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
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
SusanB says
Not a big fan of shrimp, but these look and sound WONDERFUL otherwise. Think I’ll try them with shredded chicken. Thanks for a great idea!
ATasteOfMadness says
What a delicious slider! A much healthier version to the typical slider!
Jara says
This look so incredibly and summer friendly. I’m definitely going to try it the next time I use the grill!!
Emily Kelley says
I would recognize those tortillas anywhere. Absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to try them with these burgers!
Bam's Kitchen says
I saw your shrimp bacon slider recipe photo on facebook and had to come over and visit. This looks so delicious. Great photos and a great idea. Looking forward to keeping in touch. Take Care, BAM