Grilled Bacon on a Stick

Calling all bacon lovers! When you are looking for some fun finger food for a neighborhood party or game day, Grilled Bacon on a Stick will be your new “go-to” bacon recipe. These two-bite treats melt in your mouth and are crazy easy to make in less than 30 minutes.

I’m going to suggest to you now, just double the recipe. These flew off the grill so fast, that I couldn’t keep up with the demand. No need for platters or serving dishes for this one unless you are making these ahead of time.

🍽️ Why This Works

Super Easy – This is one of the easiest things I have grilled. I sliced the bacon into one-inch squares, stacked, seasoned, and grilled them.

Different – Almost everyone loves bacon, and it was easy for folks to grab the skewer and eat the slices without getting their fingers greasy.

Various Bacon Options – Choose thick-cut bacon from packaging like we did or pile several thin pieces of bacon on a skewer stacked as shown in the photos or cut bacon in half and weave the bacon on the skewer which will cook a bit faster.

🥓 Ingredients

Bacon – So, in the interest of full disclosure, I was looking to have my butcher slice some extra thick bacon for me, but since I waited until the last minute, he ran out. I decided to use some prepackaged sliced ones that I picked up at the grocery store. Notice the packaging that is the thick version vs the Oscar Meyer Center Cut.

Note: I found it easier to work with the packaged bacon where the slices of bacon were stacked right against each other. Basically, it is “pre-stacked” for you, which makes this process go much faster.

Bourbon – This not only adds a bit of sweetness to the bacon, it helps the BBQ rub to stick. The alcohol cooks off, so there is no need to worry.

BBQ Rub – Use your favorite rub or spice blend. I picked up some Meat Church Gospel that worked just perfectly!

🔥 Instructions

Step One: Cut the bacon into one-inch slices. Try to keep the stacks together.

Step Two: Stick a sturdy short skewer through a one-inch high stack of bacon.

Step Three: Pour the bourbon in one glass bowl, and the BBQ rub in the other.

Step Four: Dip the bacon into the bourbon and then into the BBQ rub. The rub should stick to the meat.

Step Five: Place the bacon on a stick in a cast iron skillet.

Step Six: Set up the grill for direct heat at 325 degrees. Place the skillet on the grate and cook for about 20 minutes, turning them every five minutes. Look for the clues we talk about in How to Tell if Bacon is Done post.

Note: Watch this closely! It is very easy for the cast iron to heat up too much and quickly burn the bacon.

🍳 Equipment

There are a couple of options for you when grilling these up.

1. Quarter Sheet Pan with a Rack will allow the bacon to cook and drip the grease into the bottom of the pan so the bacon doesn’t sit in the grease.
2. Cast Iron Skillet works great as it gives the bacon a great little charred exterior but it will sit in a little bit of grease. You can lift the skillet and scoop the grease out with a spoon like a gravy ladle or turkey baste it out.

We’ve used both for this and it works fine compared to when I did the Twisted Bacon, the cast iron left a burned mess while the baking pan worked great.

**Just don’t cook it straight on the grill as the grease will drip and cause flare-ups like crazy.

🥓 Variations

Using the same technique, you can make this simple bacon recipe into a couple of different and impressive appetizers, each with a unique and delicious taste.

Brown Sugar Bacon on a Stick – Just like we used the brown sugar and cayenne on the Twisted Bacon, you can either lightly sprinkle on or you can go ahead and make the candied bacon version. For the Brown Sugar Bacon version make up a mixture of ¾ cup brown sugar to 1-2 tsp of paprika (or you can leave the paprika off) but then using your fingers, heavily coat the bacon with the brown sugar on all sides before grilling. This works great if you will weave the bacon on a skewer. Maple syrup would also make a nice glaze.

Note: You can use dark or light brown sugar. Your choice!

Candied Bacon on a Stick – Similar to what we did above, you will use ¾ cup of brown sugar and coarse ground pepper this time. This method works best if you weave it on the skewer, then sprinkle it with black pepper and pat the brown sugar onto the bacon. As it cooks, it will start to caramelize. The key here is to get the glaze from the sugars to caramelize the exterior. You can do it with the stacked bacon as well, but it only caramelizes the exterior portions of the bacon, not the inside where it touches when stacked. It all works and it’s always a crowd pleaser!

The candied bacon is SIMILAR to what we did on our original recipe but we didn’t PACK the sugar on, in the photos you’ll notice we sprinkled and dipped them in and a lot of sugar still falls off. Making the candied requires it to STICK and create that glaze. Simple but just want to make sure you know the difference.

Savory Bacon – Serve up a savory version by sprinkling the stacks with your favorite herb combinations. We did this when we made our homemade cured and smoked bacon recipe a few times and it just adds so much unexpected flavor! If you want something completely different, try that version.

❗ Expert Tips

Don’t worry about applying oil or butter on the skillet. The bacon fat will render quickly, you are using the cast iron option.

Buy the bacon that is sliced and packaged into a rectangular block. Many of the grocery store bacon is “fanned” to keep the packages laying flat, but that is harder to stack.

Bacon on a Stick is best served with seasoning. As this is made of a stack of thin slices, there is a lot of surface area for the bourbon and the rub to adhere.

I also grilled this on a raised wire rack on a sheet pan. For this, I used indirect heat in the grill, allowing the fat to render and drop into the baking sheet. I actually think it cooks better this way and it doesn’t sit in the fat and risk burning.

Looking to minimize clean-up? Line the baking pan with aluminum foil!

🍴Serving Suggestions

The yummy bacon skewers make a lovely pair with almost any BBQ side dish! Serve them as an appetizer or snack, for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or any other time of the day.

Pair them with smoked eggs for an amazing breakfast or brunch, that will leave everyone craving more.

Another idea is to use them as a garnish for savory and spicy cocktails like Bloody Mary, or Dirty Martini.

Whatever form you serve them, I guarantee your family and guests will make these disappear fast!

Add a barbecue sauce next to these fun swizzle sticks such as our whiskey BBQ sauce, smoked pumpkin bourbon BBQ sauce, or cherry bourbon BBQ sauce.

I also love serving bacon on a stick with a beer corn crack dip or a beer and smoked cheese dip that will blow everyone’s minds!

A fresh salad like this grilled peach and arugula salad will lighten up the meal while offering incredible flavor.

Bacon makes pretty much any side better and you can always stick to some classic options like these cheesy grilled potato skins, grilled sweet potato wedges, grilled baked beans, or corn on the cob grilled in the husk!

🍱Storage And Reheating

If you want some leftover bacon skewers I highly recommend you plan for a larger batch. These usually get devoured in the blink of an eye!

How long is cooked bacon good for? Wrap leftover bacon on a stick in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, place in an airtight container, and store in the fridge for 4-5 days.

For long-term storage, you can freeze cooked bacon for up to 1 month.

Note: If you leave cooked bacon sitting out overnight, it will no longer be safe to eat, not even after reheating. Whatever you do, be sure to refrigerate any leftover bacon within 2 hours of cooking.

🍳How To Reheat Cooked Bacon?

You have plenty of options to reheat leftover cooked bacon.

Reheat in the microwave, 15-20 seconds per slice, until warmed through. To avoid grease places in the microwave oven, you can place a paper towel over the bacon slices.

You can also reheat bacon in the oven, at 400ºF. Let it cook until you hear it sizzle. This will take about 5 minutes.

The air fryer is also a wonderful appliance for quickly reheating bacon. Spread the bacon in one layer and cook at 350°F for 3 minutes.

♨️More Bacon Recipes

With or without other ingredients, bacon goes through an outstanding transformation in the grill or smoker. When you want a quick smoker recipe that will be a guaranteed hit, try these smoked bacon slices, smoked shotgun shells, or smoked breakfast fatty.

Grilled twisted bacon is an equally fun way to enjoy some crispy bacon strips, especially in moments when everyone is hungry and you need to cook something fast. The same goes for these picture-worthy bacon-wrapped tater tot bombs!

Speaking of bacon wrapping, that’s something you can do with various types of meat when grilling or smoking, especially the leaner varieties that could otherwise dry out.

For example, our bacon-wrapped smoked tenderloin always turns out perfectly tender and juicy because of the protective layer of bacon.

My favorite way to use the bacon wrapping method is for faster recipes such as grilled chicken livers wrapped in bacon, honey mustard glazed bacon-wrapped chicken bites, and bacon-wrapped grilled bison meatballs.

Of course, this works for veggies too! Even picky kids will love the grilled bacon Brussel sprouts kebabs, and Asian bacon green bean bundles.

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