Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese
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Few appetizers are simpler and will be gone faster than Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese. Just three ingredients create a complex-tasting hors d’oeuvre that will be the hit of any gathering.
“Watch out!! Sooo delicious you will want to eat the whole plate! A little messy to assemble but this recipe makes it simple!” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Karen
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The Flavor – Stuff a sweet and chewy date with tangy, creamy goat cheese, and then wrap it in savory, salty, smoky bacon. They are borderline addictive!
- Only 3 Ingredients – Bacon, dates and goat cheese are all you’ll need.
- Great for Groups – This easy appetizer is a crowd-pleaser. Perfect for holiday gatherings.
These Bacon-Wrapped dates join our Asian Turkey Meatballs and Fiesta Chopped Salad as a crowd-pleasing appetizer.
Video Tutorial
Here is a quick video tutorial of how bacon-wrapped dates come together.
3 Tips for Success
There are a lot of bacon-wrapped date recipes on the internet, so we did a fair amount of research and testing to get ours just right. Here’s what we learned are the keys to this amazing appetizer.
The kind of bacon matters.
Look for thinner bacon, not thick-cut. The better quality of the bacon, the better your appetizer will turn out, of course.
Bigger is not always better.
I went into this recipe development thinking that the most expensive dates–the larger Medjool dates–would be the ones I should use. Boy, was I wrong! The large ones were far too sweet and too large to enjoy in one or two bites. They threw off the savory, salty, sweet balance of the dish, as well.
Look for two things when buying dates for this recipe:
- Go with the smaller, cheaper dates. The small ones I found in my store are called Deglet Noor dates.
- Be sure to buy pitted dates! This will save you a lot of time opening and pitting the dates by hand, which I’ve had to do before and is no fun.
Use a baking rack.
There are many different methods for cooking Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese, but I found placing the prepared dates on a baking rack as the easiest and most consistent.
This method allows for the hot air in the oven to circulate all around the bacon-wrapped dates, making for even cooking. It also allows the grease to drop below. That way your bacon ends up crispy and evenly cooked! The clean-up is a cinch, too.
FAQS
Yep, you sure can. Replace the goat cheese with one or two smoked almonds instead. It’s surprisingly delicious!
First of all, I recommend using thin-cut bacon for this recipe. It crisps up better than the thicker kind.
Second, the bacon pieces typically wrap around the dates 1.5 times. If it’s wrapping more than twice around the date, trim your bacon slices so they’re a little shorter.
Third, we have you bake these on a rack so the heat gets all around the bacon. This is an important step.
Yes, you can prep Bacon Wrapped Dates in advance. Just don’t cook until you are close to serving time. The bacon doesn’t taste as good once it’s cooled and reheated.
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Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese
With just 3 ingredients, few appetizers are simpler and will be gone faster than Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese. Sure to be a hit at your next party!
Ingredients
- 8 slices thin-cut bacon (about 1/2 pound)
- 24 smaller pitted dates (8-ounce package)
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- toothpicks
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Top a rimmed baking sheet with a baking rack. (Tip: For easier clean up, cover the baking sheet with foil.)
- Pitted dates should have a small opening in them; if not, slice them open on one side. Smear a dollop of goat cheese inside each date and press the date closed around the cheese.
- Cut the bacon slices into thirds. Wrap each date in a bacon piece tightly and secure with a toothpick.
- Place wrapped dates on the baking rack. Bake for about 17-22 minutes, flipping them over halfway through so they cook evenly, until the bacon is browned and crispy. (Depending on the thickness of your bacon, cooking time can vary. Keep a close eye on them.)
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes/Tips
- If your dates aren’t pitted, slice them open lengthwise just enough to open them and remove the pits.
- Make sure to buy thin-cut, not thick-cut bacon. You can roll out the bacon with a rolling pin, if it’s not thin enough.
- We found that the larger Medjool dates were too large and sweet for this recipe. We recommend the cheaper and smaller ones.
- Bacon pieces typically wrap around the dates 1.5 times. If it’s wrapping more than twice around the date, trim your bacon slices so they’re a little shorter.
Watch out!! Sooo delicious you will want to eat the whole plate! A little messy to assemble but this recipe makes it simple!
Haha! Best review ever.