This recipe came about as the result of an accident I had when I first made wax worms; fortunately for you, that recipe never made it onto The Entocurean. At any rate, without that repulsive recipe, I wouldn’t have realized that baked wax worms have almost the same consistency and texture as Cheetos. Only, unlike Cheetos, wax worm cheetos are guilt free (well, almost…) and are great for snacking!

The first thing you should know, before you embark on this culinary journey, is that wax worms truly suck to clean and prepare. I ordered my wax worms from Rainbow Mealworms and they come in the same blue plastic containers you would get fishing bait in. They come in sawdust. Yes-it really sucks taking them out of the sawdust. The reason I haven’t made many wax worm recipes is because it takes me about 20 minutes just to get about 250 wax worms prepared to cook.  That being said, out of the five little critter varieties I’ve tried (ants, crickets, mealworms, wax worms, and silkworm pupae), wax worms are my favorite. They are delicious and have a great crunch to them if baked or fried. I usually let them sit out for a day or two, in hopes that they’ll purge whatever they’ve ingested before I ingest them. Then I stick them in the freezer, so it’s easier to remove them from their sawdust abode.

Steps for cleaning: 1) remove wax worms from sawdust, 2) rinse any remaining sawdust off  wax worms in strainer, 3) lay wax worms out to dry on something that’ll absorb the excess water, and 4) BOOM, done.

Ingredients for White Cheddar and Parmesan Wax Worm “Cheetos”:

• Wax Worms (250 count)
• Olive Oil (1 tsp)
• Garlic Salt (1/2 tsp)
• White Cheddar Powder (2 tbsp)
• Corn Starch (2 tbsp)
• Parmesan Cheese (grated) (1 tsp)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425° F
• Rinse and prepare wax worms

• In mixing bowl, drizzle wax worms with olive oil
• Toss in corn starch, salt, parmesan cheese, and white cheddar powder
• Make sure wax worms are covered evenly in mixture

• Put wax worms on greased baking sheet
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until wax worms are crispy

Enjoy!