The Viral Smoked Shotgun Shells with Venison
A hearty venison appetizer featuring ground a venison and cheese mixture stuffed into manicotti shells, wrapped in bacon then smoked and lathered in your favorite barbecue sauce.
Shotgun shells have been all over my social media pages. Even my friends made them before me, so I HAD to jump on the bandwagon and try my own wild game version. I don’t know who originally came up with idea for smoked shotgun shells but they deserve a big pat on the back. For my recipe, we’re mixing ground venison with ground pork to add some fat and moisture then adding lots of cheese and little bit of spice. That mixture will get stuffed into a manicotti shell then wrapped in bacon. You will have to pop them in the fridge for a few hours to help soften up the shells; this is key! Then, they’ll get smoked low and slow for the ultimate smoky flavor. Lastly, all you’ll have to do is lather them in your favorite barbecue sauce and dig in!
Ground venison surprisingly seems to be the most requested cut to use in my recipes so here’s a good one for you guys! It’s a great appetizer for any party or event. You could also just make them for fun at home, no party required… which is totally what I did. These barbecue shotgun shells reheat well so you can cook them in advance which is a major win if you do plan to bring them to a party or host one yourself. I’ll be honest, when I made this recipe I could not stop eating them! My husband and I both were just drooling over them we loved them that much.
If You Like This Recipe You NEED To Try These:
- Easy Cheesy Venison Taco Cups
- One Skillet Mississippi Venison Meatballs
- Million Dollar VENISON Spaghetti
Smoked Venison Shotgun Shells
A hearty venison appetizer featuring ground a venison and cheese mixture stuffed into manicotti shells, wrapped in bacon then smoked and lathered in your favorite barbecue sauce.
- Prep Time: 2.5-4.5 hours
- Cook Time: 1-1.5 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 8–10 Servings As An Appetizer 1x
- Method: Smoker
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Venison
- ½ pound ground Pork
- 1 (8 ounce package) Cream Cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- 2 tablespoons Diced Jalapeños (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons BBQ Seasoning, Divided (more to taste if desired)
- 1 (1 pound) Package Thin Sliced Bacon or 2 (1 pound) packages Regular Cut Bacon
- 1 box Manicotti Shells, Uncooked
- 1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine ground venison, pork, cream cheese, shredded cheese, jalapeños and a tablespoon of bbq seasoning. Mix well then stuff mixture into manicotti shells.
- Wrap stuffed manicottis with bacon then set onto a wire rack. You can wrap with a whole slice or I did only a half slice for some of mine. Place onto a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for 2-4 hours to soften.
- When you’re reading to cook, preheat your pellet grill to 275 degrees.
- Remove the plastic wrap and dust shotgun shells with bbq seasoning over top.
- Place a wire rack onto the smoker and smoke for 1-1.5 hours, and then turn the heat up 350°. Brush the shells with barbecue sauce. Once the grill comes up to temp and the bacon fat has mostly rendered and is starting to crisp, you can also gently roll the shells and paint the other side if desired.
- Cook until the bacon is desired crispiness and make sure the internal temperature of the meat reaches at least 160°.
