Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Bacon wrapped shrimp are so easy to make and come out delicious every single time. 

By combining a few simple ingredients, you can elevate the flavor of these sweet jumbo shrimp. All that’s required is some BBQ seasoning, salty bacon, and sweet BBQ sauce.

You’ll have your dinner guests wanting more of these finger-licking shrimp!

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients you’ll need

• Shrimp – I used large Florida Gulf Shrimp from Snake River Farms. These shrimp are fresh, not farm-raised, have a sweet taste, and retain moisture throughout the cook. Argentinian red or Tiger shrimp would be great as well.
• Bacon
• BBQ rub
• BBQ sauce

Equipment you’ll need

• Charcoal grill – a gas grill would work as well.
• Toothpicks
• BBQ brush

Understanding shrimp size

Don’t know what the different numbers represent, such as 16-20 or 21-25, when buying shrimp. It’s quite simple.

These numbers represent how many of those specific shrimp add up to one pound. So, the smaller the number, the larger the shrimp.

With this recipe, it is worth purchasing the largest shrimp you can find since it’s much easier to wrap them with bacon. 

I typically use jumbo or colossal sized shrimp. Keep in mind that the larger the shrimp, the more bacon you will need to wrap around each one. 

Should I precook the bacon?

Most recipes require that you precook the bacon because bacon tends to take longer to cook as opposed to shrimp.

However, after testing it a couple of different ways, I found that wrapping the shrimp with raw bacon provided a nice insulation that prevented the shrimp from overcooking. In fact, the shrimp was very moist and meaty, not dried out or overcooked at all. 

Two-zone cooking

For this recipe, I bank my charcoal on one side for two-zone cooking. That is so I can place the shrimp on the opposite side of the grill so they are not cooking directly over the coals. 

If you are using a gas grill, you can achieve the same result by using the burners on only half of the grill and placing your shrimp on the opposite side, where the burners are not lit.

Place the shrimp directly over the charcoal for just a minute before removing them from the grill to achieve a nice char. That will give you a lot of flavor. 

How to make grilled bacon wrapped shrimp 

1. Fire up the grill

Fire up your grill, banking your charcoal to one side for two-zone cooking. My grill was heated up to 400°F, which I prefer as it gets the bacon crispier.  

When I use my charcoal grill, I start by filling a chimney full of charcoal and igniting it with a tumbleweed.

Allow all of the charcoal to burn, and then dump it into one side of the grill. PK comes with an easy-access grate that lifts up on one side for easy pouring of your charcoal.

2. Prep the shrimp

Remove the shells from the shrimp and make sure they are deveined. I chose to peel the tail off, but you can leave them on if you want. 

Cut the bacon in half, and use half a piece to wrap tightly around the shrimp. I don’t like the bacon to overlap the shrimp on either side, so you may need to use your kitchen shears to trim off the ends.

Take a toothpick and pierce the bacon wrapped shrimp from each end so that the bacon will not come loose while they are cooking. 

3. Season

Season the shrimp all over.

4. Grill

Place your bacon-wrapped shrimp on the indirect heat side of your grill.

Flip as needed, so they cook evenly. It took about 15-20 minutes for the shrimp to be ready.

Once the bacon is cooked through, brush on a little BBQ sauce.

Move the shrimp over to the direct heat and sear for about 30 seconds per side. 

To finish, remove the shrimp from the grill, brush on some BBQ sauce one final time, and garnish with chopped parsley. Dig in and enjoy! 

Keen to grill a bit more seafood? Try these recipes

• Grilled Halibut with Lemon Garlic Butter sauce
• Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon
• Grilled Garlic Shrimp Skewers
• Grilled Oysters with Savory Butter
• Smoked Lobster Tails
• Hot Smoked Salmon
• Smoked Clams with Chorizo