Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
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These Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts are an essentail Christmas appetizer recipe!
Like a lot of folks, I have a hard time resisting anything made with bacon. Among my bacony favorites are these Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts.
My family often enjoys bacon-wrapped water chestnuts during winter holiday parties, but this tasty appetizer is equally delicious at warm-weather gatherings. And of course, I’ve given the standard recipe an IBC twist. Check out my Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts!
If this appetizer is new to you, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve tasted the usual version, I think you’re going to love my take on it.
How to Make Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts:
For this recipe, I didn’t cut the water chestnuts in half. With regular bacon, I wouldn’t recommend this. However, I used thick-cut bacon, so a single water chestnut is the perfect size.
To make one, you simply wrap a half slice of bacon around a water chestnut and hold it in place with a toothpick.
Once the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts are cooked, remove them from the oven, drain the grease, and top them with a cranberry-infused sweet chili sauce. Then, pop them back in the oven to finish cooking.
I love the burst of tartness and extra bit of crunchy texture that the cranberries give this classic dish.
You can print the recipe below so you don’t miss a step.
Want more Christmas appetizer recipes? Try these:
Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
The bacon truly is the star of this dish. Although water chestnuts don’t have much flavor by themselves, they soak up the delicious flavors of the bacon and cranberry chili sauce. Plus, they add an enjoyable crunch to these bite-sized treats. Yummy!
Have fun making and eating these Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts!
Cranberry Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds thick-cut bacon slices cut in half
- 2 cans (8 ounces) whole water chestnuts
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chili sauce
- 1 cup fresh cranberries whole and halved
- Toothpicks
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Wrap each water chestnut with a half strip of bacon. Insert a toothpick through the center with the seam-side down. Place in a baking dish. Continue wrapping all the water chestnuts, creating a single layer in your baking dish.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the bacon is cooked. Drain off the grease. Be careful when doing this because the pan and grease will be extremely hot.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, brown sugar, chili sauce, and cranberries. (For the cranberries, I like a mix of whole cranberries and cranberries that I’ve sliced in half.)
- Pour the sauce over the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Video
This recipe is a MUST have for the holidays and you better double the recipe. They are such a hit that you will blink and they will be gone.
Can I use cranberries that were bought fresh and then frozen? If yes, do I need to thaw them first?
I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure. I assume it would be okay though.
xo Michael
I think if you buy fresh and freeze them they will be mushy IMO
Made this for a Christmas party with co-workers. Everyone enjoyed and I was gleeful to see all of them were gone by the end of the party. My only suggestion to this recipe is if you are not a fan of spicy food to either go with a chili sauce with minimal spice or to cut the amount of chili sauce in half. Still the recipe was great as is!
How can I make these ahead to take to someone else’s house for dinner? Could they at least be transported in a crockpot after they’re done to keep them warm?
I can’t wait to try for my Christmas eve party
Enjoy! Merry Christmas!
xo Michael
Can I use dark brown sugar
Looks amazing. Can I make assemble the day before?
I & my family & friends’count on me making this Bacon Water Chestnut ‘Bliss’ for EVERY special occasion!! Love the Cranberry idea, as we are Cranberry fans, too. I have also made them withpieapple chunks & being in Michigan, I use aCherries & aCherry sauce, brown sugar cmbofor the sauce. All ways are rediculously SCRUMPTIOUS!!! THANKS
Can these chestnuts once done be frozen?
No. I wouldn’t freeze this.
xo Michael
Everyone loved these at our Christmas Eve party last night. Have you tried adding a little more heat, e.g., some red pepper flakes?
Also, I think because I put the baking pan on a lower rack, the toothpicks didn’t get charred…
These were a hit! They are beautiful on the dish and the flavor was delicious!! This is a keeper for our family! Thank you!!
Could I use little Skokie sausages instead of water chestnuts
Hi,
can I make these 1 or 2 days ahead of time?
thanks
Shira
I haven’t tried that. You could probably prepare them in advance, just not bake them in advance.
xo Michael
Michael,
One more time you have blown me away. You simply have the best taste. No pun intended, lol. One question – I have always seen and made these with the toothpicks (love the pretty ones you used by the way), do you think that these could be made with pretzel sticks? It’s the baking part that may not work by making the pretzels over done or would the water chestnuts break down the pretzel first? Interested in your opinion.
Maureen
Thank you! No, I don’t think that would work. I think the pretzel would turn to much and be hard to push through the chestnuts.
xo Michael
another great recipe, thank you, and perfect serving size for entertaining, love the chili sauce kick too, along with the cranberry “garnush” thank you!
I grew up in western PA, and I fondly remember these being served at many a party.
Hi Michael,
This looks delicious. What type of chili sauce did you use?
Just Heinz. 🙂
xo Michael
Hi Michael, Excited to try this recipe! I’ve always used a half a slice regular bacon with the traditional soy sauce version of this recipe. Do I need to use a whole strip per chestnut? Do you think it would workout with half thick cut bacon? Would the cooking time be less if so? Thanks!
I think whatever you normally do would work fine. Enjoy!
xo Michael