Bacon-wrapped pickle spears make a great appetizer for game day, happy hour, or any time you want a quick appetizer. And who does not like bacon? You can wrap almost anything in bacon to create a crowd-pleasing appetizer. Serve these bacon-wrapped pickle spears with ranch dressing for dipping or maybe blue cheese, or even that Chick-fil-A sauce that we had on the wine and dine a couple of weeks ago. I think any dipping sauce would be good with this appetizer. Be adventurous and try what you like.
Bacon-Wrapped Pickle Spears
What you need
- Eight pickle spears, dill, or bread and butter spears
- 2 ounces cream cheese, chilled, then cut into 8 slim slices
- Eight slices bacon, thin cut (thick cut bacon does not work as well)
- ¼ cup ranch dressing or dipping sauce of your choice.
Directions for Bacon-Wrapped Pickle Spears
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I love parchment paper. It makes your cleanup so much faster and easier.
- Pat pickles dry with a paper towel. Place one strip of cream cheese onto each pickle, and wrap it with a strip of bacon, securing ends with toothpicks if necessary—place pickles on the baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until bacon is browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then serve with ranch dressing.
Be prepared; these will go fast, so you will want to double this recipe. I also made some without cream cheese because my husband does not like cheese. They were just as good without the cream cheese. Oven temperatures vary, so you may need to bake longer than 12 to 15 minutes. The thickness of the bacon may also warrant a longer bake time.
While you are working with pickles, why not try your hand at fried pickles? That is another one of our family’s go-to appetizers. Look for that recipe here! Let me know what you think.
Whenever you have appetizers, you know that you need a beverage to complement your food choices. Any wine, from Chardonnay to a rich red, seems to work well. Or if you are a football family like we are, try a new beer or one of the new ciders. They work well with these appetizers too.
Did You Know:
Pickles have been around for more than 4,000 years?
Cleopatra loved them. As did Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte. Ancient Mesopotamians invented pickles about 4,000 years ago when they started preserving cucumbers by immersing them in an acidic solution. Since then, they have been a mainstay in cultures all across the world, known for their exquisite flavor, health advantages, and heartiness.
Christopher Columbus brought pickles to America for the first time. (Like many explorers, he enjoyed traveling with them since they helped avoid scurvy and were able to withstand the long treks.) The market was dominated by H.J. Heinz Company, Inc. by the 19th century as a result of some incredibly clever marketing techniques. More than 2 million pounds of pickles were consumed annually by Americans alone by the 2010s.
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