Over the holidays last year, Aldi sold some bacon-wrapped scallops that I served as part of an appetizer-themed Christmas Day dinner. The scallops were so good that when I recently saw Aldi selling other bacon-wrapped seafood — namely, shrimp — I picked up a package to try.
Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Shrimp cost $6.99 for an 8.5-ounce package at the time of publication. There were six fairly large tail-on shrimp in our package, so that comes out to about $1.17 per shrimp.
These are an Aldi Find, which means they’re only in stores for a short time, and you can’t order them online after they sell out at your local store.
The shrimp were farm raised and are Best Aquaculture Practices Certified, and they were processed in the U.S.
Ingredients are: bacon (cured with water, salt, sugar, dextrose, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite), shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), water, salt, and sodium tripolyphosphate to retain moisture.
Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Shrimp nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
There are about three servings per container, and our box had six shrimp. Two shrimp constitute one serving, which will net you 260 calories, 21 grams of total fat (27% DV), 9 grams of saturated fat (45% DV), 85 mg of cholesterol (28% DV), 800 mg of sodium (35% DV), 1 gram of total carbohydrates (0% DV), no fiber, no added sugars, and 16 grams of protein.
Frozen, uncooked shrimp in the package.
The shrimp can be baked in the oven or grilled, with grilling being the preferred method.
To bake, remove the bacon wrapped shrimp from the inner package and place on a nonstick sheet pan, allowing a minimum of half an inch between shrimp. Place the pan in a preheated 450-degree oven on the center rack and bake for 9-10 minutes. Then turn shrimp over and cook an additional 9-10 minutes until the bacon begins to crisp or until an internal temperature of 145 degrees is reached.
To grill, preheat the grill to medium heat. Place aluminum foil onto the grill’s surface. Remove the bacon wrapped shrimp from the inner package and arranged wrapped shrimp on the foil, allowing half an inch of separation between shrimp. Grill for approximately 6-7 minutes on each side until an internal temperature of 145 degrees is reached. For crisper bacon, cook directly on the grill grates, turning frequently. Be careful because bacon grease may cause flareups.
Bacon wrapped shrimp after grilling, ready to eat.
We chose to cook our shrimp on our Aldi Range Master Kettle Charcoal Grill, using charcoal we also purchased from Aldi. It took about 5 minutes longer than the directions indicated to fully cook our shrimp, but they were pretty easy to grill. We didn’t grill them directly on the grate but instead put a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil on the grate and then put the shrimp on top. It meant the bacon didn’t come out quite as crispy, but it was all right.
I served these alongside some butterflied lamb leg and Caesar salad, and everyone in our household liked these. The shrimp were plump and the bacon was flavorful with just the right amount of saltiness. These are a bit greasy, so keep some napkins handy. They are on the pricier side for an everyday meal, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy these again to serve as appetizers for a special dinner.
The Verdict:
Specially Selected Bacon Wrapped Shrimp are excellent when cooked on the grill. The shrimp are decent-sized and the bacon adds lots of delicious salty flavor. If you’re a fan of shrimp and bacon, we recommend these.
Just read a brief article warning about cooking with Aluminium foil., as it can ultimately cause Alzheimer’s disease 🦠. Even powdered aluminium can affect your pulmonary systems etc. So my ( admittedly limited )advice is to not cook your shrimps on al. foil in future.
I’m aware of some of the concerns about aluminum foil. (We acknowledge them in our reviews of Aldi foil.) The evidence on whether it causes Alzheimer’s is mixed, but I usually use parchment paper instead of foil when baking. Parchment paper doesn’t work on the grill, though, so when grilling these I used foil. I don’t use foil often, though.
I started a low carb diet because of my diabetes and I am always looking for something different to have for dinner since I have to cook twice one meal for me and one for my husband. I saw this in our store and decided to give it a try. OMG!!!! Now I can enjoy a shrimp dinner with a salad at least 3 times a week! Had to go back and buy a few more. I cooked mine in the air fryer. 10 min each side and then on a broil setting for 2 min each side. Best Bacon Wrapped Shrimp I have ever had.
I tried these, and also the shrimp stuffed with jalapeños cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Both were delicious. I used the oven method and the bacon was plenty crisp without broiling. Thank you for your reviews. I love reading them.
Fantastic! I didn’t try the shrimp with jalapenos because my family isn’t big on peppers, but it’s good to know they’re also excellent. Glad you enjoy the blog!
Perhaps I missed it but do you cook them from frozen or do you defrost?
I think we heated them from frozen.
I hope Aldi brings back the Bacon wrapped Shrimp and the Bacon wrapped Scallops for the holidays. I normally stay away from any scallops unless at a fancy restaurant because they always taste fishy. But, I decided to try them because the bacon wrapped shrimp was so good. To my surprise, I ate them all!! I cooked 2 just to try and then went back to the freezer, cooked and ate the rest. So happy my husband is allergic to shell fish, sorry honey!!