Shrimp Bacon Sliders

By Christie Vanover | Published July 7, 2012 | Last Updated December 28, 2022

Forget bacon wrapped shrimp. This slider made with shrimp, bacon and poblano peppers is mouthwatering. It’s sandwiched in an earthy corn whole wheat tortilla and a butter garlic lime aioli.

I woke up this morning and David from A Bachelor & His Grill challenged the members of the BEST Food Blogger Recipes Pinterest board to a Burger THROWDOWN. It’s pretty hard to compete with David. He is the 2012 Char-Broil All-Star, after all.

I opened the fridge and saw a 2-lb bag of shrimp that had been begging for me to cook it. I had been stumped the past two days on how I could make something different. Burgers were the last thing on my mind, because past seafood burgers I have tried are dry, and not all that great.

I wasn’t ready to quit. I kept searching through the fridge and found a pound of bacon and a poblano pepper hidden in the back of the veggie drawer. I was onto something here. Bacon would surely juice up this burger.

I cooked the bacon in the oven for about 15 minutes. I didn’t want it crispy, but it needs to be somewhat cooked because the shrimp patties are going to cook quickly, and you don’t want raw bacon in your patties.

I peeled and deveined the shrimp and tossed it in the food processor to grind it up. Then, I did the same thing with the bacon. I took the stem off the poblano and seeded it and tossed it in the food processor to mince it up, as well. Then, I minced some red onion and garlic.

Next step was seasoning the patties. I usually put soy sauce in my burgers, but for this recipe, I used ponzu sauce because it is citrus-based, and citrus goes great with seafood.

Finally, I added the zest of half a lime and salt. I cooked one patty in a pan with a little butter, and it was spot on. Since I was grilling these, I still wanted the butter taste, so that’s when I decided to add some butter to the patty mix. Why not?

I grilled a couple up, and was so happy…as were my facebook followers.

You could stop at this point, add a little ailoi and still have a great appetizer…or you can continue on for something even better…something that might win a THROWDOWN challenge

I looked around the kitchen for bun options, and decided on corn whole wheat tortillas, because I knew they would be light and earthy. I cut out rounds with a cookie cutter.

Next step, the aioli. I love shrimp with garlic butter, so that was the start point. Then, I mixed in a little mayo, limejuice and heat.

I had a few grilling and assembly issues at first. I tried to include a slice of tomato on the patty during the grilling process, and God rest their souls, a few slipped through the grates when I performed the flip.

I finally realized it was easier to add the slippery tomato at the end, off the grill.

I didn’t expect to wake up this morning and end the day loving seafood burgers, but hey in this fun foodie world, anything’s possible. Enjoy!

Shrimp Bacon Sliders

No ratings yet

Servings 20 sliders

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

 

• 2 lbs. shrimp
• 8 slices bacon partially cooked
• 1 poblano seeded
• ¼ cup red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon ponzu sauce
• zest of ½ lime
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tablespoon butter softened
• 8 Artisan Corn & Whole Wheat Tortillas
• 3-4 tomatoes thinly sliced (optional)

Garlic Lime Aioli

• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons butter softened
• juice of ½ lime
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• pinch of cayenne optional

Instructions

• 
• Peel and devein the shrimp. Separately process the shrimp, bacon and veggies in a food processor, until the meat is ground and the veggies are minced.
• Combine the ingredients in a large bowl, and add the ponzu, lime zest, salt and butter.
• 
• Shape the mixture into 20 slider-sized patties.
• 
• Using a round cookie cutter, cut 5 rounds out of each tortilla. You should end up with 40 rounds.
• 
• Spread aioli (recipe below) on each tortilla round.
• Light the grill on high. Prepare the sliders in batches by grilling 10 at a time. Place patties on a hot grill for 3 minutes. Flip. Grill for 3 more minutes.
• 
• Place a tortilla round, sauce side down on top of each patty and flip. Grill for about 30 seconds.
• 
• Place another tortilla round, sauce side down on each patty and flip. Grill for about 30 seconds.
• 
• Remove from the heat and add a tomato slice under the patty. Serve immediately.
• Alternate Cooking Method: You can also cook these in a hot skillet with a little melted butter, following the same technique.

Garlic Lime Aioli

• 
• Combine all ingredients, until smooth.

This estimate was created using an online nutrition calculator

Show Me the StarsDid you love it? Be sure to leave a rating and comment.