Traeger Smoked Pig Shots Recipe

Name: Traeger Smoked Pig Shots Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 6 links smoked sausage; 1.5 lb cold, thick-cut bacon (cut in half); 2 tbsp Historic BBQ Red seasoning; 2 tbsp Williamson Bros. BBQ sauce; 8 oz cream cheese (softened); 1/2 cup crushed pineapple; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup cheddar cheese; 2 tbsp pickled jalapeno (diced)

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Smoked Pig Shots on the Traeger are the latest and greatest appetizer! Bacon “shot glasses” filled with smoked sausage, cream cheese and more! These are great for any summer barbecue, tailgating or holiday get-together.

The fun thing about Pig Shots is you can customize the cream cheese filling to whatever you love! I made two kinds of filling: sweet & savory! They were both DELICIOUS!!!

Ingredients to make Smoked Pig Shots

The basic ingredients are pretty simple – the add-ins are where you can have some fun! Here’s what you need:

6 links smoked sausage – you can also use kielbasa or ring bologna
1.5 pound COLD bacon (cut strips of bacon in half) – it wouldn’t hurt to freeze the bacon for just 30 minutes before handling as these pieces of bacon get super flimsy as they warm up.
- I would also recommend using thick-cut bacon so as it stands up better for the shot glass effect.
2 Tablespoons Historic Red bbq rub – this is MY favorite bbq seasoning/rub – but most folks that own a Traeger have a drawer FULL of seasonings – so use your favorite.
2 tbsp Williamson Bros BBQ Sauce – again – it’s MY favorite – it’s very light with lots of seasonings – and everybody that tries it agrees – but you should use your favorite!
8 oz package cream cheese (softened)

Sweet Variety

1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1/4 cup brown sugar

Savory Variety

1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp diced jalapeños

Instructions to make smoked pig shots

As goes anything you smoke – low and slow is the way to go (hey that rhymes!). And – because of the shot glasses you have to make – it does take about 30 minutes of prep time – but the end product is most definitely worth it!

Let’s get started:

Preheat your Traeger to 300ºF – make sure that hopper is full as well!
Make your bacon shot glasses
- Slice sausage into half inch thick rounds
- Wrap each sausage with a a half-slice of bacon (meat-side down) around the sausage
- Secure the bacon with a toothpick
Place your shot glasses on a grill pan – I found it was much easier to put them on this rather than the grill grates. You don’t have to turn these or move them – so the grill pan makes it much easier to take them on and off the grill.
Sprinkle the shot glasses with your bbq seasoning and brush the outside of the shots with a little bbq sauce.

Mix your cream cheese with fillings:
- Set aside a small bit of your filling ingredients to use as a topping
- In a medium bowl, mix together half cream cheese, pineapple (drained) and brown sugar. This filling was runnier than the other variety and made a bit more filling.
- In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, cheese and chopped jalapeno. This was much thicker and you might need to use a hand mixer.
Place cream cheese mixture into separate small ziploc bags. Trim corner with scissors to make a piping bag.
Pipe cream cheese mixture into shot glasses. Top with set aside toppings and sprinkle more BBQ seasoning on top of the shot glass.
- If the smoker is not up to temp, refrigerate these pig shots in the fridge until the smoker is ready
Smoke at 300ºF for 80 minutes. I checked the Pig Shots at 70 – 80 – 90 minutes and trust me – at 300º – 80 minutes is the sweet spot!
Dig in!!!

Do I need to have a Traeger?

Heck no! You can make these on any smoker – or even in your oven or gas/charcoal grill. For the other grills and oven, see the Tips & Tricks section.

Varieties of Pig Shots

These pig shots are nuggets of cheesy goodness! I made two varieties but I kept thinking of a bunch more ideas of how I could mix it up. Here’s a few ideas to add in with your cream cheese:

Pizza Piggies – diced pepperoni & mozzarella
Buffalo – diced shredded chicken breast, buffalo wing sauce, sharp cheddar cheese
Mexicali – corn, finely diced tomatoes, Tajin fajita seasoning
Shrimp – diced shrimp, diced jalapeno, crushed pineapple
Sweet & Crunchy – honey, chopped walnuts
Fancy – Carmelized onion, roasted garlic, gruyere

Tips & Tricks

How many pig shots does this make?

This batch – using six smoked sausage links – made about 35 individual shots which required 1.5 packages of bacon. I would say folks would eat 3-5 shots – depending on what else you’re serving with them.

Can I make Pig Shots in the Oven?

Yes! You can use the same temp as I did (300º for 80 min) or bump up the temp to 350º for 45-60 minutes.

Can I make these on a gas or charcoal grill?

Yes! Same as above – try and cook them low on indirect heat so they won’t burn or cook too quickly. See the next question to add smoke!

What if I want more smoky flavor?

Smoke Tubes are your best friend! You can add these to a gas or charcoal grill. Fill them with wood pellets and light with a butane lighter. Then add the tubes to your grill and keep the lid shut. This will add more smokey yum to the shots!

How do you store & reheat leftovers?

Store in airtight glass containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The air fryer or microwave work great for reheating. They heat up very quickly – so 40 seconds in the microwave or 3-4 min in the air fryer. I found the microwave was just as successful and didn’t continue to cook the shots.

What variety of pellets should I use?

There are many flavors of pellets that work in your Traeger pellet grill. I keep it simple and always use the Traeger Signature Blend which is a blend of Maple and Cherry. That said if you’re looking for something specific for pork – the best are Hickory or Apple.

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