Bacon Wrapped Armadillo Eggs
On January 03, 2023 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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These bacon wrapped armadillo eggs are a happy little jalapeno popper meatball mashup. They’re filling enough to be a main dish, but also portable enough to serve as appetizers, snacks, or tailgating munchies. If you have a BBQ need, these armadillo eggs are here to please!
What Are Armadillo Eggs?
Armadillo eggs are a Texas BBQ staple. Cream cheese-stuffed jalapenos are wrapped in pork sausage and smoked over oak wood. Each pitmaster has their own secrets to making the best armadillo eggs. Some fill them with a special blend of cheeses, some season their sausage with a secret blend of spices, and others brush theirs with BBQ sauce during the smoking process.
For this recipe, I used classic Hey Grill Hey ingredients and added a little more pork goodness to the armadillo eggs by making them bacon-wrapped armadillo eggs.
Ingredients for Armadillo Eggs
Now that you know the goodness that awaits you with this recipe, here’s what you’ll need to make them.
- 1 pound pork sausauge
- 12 slices bacon
- 6 jalapenos
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub
- 1 cup Hey Grill Hey Everything BBQ Sauce
You can purchase both Sweet Rub and Everything BBQ Sauce from the Hey Grill Hey Store. If you don’t have any on hand when you go to make this recipe and you can’t wait for delivery, you can make both the rub and sauce from scratch using my recipes for Best Sweet Rub and Kansas City BBQ Sauce.
How to Make Armadillo Eggs
Alright folks, let’s get into making these tasty treats! Here’s how to make armadillo eggs.
- Preheat. Fire up your favorite smoker (offset, pellet, electric, whatever floats your boat), and preheat to 250 degrees F with your favorite hardwood like hickory, oak, or maple)..
- Stuff the jalapenos. Combine ingredients for the filling (cream cheese, in a small bowl and spoon equal amounts into the cored and seeded jalapenos.
- Wrap in sausage. Wrap the stuffed jalapenos with sausage, ensuring that each jalapeno is evenly covered. Roll back and forth to form them into an egg shape.
- Wrap in bacon. Next, wrap each sausage covered jalapeno with 1-2 pieces of bacon. Tuck the ends of the bacon to secure. You can also use a toothpick if needed, but remember to remove these beforing serving them to your guests.
- Smoke. Place the bacon wrapped armadillo eggs directly on the grill grates of the preheated smoker. Close the lid, and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Sauce. For soft bacon, remove the armadillo eggs from the smoker, brush with Everything BBQ Sauce, and serve immediately. For crispier bacon, brush on the BBQ sauce, increase the heat of the grill to 400 degrees F, and cook for 2-3 minutes to set the sauce and crisp the bacon.
- Enjoy. Rest for 5 minutes and serve warm. Dig in! These are SO GOOD!
How Long to Smoke Armadillo Eggs
It takes approximately 2 hours to smoke armadillo eggs with your smoker running steady at 250 degrees F.
This time may vary from person to person and smoke to smoke. If your sausage or bacon is thicker, plan on a bit more time to fully cook the meat. Rather than watching the clock while these are on the smoker, invest in a reliable meat thermometer and continue to smoke until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Notes for Making Armadillo Eggs
- The jalapeno will retain a little crunch. Not like a raw jalapeno, but like an al dente noodle. Soft, with a little texture. If you want completely soft jalapenos, I recommend roasting them for 4-5 minutes at 450 degrees F before seeding, stuffing, and using in this recipe.
- The bacon will be soft-cooked bacon. Not soggy bacon, but not crispy either. The fat will be almost completely rendered because of the long cook time and you’ll just be able to bite right through the bacon. If you want crispy bacon, crank up the heat in your smoker to 400 degrees F for the last few minutes of cooking, or place them under the broiler in your oven for 2-3 minutes.
- If you don’t have a smoker, these can be done in the oven. Place the armadillo eggs on an elevated rack above a baking sheet (I use a flat cooling rack) and follow the same time and temperature guidelines written in the recipe.
Armadillo Eggs Recipe
Making good food should be easy, and Hey Grill Hey is here to help! Over at the Hey Grill Hey Store, we have sauces, rubs, and more to save you time and energy when you’re busy at the grill. Check it out today!
This post was originally published in October 2018. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Bacon Wrapped Armadillo Eggs
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork sausage
- 12 slices bacon
- 6 jalapenos stems, core, and seeds removed
- 1 cup Everything BBQ Sauce recipe link in notes
Armadillo Egg Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 Tablespoon Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub recipe link in notes
Instructions
- Preheat. Fire up the smoker and preheat to 250 degrees F. I used cherry wood for this recipe, but any other smoking hardwood would work (hickory, oak, maple, etc.)
- Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and 1 Tablespoon of Sweet Rub.
- Fill the jalapenos. Spoon some of the cream cheese filling into each of the cored and seeded jalapenos. Use the back of the spoon to press the filling all of the way into the jalapeno.
- Wrap in sausage. Wrap each jalapeno with 1/6 of the pork sausage. Use your hands to ensure the sausage is covering the entire jalapeno and roll back and forth into an egg shape.
- Wrap in bacon. Wrap each sausage covered jalapeno with bacon. It will likely take two pieces per armadillo egg. Secure with toothpicks, if needed.
- Smoke. Place the bacon wrapped armadillo eggs on the smoker over indirect heat and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees F. This usually takes around 2 hours, depending on the size of your armadillo eggs.
- Baste with BBQ sauce. If you want soft, bite through bacon, brush the armadillo eggs with Everything BBQ Sauce and serve immediately. If you want crispy bacon, brush the eggs with sauce and then increase the heat to 400 degrees F and cook for a few minutes. You can also transfer the eggs to a baking sheet and place them under your oven broiler for 1-2 minutes.
- Enjoy. Remove the armadillo eggs from the smoker a rest for 5 minutes before serving warm.
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Sweet Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Sweet Rub Recipe
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Everything BBQ Sauce
- Make it from scratch using this similar RECIPE: Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are a big hit. I’ve done them with many different ways. Breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, Brats, ground beef, even Venison. All of them got great reviews. They are a little “Labor intensive”, but if you like seeing people enjoy what you’ve made, make some of these.
I didn’t make them but my Granddaughter did on her first time smoking anything. She asked about smoking which I do and I told her to check your site for good guidance. A few days after she returned to Colorado she had a smoke tube and a remote thermometer and smoked them on their gas grill. She sent me pictures as she prepped a double batch just as you did in your video. As they smoked she asked for tips along the way and her proud Grandpa tried to help. When I knew they would have been done I asked how if she had tasted them yet. Her response “Yes!! It turned out so good and everyone loved it!!” She sent pics and the finished product was beautiful. Thank you for making an 80 year old man look good for his Granddaughter.
My family loved these! Husband forgot to add the BBQ sauce at the end tho, Whoops! But I’m sure they only could have tasted better. Thanks for these =D
What is the seasoning you used? Want to make these for tomorrow night dinner.
My sweet rub. You can make it yourself: https://heygrillhey.com/best-sweet-rub-grilled-pork-chicken/
Love these things!! I did a little experiment and spliced in a little beef DNA -added some of the point of my left over brisket, chopped fine- to the cheese mixture. And being that guy who says,” If a little is good, more has to be better, right?”, I mixed some chopped brisket into the sausage as well. Wow, did it take it up a notch!! These are now my go to game day finger foods!
Have you ever tried making these with ground beef instead of sausage? We get a half cow butchered each year and always have a TON of ground beef around so this seems like a good way to use some of it.
Nothing against sausage (it’s the BOMB) but just thinking ground beef may be an alternative that would be just as good (if seasoned properly)
Ground beef could be great!
I used 1.5 lbs sausage and 1lbs burger to double the recipe so good!!!
I am using a combo of sausage and ground beef today.
Where can I find the tool that you used to clean out the inside of the jalapeno? I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one.
Unfortunately they don’t make it anymore!
Can these be made in an Air Fryer…..if so what temp would we use…..The Air Fryer is so handy and quick…let me know your thoughts….thanks in advance.
I actually don’t know! I don’t have an air fryer and haven’t ever experimented with one.
Can’t wait to try!! One question could I make up ahead of time and then freeze them before cooking?
I don’t see why not!
Perfect Saturday Covid Quarantine Project!!! Thanks!!!