. I had enough for a bakers dozen.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until bacon is cooked through. Ovens vary, so be sure to check your shrimp a few times during the cooking process.

I made this batch for our Super Bowl event. Since it’s chips, salsa and appetizers, I didn’t bring out the fancy plates, hence the pretty blue paper plate in the picture, Don’t allow the ugly presentation fool you…. these are tasty, ooey gooey cheesy bacony goodness. It’s a melt in your mouth appetizer sure to satisfy the pickiest eaters. My hubby inhaled these!

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