You may ask yourself, what is a smoked shotgun shell? Well if you haven’t heard of them yet, they are manicotti shells that are stuffed with some type of meat/cheese mixture and then wrapped in bacon. Smoked to perfection, these Mexican style Smoked Shotgun Shells are made with chorizo, jalapenos, and cheese. Seriously one of our new favorite things to make.

We love appetizers on the Traeger! We make Queso, chicken wings, and meatballs all the time.! Once we saw these smoked shotgun shells roaming the internet I knew we had to try some. I tried a version a few weeks ago with some ground pork sausage and they were amazing. Well, we love a little heat around here so I knew I had to make a spicy version. These Mexican Style Smoked Shotgun Shells are a flavor explosion. We have the heat and flavor from the ground chorizo, spice from the jalapeno, and then a little added Mexican style shredded cheese, too.

We had bought some homemade chorizo from the Farmer’s Market a few weeks back so we used that. But you can found ground chorizo at the regular grocery store in the meat section.

What we love about this Mexican Style Smoked Shotgun Shells Recipe

Easy to make
Spicy
Loaded with flavor
Fun appetizer or main meal
Great for entertaining
Customizable

So go ahead grab some manicotti shells (if you can find them), chorizo, cheese, bacon, and your favorite BBQ rub. I used some Holy VooDoo Seasoning since it is a cajun seasoning but a fajita blend would work, too!

Watch the video for these Mexican Style Smoked Shotgun Shells!

How to make Smoked Shotgun Shells on a pellet grill or smoker

Grab out the ingredients you will be using. I used 1 lb ground chorizo sausage, garlic, jalapeno, cheese, BBQ rub, bacon, and spicy BBQ Sauce.

Step 1: Combine the ingredients

Grab our a medium sized mixing bowl and combine the chorizo sausage, cheese, diced jalapeno, garlic, and 1 TBSP of the BBQ rub.

Mix it all up by hand (using gloves is smart for spicy purposes) but I didn’t lol.

Step 2: Stuff the manicotti shells

TO make is a little bit easier I grabbed a strong Zip-lock bag and put the filling in there, cut an edge off, and piped the filling into the manicotti shells. (then use your fingers to finish them if necessary).

Step 3: Wrap them in bacon

Next grab the bacon ( I used about 11/2 pieces per shell). Wrap them and try to cover as much of the shell as possible. Then sprinkle with a bit more BBQ Rub.

Step 4: Smoke them

Transfer them out to the preheated smoker.

How long to smoke shotgun shells

We are a low and slow family over here. So I let these shotgun shells cook at 225 Degrees F for about 2 hours. The internal temperature of the chorizo sausage should be 160 Degrees F. Check the tenderness of the shells, too.

Step 5: Brush with BBQ Sauce

Next brush with your favorite spicy BBQ sauce tops and sides. Then close the lid and let smoke another 30 minutes until the bacon is crisp to your liking and the shells are tender. (See below notes for shell info)

Optional***You can juice up the smoker to 275 degrees to crisp up your bacon at the end but our bacon was thin and was cooked perfectly at 225 for the 2 hours.

Mexican Chorizo and Jalapeno stuffed manicotti shells

Can I make these Smoked Shotgun Shells ahead of time?

Absolutely! If you want to prepare them ahead of time just follow all of the steps and cover and refrigerate until you are ready to smoke them. This actually may help with the issue of having the ends of the shells be a little crispy in spots.

smoked shotgun shells after cooked on traeger

Help! My Smoked Shotgun Shells are still crispy!

I have read a lot of people having issues with their shells not being tender. We were cooking these low and slow for fun so weren’t in a time crunch. Some recipes go for a shorter time which may result in some crunchy spots. You can do a few things to help:

You can par-cook your noodles 1st for a few minutes.
Prepare these ahead of time and refrigerate for a few hours before cooking.
Make sure to cover as much of the shell as possible with the bacon.
Use a fatty/greasy meat in your recipe.
Place a pan of water under the shells while smoking.
I considered dipping my shells in water first but figured the chorizo was greasy enough. That is why we smoked these longer than most other shotgun shell recipes.
Let them roll a little longer until tender.

Make sure to PIN IT!

mexican smoked shotgun shells with chorizo pin

Follow Along!

Like this smoker recipe? make sure to check out my:

Garlic & Herb Smoked Shrimp

Chorizo Enchiladas

Bacon Breakfast Bubble Bake

I hope you enjoy these Traeger smoked shotgun shells as much as we do!