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
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 have hundreds and hundreds of smoking recipes in every imaginable category on this site and all of them are absolutely free. The only thing I offer for sale are the recipes to my (2) amazing dry rubs and my one-of-a-kind barbecue sauce.
Please understand that this is how I support the newsletter, the website and all of the other stuff that we do here to promote the art of smoking meat.
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I recently purchased both recipes. The files did not come thru right but Jeff was prompt to get it fixed. I tried them both last weekend and they were a huge hit. I followed his burnt ends recipe to the letter and my neighbors thought I was some master chef! Thanks Jeff! -Susan T.
Thank you for the great advice. Followed your rib recipe and everyone loved them. Used your rub and sauce. On point! -Charles W.
Love the sauce and rub recipes. So far I have used them on beef ribs, pork ribs, and different chicken parts. Can't wait to do a beef brisket. Texas rub is great as well! -Peter S.
Love the original rib rub and sauce! We have an annual rib fest competition at the lake every 4th of July. I will say we have won a great percent of the time over the past 15 years so we are not novices by any means. However, we didn't win last year and had to step up our game! We used Jeff's rub and sauce (sauce on the side) and it was a landslide win for us this year! Thanks Jeff for the great recipes. I'm looking forward to trying the Texas style rub in the near future! -Michelle M.
I tried the rub on a beef brisket and some beef ribs the other day and our entire family enjoyed it tremendously. I also made a batch of the barbeque sauce that we used on the brisket as well as some chicken. We all agreed it was the best sauce we have had in a while. -Darwyn B.
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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.
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