Smoked Shotgun Shells

Pasta stuffed with sausage, cheese, and hot peppers smoked and then smothered in BBQ sauce. These smoked shotgun shells will be the BEST appetizer at your next party or holiday celebration, guaranteed!

Jump to:

• What are Smoked Shotgun Shells?!
• Ingredients
• Video - How to make shotgun shells (step-by-step)
• How to Make Shotgun Shells
• Cooking the Bacon-Wrapped Shotgun Shells
• Old Pro Tips
• Pair With These Other Appetizers
• Smoked Shotgun Shells

What are Smoked Shotgun Shells?!

Shotgun shells are a delicious appetizer which are named due to their resemblance to, well, a shotgun shell.

Pasta shells that are filled with meat and cheese are the most common ingredients that go into a shotgun shell. The ones we are going to make today have a little spice to them and a nice coat of BBQ sauce slathered on at the end of cooking.

Ingredients

Everything that you need can be found at your local grocery store. I have had issues finding the pasta shells however. You might need to check a couple places as they are not always in stock.

• Manicotti Shells (pasta)
• Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage (regular or hot)
• Bacon
• Cheddar Cheese
• Red Bell Pepper
• Jalapeno
• Serrano Pepper
• BBQ Sauce

Video - How to make shotgun shells (step-by-step)

How to Make Shotgun Shells

I'll walk you through everything you need to know to make the BEST shotgun shells. The pasta will be fully cooked when you are finished and the spicy filling cheesy and delicious.

Par Boiling the Shells

This is a VERY important step. Do NOT skip this step. Par boiling the uncooked manicotti shells will ensure that they are perfectly (and fully) cooked by the time you are finished smoking the shotgun shells.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and set aside a separate bowl of ice water to dunk shells into after boiling. Add the shells and boil for 4 minutes. Remove the shells from the boiling water with tongs or a slotted spoon and place directly in the ice water to stop them from cooking any further.

We are NOT fully cooking the pasta at this point, it will finish cooking on the smoker.

Making the Stuffing Mixture

In a large bowl, add the sausage, cheese, & peppers and mix together by hand.

Don't want the smoked shotgun shells spicy? Use regular pork breakfast sausage and omit the hot peppers from the recipe. You can also use italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage if that's what you have on hand.

Stuffing the Shells

This part is not rocket science, so don't overcomplicate it. I wear gloves and use my hand to stuff the shells. Start at one side and gently fill ½ of the shell with the stuffing.

Then flip the shell over and start from the opposite end filling the remaining half with sausage stuffing. Be careful when filling to not split the manicotti shell. Once all the shells are filled, it's time to wrap in bacon!

Wrapping in Bacon

We are going to wrap these meat filled shells just like we do when making smoked jalapeño poppers. Using thin cut bacon to wrap the shells is better than using thick cut. The thin bacon will cook through and be nice and crispy.

Start at one end of the filled shell and begin wrapping the stuffed shells with a piece of bacon. Use toothpicks to keep the bacon in place.

It should take 1-2 pieces of bacon to wrap 1 shell. I prefer 2 pieces per shell. This might look like a lot when done wrapping, but the bacon will shrink after cooking and turn out perfect.

Never cooked bacon by smoking it?! I didn't think you could even make bacon taste better than I normally cook it for breakfast. Well it definitely can. Smoked bacon is next level flavor.

Cooking the Bacon-Wrapped Shotgun Shells

Let's get these bad boys on the smoker and hit them with some heat and smoke. Time for the fun part!

Fire up the Smoker

Fire up your smoker to 270°F with mild wood pellets or wood chips. I like to use applewood pellets or hickory wood when making this smoked shotgun shell recipe for the best smoky flavor.

I'm using my Recteq smoker when making this recipe. But any smoker will do. I love making these on my Traeger 780 wood pellet grill (affiliate Link) as well.

Place the shotgun shells directly on the grill grates and smoke until the internal temperature of the sausage filling reaches 155°F, about 1.5 hours. There is no need to flip the shells when smoking.

Baste with BBQ Sauce

Once the shells reach an internal temp of 155°F, use a basting brush to 'paint' your favorite barbecue sauce on BOTH sides of the shotgun shells. Sweet BBQ sauce compliments the spiciness of the peppers best.

Once coated, smoke for another 5-10 minutes to make the BBQ sauce adhere to the shells and allow them to finish cooking to an IT of 160°F. Remove from the smoker with tongs and place on a serving platter.

Serving & Flavor

Before serving to guests or family, let's prep them a little bit. At this point you can remove the toothpicks. The bacon will stay in place and not come off the smoked shotgun shells.

When having a party, I like to cut each shell in half with a sharp knife (affiliate link). This makes them the perfect finger food and not appear too big along side other appetizers.

This smoked shotgun shell recipe is unsurpassed in flavor. The sausage and cheese marry together exceptionally well making the perfect pasta filling. Everyone will LOVE this appetizer!

Leftovers & Reheating

Store leftovers in an airtight container and make sure to refrigerate. These will stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge. To reheat, place on baking sheet in a 375° F oven for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Old Pro Tips

• Cook to internal temperature, not a specific time. This will prevent overcooking and having 'burnt' ends of the pasta.
• Use a sweet BBQ sauce to compliment the spicy peppers in the pasta filling.
• Thin cut bacon will cook better and is better to use over thick cut bacon.
• Par boil the pasta for 4 minutes before stuffing, otherwise the pasta will be undercooked.

Pair With These Other Appetizers

• Smoked Jalapeno Poppers - Jerkyholic
• Pigs in a Blanket - Amanda's Cooking
• Caprese Skewers - Cooking For My Soul
• Smoked Deviled Eggs - Jerkyholic
• Shrimp Cocktail - Bacon Fatte