Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Sriracha Mayo

Size of shrimp to use

The ideal size of shrimp to buy is a jumbo or colossal shrimp.

Too small and they shrimp won’t wrap very well and will cook too fast. I use 16/20 count jumbo shrimp in this recipe. That means there are 16 to 20 shrimp per pound. A higher number means a high shrimp count.

It’s up to you whether or not to leave the tails on the shrimp. I prefer to leave them on as they provide a place to hold onto while you are grabbing and eating them.

Tip: Brine the shrimp

For the juiciest shrimp, consider brining them first.

To brine your shrimp let shrimp sit in an ice bath for 15 to 30 minutes made of:

• 4 cups of water
• Ice
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

Then, remove shrimp and let dry on a paper towel before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

Sometimes when cooking at high heat, the shrimp will lose moisture and the shrimp will become dry and rubbery.

The salt in the brine will help keep the shrimp moist. The baking soda is alkaline and will give the shrimp a crisp, firm texture.

Par-cooked bacon

In order to get crispy bacon instead of bacon that is flabby and undercooked on the inside, it is important to partially cook the bacon first.

Cut the slices of bacon in half and cook in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the bacon is about part way done cooking. The bacon should be red but not crispy. You want the bacon to be flexible so you can easily wrap it around the shrimp.

Pre-soaked skewer

If using bamboo skewers to secure the bacon wrapped shrimp, be sure to pre-soak them before threading the shrimp.

That way the wooden skewer doesn’t catch on fire when you grill it and will decrease the chance of you getting a splinter when you pull the bacon wrapped shrimp off the skewer.

If you don’t have skewers, toothpicks work just fine to hold the strip of bacon to the shrimp.

Keto sriracha mayo sauce

Keto sriracha mayo is a very easy dipping sauce to make. It contains two ingredients – mayonnaise and sriracha.

Sriracha sauce does contain some sugar and carbohydrate; however, you are only adding one teaspoon to this entire dipping sauce. The carbohydrate is minimal and hardly enough to knock you out of ketosis.

Carnivore friendly

Bacon wrapped shrimp is a carnivore friendly recipe if you are eating an all meat diet. If you are living a strict carnivore lifestyle, you probably want to hold off on the sriracha mayo.