Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers By Foodie Tv

Fresh jalapeno peppers, medium to large size (you’ll be cutting each pepper in half, so get enough peppers to make 4 or more halves per person)
Cream cheese (room temperature or softened in microwave)
Bacon (regular sliced, not thick)
Frozen, raw shrimp (defrosted)

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Cut each jalapeno in half (lengthwise) & cut off stem. Remove the seeds and white membranes (which are loaded with capsaicin which can taste too hot) with a small spoon or paring knife.

Fill the pepper halves with cream cheese, leveling it off with the edges of the jalapeno. This is one ingredient with which you can get creative. You can mix in any kind of shredded cheese with the cream cheese and/or any spice that you like (garlic, cumin, etc.).

Just be sure to keep whatever cheese you’re using level with the edges of the pepper, or you’ll end up with a bubbled-over mess after they’ve cooked.

Remove the shells from the shrimp & slice each shrimp in half. These shrimp peel easily as they come already deveined. Just continue slicing through the deveined area to create two pieces.

Place one shrimp-half on top of each cheese-filled pepper half. You can omit this ingredient if you have a seafood-hater in your crowd like we do. I usually offer both plain and shrimp-filled when I make these for parties.

Cut the bacon slices into halves or thirds, depending on how large your peppers are or if using shrimp. The bacon needs to be long enough to wrap around the entire length of the pepper. You can use a toothpick to secure the bacon if you’re worried about it shriveling up and falling off, but I haven’t had much trouble with this in the past and find it unnecessary. If you wrap it snugly (starting at the underside of the top of the pepper) in a diagonal fashion with no overlap, the bacon should cover the pepper & shrimp pretty well. A half slice of bacon works perfectly for the larger peppers.

Bake the poppers on a rack that fits into a rimmed cooking sheet. They should take anywhere from 15-25 minutes to cook, depending on how hot your oven cooks. Check them frequently to avoid burning the bacon. If the bacon isn’t crispy or brown enough (even though the rest of the poppers are cooked through), broil them for a couple of minutes until desired bacon doneness. If using the shrimp, they will turn pink when they are cooked through. I’ve heard of people cooking these on outdoor grills, which makes them a good appetizer choice when you need to bring a food item to a BBQ.