These hot sausage wrapped shrimp use ground sausage wrapped around the top of the shrimp with the tail left sticking out to create a tasty appetizer that is fit for any party or get together. Be sure to use my original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) to maximize the flavor.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Marinate Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45-60 minutes
- Smoker Temp: 240°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 160°F
- Recommended Wood: Cherry
- 1-2 lbs of large shrimp, 26/30 or larger, (peeled with tail left on)
- Jeff’s Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
- Jeff’s original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
- Ground sausage (hot or mild) (1 lb makes 12-16)
Please note that my rubs and barbecue sauce are now available in 2 formats– you can purchase the formulas and make them yourself OR you can buy them already made, in a bottle, ready to use.I purchased shrimp that still had the shell so I spent a little time peeling. Not my favorite job but it's worth it in the end.
If your shrimp are frozen, pour them into a colander and run cold water over them for a couple of minutes to thaw.
Peel the shrimp and leave the tail on if possible.
Place the peeled shrimp in a bowl and set aside.
I have used my original rub many times to season shrimp and it does a great job but this time it was calling for the Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) which is savory only (no sugar).
Pour an ample amount of my Texas style rub over the shrimp and stir them around to coat. If you have time, place the bowl in the fridge for an hour to give it time to get “happy”.
I tried this multiple ways and what seemed to work best for me was to make a ball of sausage about 1-inch in diameter then press it out flat and thin in my hand.
I then laid the shrimp onto the sausage and wrapped the sausage around the body of the shrimp.
Note: This is quick and easy if the shrimp are dry and the sausage is cold.
Sprinkle some of my original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) onto the sausage and lay the completed appetizers on a Weber grill pan or Bradley rack.
They are ready to smoke.
Setup your smoker for cooking at about 240°F with indirect heat.
If your smoker utilizes a water pan, fill it with hot water to create a moist environment.
For smoke, I chose some cherry but almost any light tasting wood will work such as pecan, apple or any fruit wood.
When your smoker is ready to go, place the shrimp appetizers on the smoker grate and let them cook for about 45 minutes with light smoke.
You may want to check the temperature at the center of the sausage with a Thermapen at around 30 minutes to make sure everything is going as it should.
The sausage needs to reach 160°F for it to be safe at which point the shrimp inside will be just perfect.
When the sausage wrapped shrimp appetizers are finished cooking, remove them from the smoker right away.
Serve these up with some warm barbecue sauce on the side.
- Wrap in bacon instead of sausage. I recommend very thin bacon.
- Use a meatloaf mixture instead of sausage
You can also order the formulas for my rubs and sauce and make these yourself at home. Grab those HERE and download immediately.
Smoking Meat: The Essential Guide to Real Barbecue – The book is full of recipes and contains tons of helpful information as well. Some have even said that “no smoker should be without this book”!
With more than 1000 reviews on Amazon.com and a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, it comes highly recommended and is a Bestseller in Barbecuing & Grilling books on Amazon.
Smoke, Wood, Fire: The Advanced Guide to Smoking Meat – Unlike the first book, this book does not focus on recipes but rather uses every square inch of every page teaching you how to smoke meat. What my first book touched on, this second book takes it into much greater detail with lots of pictures.
It also includes a complete, step-by-step tutorial for making your own smoked “streaky” bacon using a 100 year old brine recipe.
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Printable Recipe
Hot Sausage Wrapped Shrimp Appetizers
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs of large shrimp ((, 26/30 or larger, (peeled with tail left on)))
- Jeff’s Texas style rub recipe
- Jeff’s original rub recipe
- Ground sausage (((hot or mild) (1 lb makes 12-16)))
Instructions
- I purchased shrimp that still had the shell so I spent a little time peeling. Not my favorite job but it's worth it in the end.
- If your shrimp are frozen, pour them into a colander and run cold water over them for a couple of minutes to thaw.
- Peel the shrimp and leave the tail on if possible.
- Place the peeled shrimp in a bowl and set aside.
- Pour an ample amount of my Texas style rub over the shrimp and stir them around to coat. If you have time, place the bowl in the fridge for an hour to give it time to get "happy".
- I tried this multiple ways and what seemed to work best for me was to make a ball of sausage about 1-inch in diameter then press it out flat and thin in my hand.
- I then laid the shrimp onto the sausage and wrapped the sausage around the body of the shrimp. Note: This is quick and easy if the shrimp are dry and the sausage is cold.
- Sprinkle some of my original rub onto the sausage and lay the completed appetizers on a Weber grill pan or Bradley rack.They are ready to smoke.
- Setup your smoker for cooking at about 240°F with indirect heat.
- If your smoker utilizes a water pan, fill it with hot water to create a moist environment.
- For smoke, I chose some cherry but almost any light tasting wood will work such as pecan, apple or any fruit wood.
- When your smoker is ready to go, place the shrimp appetizers on the smoker grate and let them cook for about 45 minutes with light smoke.
- You may want to check the temperature at the center of the sausage with a Thermapen at around 30 minutes to make sure everything is going as it should.
- The sausage needs to reach 160°F for it to be safe at which point the shrimp inside will be just perfect.
- When the sausage wrapped shrimp appetizers are finished cooking, remove them from the smoker right away.
- Serve these up with some warm barbecue sauce on the side.
Great idea! These were amazing! I used jumbo shrimp and my own sausage and spiced it up with Jamaican Jerk seasoning. Smoked in a full size aluminum pan on a wire rack. Temp was 235 and it took 3 hrs. Delicious! Wish I could load picture.
Ground Sausage (Hot or Mild) – are you working with Italian sausage? Thanks.
I use 1 lb chubs of ground breakfast sausage like Jimmy Dean, etc. Hot, Mild, Sage, Maple, etc. would all work fine.
Can you grill it or bake it instead? And if so how long
Where do i join I'm a jeff phillips worshiper…. So sign me up
Made this tonight with thawed frozen shrimp. The amount of sausage you need to coat the shrimp simply overpowers the shrimp flavor. If it was a 2 to 1 ratio of shrimp to sausage it would/could be great. But you end up with a 3 to 1 sausage to shrimp. I love sausage so it was all good. This was my test hop for a future get together. Won't be doing it.
A note of caution; follow the directions. When it say medium to large shrimp do just that. Using jumbo shrimp makes it a meal and the amount of sausage used will be greatly increased. Cooking increases also.
This does however, give you more room for inserting a probe.
This is fantastic and the shrimps tail is a noteworthy handle.
Not so much a comment as a question. Can't find the answer in the forum. In this recipe you say to check the temp on the pork but with such a thin layer that has to be hit and miss. Is it best to just have a placebo pork ball on the rack and measure the temp on that?
Great question!
I try to eyeball an area where the meat is thick in between the “C” shape of the shrimp. A placebo is not a bad idea but I would still check some of the appetizers and make sure the numbers seem to jive.
Good point