Smoked Shotgun Shells
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Posted: 11/28/25
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Get ready for a mouthwatering twist on classic pasta with these Smoked Shotgun Shells! Manicotti shells are generously stuffed with a flavorful blend of Italian sausage, cream cheese, and gooey mozzarella. But here’s the twist – each shell is wrapped in savory bacon and smoked to perfection!
Smoked shotgun shells are a great appetizer that are a great addition to any game-day party, cookout, or even a family dinner! I mean, who would turn down a giant pasta shell stuffed with goodness that is wrapped in a piece of bacon? I know I wouldn’t! You’ve got to add this recipe for stuffed shells to your meal plan this week.
The funny resemblance to real shotgun shells is where this bacon wrapped delight gets its name. But it gets it’s incredible flavor from bacon, butter, cheese, and many other delicious ingredients. This smoked shotgun shells recipe is quickly climbing the ranks to one of our favorites along with Smoked Pork Carnitas and Smoked Meatloaf.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Serve this recipe as an appetizer, side dish, or main dish. Use it so many different ways since it is versatile and fun!
- Prep time for our shot gun shell recipe is just 30 minutes and then let the smoker do it’s magic. Plus this is a great recipe for beginners.
- These are a really unique dish to serve at parties. Your guests will be quite impressed and you’ll be able to brag on yourself a bit!
Ingredients For Smoked Shotgun Shells
- Italian sausage – You can use spicy sausage if you want to add a little more kick to these. If you bought Italian sausage that was encased, you can easily rip the casing off or squeeze the meat out to. If you want to switch it up and use chorizo, ground beef, ground turkey or ground chicken, you can!
- Manicotti – Manicotti shells are what give this recipe the resemblance of a shotgun shell! They are long, tubular pasta shells that you’ll stuff with delicious goodness. If you can’t find manicotti, an alternative is cannelloni noodles. If you’re really stuck, stuffing giant shells or rolling lasagna noodles will work in a pinch!
- Bacon – I recommend thick cut bacon so that it holds up as you wrap it around each manicotti pasta shell.
- Cream cheese – This is the key to making the filling super creamy! We typically use plain because it’s usually already in our fridge but a herby cream cheese would be out of this world!
- Mozzarella cheese – Make the filling extra cheesy with a big ol’ helping of shredded mozzarella. Buy a block and shred it yourself for the best flavor and meltability.
- Salted butter – Salted butter tastes best, but you can use unsalted butter if that’s all you have on hand. You will be melting the butter to baste the shells
- Grated parmesan – Parmesan and butter are mixed together in this recipe to make a delightful garlic parmesan topping.
- Garlic powder – Add some garlicky goodness to top each smoked shotgun shell. You can use minced garlic here instead.
- BBQ rub – Make your own BBQ rub or purchase our Gimme Some Grillin’ BBQ Rub. Feel free to use any other store-bought rub that you like too.
- Italian seasoning – A little Italian seasoning adds a wonderful depth of flavor.
How to Make Smoked Shotgun Shells
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add uncooked manicotti and cook for 4-6 minutes, just until the shells are partially cooked.
In a medium bowl combine ground Italian sausage, cream cheese, BBQ rub, and mozzarella cheese.
Set cooked noodles on a wire rack that is set on top of a baking sheet lined with foil. Stuff each shell with meat mixture by rolling a few ounces of the meat mixture into a cylinder shape and sliding it into the shell.
Wrap each stuffed manicotti shell with a slice of bacon. Tuck the ends of the bacon under the pasta tubes to prevent it from unraveling as it cooks, then set the bacon wrapped shells back on the cooling rack.
Place the baking pan with cooling rack of shotgun shells into the smoker and close the lid. Smoke the shells for about one and a half hours, until the internal temperature reaches 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just before the bacon wrapped shotgun shells are done smoking, mix together the melted butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
Brush the tops of each shell in the garlic butter when you remove the pan from the smoker, and then allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Pro Tips
- Make some Homemade BBQ Sauce to dip these shotgun shells in!
- Don’t forget to keep these shells on a cooling rack while they cook. It will keep them from sitting in the bacon grease while they’re in the smoker.
- The manicotti noodles will continue to cook in the smoker. So it is very important you only boil them for about 5 minutes so they don’t turn out mushy!
These smoked pasta shells are sure to be a crowd pleaser and they’re so easy to make, you will make them again and again! We just know you’re going to love them!
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Smoked Shotgun Shells
Transform traditional manicotti into a smoky sensation. Picture this – tender pasta filled with a delectable mixture of Italian sausage, creamy cream cheese, and melted mozzarella. Chef's kiss!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces manicotti shells
- 1 pound bacon thick cut works best
Shotgun Shell Filling
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 4 ounces plain cream cheese
- ⅔ cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 Tablespoon BBQ Rub
Garlic Parmesan Butter Base
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter melted
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your manicotti shells to the boiling water and cook for about 4-6 minutes until they are partially cooked.
- Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the noodles cook, combine the ground Italian sausage, cream cheese, BBQ Rub and mozzarella in a medium bowl. Mix until combined.
- Remove the partially cooked noodles from the water to a cooling rack set on top of a baking sheet lined with foil. Stuff each shell with a portion of the sausage mixture. Grab a couple of ounces of the sausage and roll it into a cylinder shape before sliding it inside the pasta shell. Press with your fingers to load the shells with the sausage mixture.
- Wrap each stuffed shell with a slice of bacon, tucking the ends under the stuffed shells to prevent the bacon from unraveling while they cook. Set the wrapped shells back on the cooling rack.
- Place the pan of shotgun shells on the smoker and close the lid. Smoke for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the sausage reads 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit and the bacon has rendered. Remove the pan of shotgun shells from the smoker.
- In a small bowl, combine butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese. Baste liberally across the tops of your finished shotgun shells. Allow the finished product to cool for 5 minutes or so before transferring it to your serving platter.
Tips
Fridge: Place leftover manicotti shotgun shells into an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezer: Place leftovers into an airtight container or freezer safe bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. The cheese may change texture a bit when reheated but it won’t be bad!
To reheat, place shells in a baking dish and heat in the oven until warmed all the way through. Cover the dish with foil to avoid drying them out.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 913kcal (46%), Carbohydrates: 33g (11%), Protein: 31g (62%), Fat: 72g (111%), Saturated Fat: 30g (188%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g, Monounsaturated Fat: 29g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 160mg (53%), Sodium: 1327mg (58%), Potassium: 497mg (14%), Fiber: 2g (8%), Sugar: 2g (2%), Vitamin A: 667IU (13%), Vitamin C: 2mg (2%), Calcium: 166mg (17%), Iron: 2mg (11%)
What Else Can I Add To The Shotgun Shell Filling?
You don’t want to add too much stuffing since it’s easy to over-fill the manicotti shells. But there are a few different fillings you can add like finely diced bell peppers, onions, or even jalapeños.
How To Bake Shotgun Shells
If you don’t have a smoker, you can easily bake this recipe in the oven! Follow all of the instructions up until it is time to cook. Set the oven to about 375 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to cook the bacon thoroughly and get everything warm and bubbly.
Storage And Reheating
Fridge: Place leftover manicotti shotgun shells into an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezer: Place leftovers into an airtight container or freezer safe bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. The cheese may change texture a bit when reheated but it won’t be bad!
To reheat, place shells in a baking dish and heat in the oven until warmed all the way through. Cover the dish with foil to avoid drying them out.
How To Serve Smoked Shotgun Shells
Serve these as a tasty appetizer before a dinner of Smoked Chicken Thighs and Baked Potatoes. Or maybe before a game day cookout of Blackstone sSmash Burger Sliders and French Fries.
You can even make a meal out of bacon wrapped shotgun shells! Serve with Smoked Mac and Cheese or Macaroni Salad.
If you are looking for other appetizers that would compliment manicotti shotgun shells, try Smoked Potato Skins or Armadillo Eggs as another bacon wrapped treat!
Round out your meal with Smoked Pumpkin Dump Cake or Smoked apples. Two delicious fall treats that we shamelessly make in our smoker year round!
More Great Bacon Recipes
- These Bacon Wrapped Asparagus are such a fabulous side dish to serve with a myriad of different main dish proteins or as an appetizer. No matter when you serve it, there won’t be any leftover.
- This Smoked Breakfast Fatty is one of our favorite things to make for breakfast on the weekends. It’s great to serve when hosting guests, too!
- How do you make lil’ smokies better? Add bacon of course! These BBQ Little Smokies with Bacon will now be the only way you ever serve them.
- Learn How to Make Bacon on the Blackstone. It’s super easy and you get the crispiest bacon every time!
Sherry Hays says
I was curious what keeps the manicotti shells from getting crunchy since there isn’t any sauce on them. Is the bacon enough to prevent this? Thank you!
Courtney says
Yes! The bacon does help!