Grilled Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates. A quick, easy and delicious appetizer made on the grill to save time and oven space. Perfect for parties and game day! This post is in partnership with Coyote Outdoor Living.
We are smack dab in the middle of holiday party season and football season. I don’t know about you but for me that almost always mean navigating cooking space and trying to figure out how to maximize resources with a single oven.
One thing I’ve started doing is planning grilled appetizers. Everyone loves hot appetizers but when you have a single oven, you rarely have room to have multiple trays heating at the same time.
These Grilled Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates are one of the most perfect grilled appetizers to make. You can prep dozens ahead of time – up to two days if needed – and then cook them in batches so that they are served nice and hot to your guests. Best part is using the grill.
Minimal clean-up and no intrusion to that precious oven space you need to cook the main meal or other dishes.
The sweetness of the dates balances out the heat in the pepper jack cheese and these wind up being pretty mild. If you want more of a kick, tuck a thinly sliced piece of jalapeno pepper into each date along with the cheese.
If you can’t do dairy, you could stuff these with crumbled sausage or a Marcona almond.
One thing I wouldn’t recommend changing is using a cast-iron pan to cook them. Bacon grease and melted cheese are not friends of your grill. You don’t want either dripping down into the flame. Also, by using a pan to collect the rendered bacon fat, you are cooking these faster and preventing them from drying out.
Alyssa Brantley | EverydayMaven
Yields 24
Serves 2 Dates
10 minPrep Time
15 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 24 large Medjool dates, pitted
- 3 ounces pepper jack cheese, cut into 24 pieces
- 12 slices uncooked thick cut bacon, cut in half
- toothpicks
- cast iron or other grill safe pan
Instructions
- Begin by preheating the grill to medium high heat.
- Use a sharp knife to gently slice each date until you feel the pit. You don't want to split the dates open completely, just enough to remove the pit and stuff them.
- Cut cheese into 24 small pieces.
- Cut bacon slices in half.
- Stuff one piece of cheese into each date. Close and wrap a piece of bacon around date. Secure with a toothpick at the bacon seam. Repeat until all dates are stuffed and wrapped.
- Place all of the stuffed dates into a 12" cast iron or other grill safe pan. Place frying pan on grill grates directly over heat source.
- Close lid and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Check and turn if starting to brown. Total cook time is approximately 14 to 18 minutes depending on heat. Keep checking them so that they do not burn and turn as needed.
- Carefully remove hot pan from grill and set aside on a safe surface to cool. Allow dates to cool for at least 5 minutes, remove to a serving plate, serve immediately and Enjoy!
DISCLOSURE: This post is part of a series of posts sponsored by Coyote Outdoor Living. Coyote Outdoor Living has compensated me for my time to develop this recipe. Thank you for supporting the brands that make EverydayMaven possible. All opinions are my own.
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