What could be more incredible than smokey bites of bacon, sausage, and cheese? Smoked pig shots are definitely one of the most fun appetizers we make in the smoker and are a huge crowd-pleaser. I’m just gonna tell you straight up that you should at least double this recipe, cause this is gonna fly off the tray.
🍽️ Why This Works
Easy to assemble. Some appetizers take hours and hours to pull off, but once you get into a rhythm, this one comes together quickly. Wrap bacon around a base of sausage to form a “shot glass”, then fill it with a yummy cheese mixture. That’s it! Fill a disposable full of shots and pop it in the smoker.
Unique and Fun. No one else is bringing smoked pig shots to the party; I can almost guarantee. Your appetizer will give everyone something to talk about.
Amazing flavor. The layers of flavor here are incredible. You aren’t going to be disappointed by this simple, fun dish. Especially once we add that smoke element. Mercy.
Fast. With a total time of about one hour in the smoker, this is a wonderful recipe for times when you’re already a bit hungry.
🐷 Ingredients
📝 Ingredient Notes
Cream Cheese – I always recommend you compare ingredients between brand name and store brand and make sure you are getting a good brand. Sometimes, the generics add fillers you do not want or need. Some of the generics are fine, so just check the label.
Boursin – You can find this at your local warehouse store for excellent prices, or find it in your grocery store’s gourmet cheese section. It’s a flavored soft cheese spread and comes in several flavor options such as garlic, or chive. Boursin is a brand name; it may also be called Gournay, depending on where you live.
Jalapeńo – You can always bump up the heat by going with an even more aggressive pepper such as habeńero, Aleppo, or poblańo. Know your guests.
Smoked Sausage – You can use any variety of smoked sausage you like. It comes in beef, turkey, and even chicken. Some are flavored with spices, heat, or apples. We chose the mild country smoked sausage variety. Kielbasa also works.
Bacon – Thick-cut bacon is required to hold up in the smoker and create the effect of a shot glass.
Seasoning – Any BBQ Dry Rub will work, just use your favorite! You could go with a sweet seasoning mix and maple bacon or mix things up however you like. If you have leftover Pulled Pork Rub, this is a great time to use that up.
BBQ Sauce – Again, use your favorite.
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
Sharp Knife | Whatever you would use to slice bacon in half and slice up the sausage. Nothing fancy.
Disposable Aluminum Pan | We love buying these in bulk from a warehouse store to use in the smoker, but you can definitely pick them up in most grocery stores as well.
Plastic Bag | You can use a plastic baggy with a zipper or a disposable piping bag. Either works perfectly!
Basting Brush | Use this to cover your pig shots in BBQ sauce at the end of the cooking process.
Smoker | Should you be in the market for a smoker, we highly recommend the Big Green Egg. If you don’t have a smoker, you can make a similar recipe in the oven. You can also use a gas grill, charcoal grill, or pellet grill equipped with a lid and a smoker box.
Wood Chips | Whatever you have on hand will work. Just ease up a little if you have hickory or mesquite, which tend to be a bit more intense. For a milder smoke flavor opt for fruit wood such as apple or cherry. The latter will give the bacon a deeper color. Consult our printable smoking wood chart for more options!
🔥 Instructions
Step One: Preheat the smoker or grill to 350°F. Slice the bacon in half.
Step Two: Cut up the sausage into 1/2″ or 3/4″ rounds. These will form the base of your shot glass.
Step Three: Wrap each sausage slice with a half slice of bacon, lining up the edges so that the bacon forms a shot glass with the sausage as a base. Use toothpicks to hold everything in place. Place the pig shots in the disposable pan. We’ll slather them with BBQ sauce for the last minutes of smoking so it’s way cleaner to use a pan than placing them directly on the grill grates or using a cooling rack.
Step Four: Combine the cream cheese, boursin, and seasoning using a hand mixer.
Step Five. Fill a bag with the cream cheese mixture and cut off one corner so that you can squeeze the filling into each bacon-wrapped sausage. It’s so much easier than using a spoon.
Step Six. Put those pig shots in the smoker and walk away. Come back 45-60 minutes later, when the bacon is cooked through and starting to crisp up.
Step Seven. Use your pastry brush to cover each smoked pig shot in BBQ sauce and let it caramelize in the smoker. This will take 5-7 minutes.
❗ Recipe Tips and Tricks
Soften the cream cheese to make mixing it and piping it significantly easier. You can set it out on the counter for one or two hours before you plan to make the recipe.
If you want to use shredded cheese instead, use one cup. Shredded cheese is easier and a bit cheaper. To make sure the shredded cheese melts, shred it yourself.
The filling should fill about 12-15 pig shots. If you are cooking more, always double the recipe. Thin bacon doesn’t work as it won’t hold up the “glass” of the the shot glass.
🧑🍳 Storage and Reheating
You have leftover smoked pig shots? That’s amazing! Pop those babies in the refrigerator in an airtight container or freezer-quality storage bag and they will keep for up to five days.
Microwave the leftovers for easy reheating. Start with thirty seconds and add time as needed until they are hot and bubbly.
You can also stick them in the oven on a sheet pan at 400ºF and reheat them until hot and bubbly. A skillet would also work but require more hands-on involvement.
Freezing pig shots will change the texture of the cream cheese filling so that they aren’t fun to eat anymore. We do not recommend it.
Additions and Substitutions
If you can’t find the longer sausage links in the flavor you want, you can always buy the smoked sausages intended for a bun as long as they are thick enough to form a good base.
Bacon, smoked sausage, and Boursin all come in several flavors! Each time you make smoked pig shots, try different flavor combinations to keep it interesting.
Switch up the dry rub! Besides the numerous store-bought options you can easily make your own at home. After all, it is just a matter of mixing the ingredients in a small bowl.
Mix other tasty ingredients into the cream cheese filling. Some classic additions that complement the yummy pork shots are jalapenos, sour cream, and sharp cheddar cheese.
Try our all-purpose BBQ rub for grilling, the Yucatan dry rub full of lovely Mexican flavors, or the Java dry rub for a subtle coffee flavor to make things interesting.
Going for different BBQ sauces will also create amazing variations for this recipe. Pretty much any combination will work.
This sweet and spicy BBQ sauce will add some more heat to the recipe. For a tangy kick, the cherry bourbon BBQ sauce is an excellent choice!
Or, enjoy some boozy flavors with the whiskey BBQ sauce, or the smoked pumpkin bourbon BBQ sauce.
The secret is that all BBQ sauces include a sweetener such as brown sugar or honey that will caramelize during the last minutes of cooking providing a wonderfully sticky texture and delicious taste.
Serving Suggestions
Want to make your pig shots even more decadent? Drizzle with extra BBQ sauce or other toppings such as diced pineapple, sun-dried tomatoes, and bell peppers before serving.
What should I serve with Smoked Pig Shots? A better question is, “What can’t you serve with smoked pig shots?”! This handy finger food is a perfect addition to any party spread and pairs well with most BBQ sides.
Classic side dishes like grilled bourbon peach baked beans and grilled mac and cheese are always met with enthusiasm.
It’s also super easy to make other smoked sides while the pig shots smoke. Smoked fingerling potatoes, smoked corn on the cob, smoked asparagus bundles, and smoked butternut squash are wonderful choices to have for a BBQ feast.
You could also serve pig shots as your main dish for a meal at home. It’s a little decadent, but hey! I say go for it. Add a good beer, and maybe a salad with vinaigrette like this grilled peach and arugula salad to brighten things up a bit.
Or just nom away. It’s mostly protein, after all.
More Grilled & Smoked Appetizers
Everybody loves bacon, and bacon goes with everything. Try grilled bacon & Brussels sprouts kebabs, grilled chicken livers wrapped in bacon, bacon-wrapped grilled bison meatballs, and grilled bacon-wrapped tater tots for more fun BBQ snacks with bacon.
Smoking or grilling any kind of sausage will give you a fantastic meal. We love making grilled kielbasa, smoked hot dogs, hot dog burnt ends, and smoked little smokies when we want something fast.
Check out our favorite grilled appetizers for more ideas.
❓ Recipe FAQ
One hour of cooking time. These need to be in the smoker for about one hour. Plan about twenty minutes for prep and assembly, depending on how many you plan to make. If your electric smoker has a maximum temperature of 295ºF, you will need to increase the cooking time and just keep an eye on the bacon for doneness.
Yes and no. You could definitely assemble these ahead of time and refrigerate them a day or two ahead. I would just make them and put them directly in the disposable pan and then cover them tightly with aluminum foil or press-n-seal. Then just pull them out of the refrigerator, remove the cover, and smoke them on the day of your event.
Yes, you can! Air fry the pig shots at 400ºF for about 10 minutes until the bacon crisps up.
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Smoked Pig Shots
Equipment
- Smoker
- Aluminum Pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb Smoked Sausage
- 1 lb Bacon thick sliced
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 5 oz Boursin Cheese choose your favorite flavor
- ½ cup BBQ Sauce might need more if you want it saucy
- 1 tbsp seasoning mix use your favorite bbq seasoning
Instructions
- Heat the smoker to 350°F. Once heated up, use a smaller piece of wood or wood chips of your choice. Always remember hickory and mesquite is the strongest and the fruit woods will be the mildest.
- Slice the smoked sausage into ½-¾ inch pieces. Cut the bacon into pieces big enough to go around the 1 inch pieces of sausage with a little bit of overlap so you can push the toothpick through.
- Place the pig shots in the disposable pan. We'll slather them with BBQ sauce for the last minutes of smoking so it's way cleaner to use a pan then placing them directly on the grill grates.
- In the mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, Boursin cheese and seasoning. Once combined, put all of the cheese mix into a pipping bag or Ziploc bag and snip the corner of the bag to allow you to pipe the filling into each bacon wrapped sausage shot.
- Place the pig "shot glasses" on the smoker for 45-60 minutes, or until the bacon is finished cooking and getting a bit of a crispy exterior. About 5-7 minutes before they are finished, brush your favorite bbq sauce over all of the shots and allow to caramelize. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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