Sweet & Spicy Bacon Recipe

Preheat and arrange

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack on top. This allows fat to drip away and helps the bacon get evenly crisp.

If using confit bacon (already slow-cooked in fat), pat each slice dry with paper towels to remove excess fat. For regular bacon, use as-is.

Cut each bacon slice in half crosswise (so you end up with 24 shorter pieces). This makes them easier to assemble with pineapple and helps them crisp evenly.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, honey, apple cider vinegar, smoked paprika, lime juice, salt, and black pepper.

Bring mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3–4 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool 3 minutes — glaze will continue to thicken as it cools.

Stir in half of the sliced jalapeños (reserve the rest for assembly) and 2 tablespoons of the diced pineapple from the measured amount to infuse the glaze with heat and fruit. If you want milder heat, add only a few jalapeño slices or leave seeds in for more spice.

Thread a half slice of bacon onto a toothpick, then a chunk of pineapple, fold or wrap the bacon around the pineapple so it covers most of the chunk, and finish with another half slice of bacon if the piece is small. Repeat to make 12 bites (use 24 half-slices total).

Place assembled bites on the wire rack, seam-side down so they hold together.

Brush each bacon-wrapped pineapple bite generously with the sweet-spicy glaze on all exposed bacon surfaces. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of glaze for finishing.

Scatter the remaining jalapeño slices over bites as desired for extra heat.

Bake in the preheated 375°F (190°C) oven for 18–22 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through, until bacon is crisp and glaze is bubbling and caramelized. If bacon is not yet crisp, broil 1–2 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning.

Remove from oven and immediately brush with the reserved glaze for a shiny finish. Let rest 3–4 minutes so glaze sets and the pineapple juices redistribute.

If using, sprinkle chopped cilantro over the bites and serve with lime wedges alongside for squeezing over.

Serve warm as an appetizer. These are gluten-free and dairy-free as written. To make less sweet, reduce brown sugar to 3/4 cup and honey to 2 tbs; to make spicier, add more jalapeño or a pinch of cayenne in the glaze.

Leftovers: refrigerate up to 2 days; reheat in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 8–10 minutes to re-crisp.