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Ever watch social media cooking trends and wonder if it’s actually good? Well, I put this BBQ Shotgun Shells recipe trend to the test. Made a few adjustments and wow did it turn out great. This is a meat treat packed with protein for that ultimate BBQ snack. Make this for game day, tailgating or just hanging out with some friends, everyone will enjoy this delicious treat.
Be sure to try my Smoked Meatball Biscuits and Easy Huli Huli Chicken Thighs for more tasty recipes.
Table of Contents
What Are These??
If you spend any time on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen these bbq shotgun shells. So what are they? In short, it’s a manicotti pasta shell stuffed with meat, wrapped in bacon, smoked and finished with bbq sauce.
Yeah, that sounds ridiculous! And also delicious! Let me show you how to make them!
Step 1: Mix and Stuff.
Most recipes call for lean beef and Italian sausage as the mixture for the shell stuffing. I opted for 2/3 ground beef, 1/3 ground pork, shredded and cream cheese. This blend helps provide some fattiness and moisture to an already dense mixture.
In a mixing bowl, add ground beef and pork, cream cheese and Dad’s All Purpose seasoning. Mix the ingredients together by hand making sure everything is well incorporated.
I have seen a lot of debate on the manicotti shells. Some say to cook it a few minutes, others use piping bags to stuff. What worked best for me was using raw Manicotti shells and stuffing the meat mixture by hand. Why? The cooked shells ripped and the pipping bags burst. The easiest way is to slowly add a small amount of the filling and push it in with your finger. Continue doing that until the shell is full.
And if that’s not enough, next wrap each stuffed pasta shell with a slice of bacon and season with more bbq seasoning.
Depending on the size of the bacon, you might have some of the shell showing. That’s completely fine. It will still cook on the smoker.
Step 2: Time to smoke some BBQ Shotgun Shells.
Preheat the grill to 300 degrees and set for indirect heat. Place the stuffed shells on a wire rack and place on the grill. I smoked my shotgun shells for an hour and the pasta was nice and soft. Less time will lead to the pasta being a little more al dente than preferred.
Before removing the shotgun shells off the grill, brush some BBQ sauce over the top and cook for another minute or 2. Remove and let them cool down. Serve and enjoy!
Try my homemade Sweet And Tangy BBQ Sauce Recipe for the perfect pairing!
Frequently Asked Questions:
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BBQ Shotgun Shells
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Ground beef (80/20)
- 1/2 lbs Ground pork
- 8 oz Cream cheese
- 1 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp BBQ all purpose seasoning
- Manicotti pasta
- 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 pkg Sliced bacon
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add ground beef and pork, shredded mozzarella, cream cheese and BBQ all purpose seasoning. Mix the ingredients together by hand making sure everything is well incorporated.
- Stuff the mixture into raw pasta shells.
- Wrap each stuffed pasta with a slice of bacon, season with more BBQ all purpose rub and place the on a wire rack.
- Preheat the grill to 300 degrees for indirect heat. Place the stuffed shells on the grill and let them smoke for 1 hour.
- Before removing off the grill, brush some BBQ sauce over the top and let it caramelize.
Notes
- Feel free to add more ingredients to the filling. Try different cheeses, garlic, sautéed onions. The options are endless.
- Don’t have smoker? Put these in your oven instead and cook at the same times and temps as listed in the recipe.
Nutrition
Check out the Recipes Page for other tasty ideas!
The ultimate meat snack! I hope you will like them as much as I do!
If refrigerate for 4 hours to 24 hours pasta perfect.
Superb !!!!!!!!
Made 70 of these, and they were the hit of the party
Love these. We also make them with rigatoni and call them 9MM. For the 9MM we follow the same recipe but just reduce the cooking time by a few minutes. Can’t go wrong! Have made these probably close to a dozen times and they’ve become a favorite.
Made these and turned out great. Will make again.