These smoked bbq Armadillo Eggs are easy to cook and make a great appetizer or snack for game day or a party. They’re also keto and low carb friendly.

armadillo eggs - jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar, wrapped in sausage and brushed with bbq sauce

How to make an Armadillo Egg

I’ve been having fun with my Big Green Egg trying new smoker recipes. Today I’m bringing one to you! Although, if you don’t have a smoker, fear not, because you could also bake these or throw them on the grill.

But first things first, let me explain what this dish even is since the name doesn’t immediately give it away.

armadillo eggs being smoked on the big green egg

What is an Armadillo Egg?

An “Armadillo Egg” is basically like a jalapeno popper (a jalapeno stuffed with a cream cheese mixture) then wrapped in ground sausage and then smoked (or if you don’t have a smoker, you could bake it).

Some people then go one step further and wrap the sausage “egg” in a bacon weave. As you can see from my photos, I didn’t do this (this time) but it would definitely be delicious!

ground sausage being wrapped around a stuffed jalapeno

Then you finish your “egg”, with or without bacon, by brushing on some BBQ sauce.

There are definitely a lot of variations you could try within this. You could mix up what you put inside the jalapeño but for this recipe, I just stick with cream cheese, shredded cheddar and some seasonings.

These are a fun dish to have for parties or get togethers as an appetizer or snack. They are great for tailgating or sport watching parties too.

In my opinion, they sort of bring a little “wow” factor and who’s going to complain about what is basically a jalapeno popper stuffed meatball?

Not me, that’s for sure.

So make ’em, enjoy ’em and bon appetite!

armadillo eggs made of stuffed jalapeno poppers wrapped in sausage

For smoker recipes, check these out here.

What I Used to Make Armadillo Eggs

Big Green Egg | Apple Wood Chips | Cambro Prep Container | Hardcore Carnivore Red | Lillie’s Q Carolina Sauce

Armadillo Eggs

Author: Kayla Demint
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Yield: 6 1x

Print Recipe

Description

Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar then wrapped in sausage and seasoned with BBQ rub that is then smoked and brushed with BBQ sauce.

Ingredients

Scale

6 jalapeños
6 oz. cream cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 lb sausage (mild, Italian, breakfast)
1 tbsp bbq rub (I used Hardcore Carnivore Red)
1 cup BBQ sauce of choice
additional rub (optional)
6-12 slices of bacon (optional)

Instructions

Take the cream cheese out of the fridge so it can come to room temp (this makes it easier to work with). Mix with cheddar cheese and rub to combine. Set aside.
There’s two ways to do the jalapeno part of this: either just slice off the stems of the jalapeños and then use the opposite end of a spoon or fork to core the jalapeno (scrape out the ribs and seeds) OR slice the jalapeños in half, remove the stem, ribs and seeds.
Stuff the jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture. If you sliced them in half in the previous step, just put two of the halves together.
Cut your sausage into 6 even pieces and roll out. Put the jalapèno popper on top and then form the sausage around it. You want to make sure the sausage is completely covering the jalapeno.
(Optional) Season with more of the bbq rub.
(Optional) Wrap the sausage/jalapeno in a bacon weave. (I didn’t do this, as you can see in my photos).
Heat Smoker to 250 degrees for oven to 350 degrees. I used apple wood for this but you could use whatever you prefer (oak, cherry, hickory, etc.). Place the armadillo eggs over indirect heat and cook at 250 degrees for about 2 hours (or 30 minutes in oven) until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
Brush BBQ sauce on bacon and cook for another 5-10 minutes at 250 until the sauce thickens some (it should almost look like it’s glistening). If you want the bacon to be crispier, crank up the temp to 400 degrees (or broil in oven) instead of 250. You can also put these under the broiler, if you want to get the bacon even crispier.
Serve warm with extra BBQ sauce.

Notes

I think it’s easiest to roll out the sausage on plastic wrap and use the edges of the plastic wrap to form the sausage around the stuffed jalapeno. This also makes it less messy.

Category: Appetizers & Snacks
Cuisine: BBQ

Keywords: smoked meats, armadillo eggs, big green egg, smoker recipes