The BEST Bacon Wrapped Armadillo Eggs (Quick and Easy To Make)

These armadillo eggs are the ultimate appetizer. Cream cheese filled jalapeno peppers are wrapped in savory pork sausage and crispy bacon, then all that deliciousness gets coated in some smoky BBQ sauce. They're lip-smacking good and they also happen to be so, so easy to make. In fact, just 15 minutes of prep work is all that's needed to put them together!

Ingredients You'll Need

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it's made almost entirely with refrigerator staples. As long as you have bacon and sausage then you probably have everything else you'll need to make 'em.

Anyway, here's everything you'll need to make these armadillo eggs:

• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 6 jalapeño peppers (trimmed with seeds removed)
• 1 lb. pork sausage
• 12 slices of bacon
• 2 tablespoon sweet rub
• ¾ cup BBQ sauce

Pretty simple stuff, right?

By the way, if you're picking up cream cheese from the store, grab an extra block or two so you can make this cream cheese dip or fruit cream cheese dip too. They're two more delicious appetizers that everyone will love!

Also, just so you know, you can use any extra jalapeños you end up with to make these fried jalapenos! So, make sure to put those to good use with that one. 

Ingredient Substitutions And Modifications

Now, I almost always make these armadillo eggs with the ingredients listed above, but you definitely can make a few changes to them and put your own spin on them.

Here are some of my recommendations on how to do that...

Switch Up The Sausage

This recipe calls for pork sausage since that's the way a traditional armadillo egg is made. But with that said, you can really use any kind of sausage you want. Breakfast sausage, turkey sausage, or chicken sausage will work well in this recipe. By the way, if you use breakfast sausage, you can use any extra that you have to make this sausage casserole!

Switch Up The Spice Blend

When it comes to the sweet rub, it's basically the same spices you would put on meat before you barbecue it. So, if you don't have sweet rub - and you don't feel like running to the store - you can improvise with spices you already have to make a perfect blend. So long as your rub seasoning has brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and a little cayenne, you're good to go.

Experiment With Different BBQ Sauces

As for the barbecue sauce, I usually use a mild sauce since I think this recipe is pretty loaded with flavor already. That said, you can use whatever BBQ sauce you prefer. I've tried this recipe with spicy BBQ, Carolina Gold, and even honey garlic BBQ sauce, and it always turns out delicious.

How To Make Armadillo Eggs

So, now it's time for the fun part, it's time to make these bacon wrapped armadillo eggs!

As I mentioned earlier, these armadillo eggs are super simple to make. You basically just stuff the jalapenos, then wrap them in the sausage and bacon, coat them in sauce, and let them cook in the oven.

So let's stop wasting time and get cooking!

Step 1: Prep Work

First, begin by preheating the oven to 375°F (190°C) and get out a wire rack and some aluminum foil for later.

Now, if you haven't done so already, trim the jalapenos so the inside is exposed and remove the seeds from them.

Then to make the filling, take out a medium bowl and add the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and 1 tablespoon of the sweet rub to it. Now mix these ingredients until they are fully combined, then stuff the cream cheese mixture in the prepared jalapenos.

Step 2: Wrap The Stuffed Jalapenos

Next, divide your raw pork sausage into 6 equal-sized balls Then, take one of your sausage balls and carefully wrap one of the cream cheese filling stuffed jalapeños with it, forming it into an egg shape.

Now follow this up by wrapping the sausage completely with two slices of bacon. After that, repeat the same process with the rest of the jalapenos, sausage, and bacon until you've used up all of the ingredients.

Step 3: Coat The Armadillo Eggs In BBQ Sauce

Up next, you're going to combine the barbeque sauce with the rest of the sweet rub mix in a small bowl. Then, put the armadillo eggs on the wire rack and place a sheet of parchment paper under it to catch any dripping sauce.

Once all of your eggs are lined up on the wire rack, brush each bacon wrapped armadillo egg with as much barbeque sauce as you want!

Step 4: Bake The Armadillo Eggs

Now that you coated the raw armadillo eggs in barbeque sauce, you can lightly tent them with aluminum foil and bake 'em for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and continue to bake for another 20 minutes, brushing the armadillo eggs with more sauce halfway through baking.

When your armadillo eggs are done cooking, allow them to cool briefly before serving. Then finally, serve these armadillo eggs by themselves or with a dipping sauce and enjoy!

How To Make Smoked Armadillo Eggs

Now, this recipe is great as is, but if you want an extra smokey flavor, you can make smoked armadillo eggs.

To make smoked armadillo eggs, preheat your smoker to 250°F, then place your sauce-covered armadillo eggs in the smoker away from direct heat and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 160°F, which should take about 2 hours.

Storage Instructions

If you end up with any leftovers, they're super easy to store. Just put them in an airtight container - or bag - and they'll stay good in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Alternatively, if you'd like to store them for even longer, you can freeze them. Again, just store them in an air-tight container - or sealable bag - and they'll stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Reheating Instructions

Once you're ready to eat these delicious armadillo eggs again, you can easily reheat them.

The best way to warm up them up is in the oven. Simply put them on a baking sheet and cook them at 375°F for about 10 minutes or until they're fully reheated.

Alternatively, if you have an air fryer, you can place your leftover armadillo eggs in your air fryer basket and then reheat them at 325°F for about 3-4 minutes, or until they're warmed through.

Lastly, to warm them up even quicker you can use your microwave. Just heat them up in 30-second increments until they're warm. Usually, this only takes 1-2 tries.

Final Thoughts

Well, that's how to make bacon wrapped armadillo eggs! This recipe is honestly the talk of every party I've ever served them at or brought them to. It's such a fun, different appetizer with so many delicious elements. After all, who doesn't love jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon and sausage? 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these armadillo eggs as much as I do. As always, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it went if you make 'em.

More Side Dish Recipes

If you're looking for more easy appetizer recipes you're in luck. We have a bunch of different ones on the blog for you to check out next.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Red Lobster stuffed mushrooms
• Baked beans with bacon
• Shotgun shells
• Bisquick sausage balls
• Sweet corn cake
• Cornbread pudding
• Sweet potato biscuits

Also, for more tasty recipes don't forget to follow us along on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. We post new ones on them every single day.