Looking for an easy app with sweet heat? Try my Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers with Bourbon BBQ Glaze! Jumbo shrimp sit on a jalapeño slice, wrapped in thin bacon, seasoned with Bobby T’s AP rub, and grilled on the Recteq Bullseye. Finished with a buttery bourbon BBQ glaze, these poppers are crispy, tender, and packed with flavor—perfect for game days, cookouts, or impressing your crowd

Bourbon Glazed Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers

This recipe is packed with texture and flavor—crisp bacon, juicy shrimp, and sticky-sweet BBQ sauce in every bite. Customize the heat level with sweet peppers or go bold with Reapers. Ready in just an hour, it’s perfect for quick, crowd-pleasing eats

The Ingredients

Start making your shopping list, here’s what you need to make these Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers With Bourbon BBQ Glaze.

Jalapeños. These spicy peppers pair beautifully with the shrimp. Because this dish cooks for so long, the peppers' spiciness tones down to a mild bite.
Large shrimp. Shrimp’s neutral flavor makes it the perfect vehicle for whatever seasoning blend you put on it. We chose large shrimp that had already been deveined and cleaned.
Thin-cut bacon. When smoked, the bacon renders on the pit, giving the shrimp poppers a beautiful kiss of bacon grease. You’ll want to purchase thin-cut bacon, as thick-cut won’t cook simultaneously with the shrimp.
BBQ Bob’s Alpha Barbecue Rub. This is one of BBQ Bob’s first rubs, and while he won’t tell us exactly what’s in it, I can tell you it’s absolutely delicious. It includes cumin, salt, pepper, and even a hint of ginger.
BBQ Bob’s Momma T’s Bourbon BBQ Sauce. This barbecue sauce contains a great balance of brown sugar and bourbon. It works great on ribs, roasts, chicken wings, and of course, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers.

The Smoker Setup

Here’s the main equipment I used for this recipe. More of my grilling favorites can be found in the Equipment and Tools section.

Pellet grill/smoker. These Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers were smoked on the Recteq Bullseye. This was my first time using this grill, but I have a feeling it’ll become one of my favorites. This pit allows you to bake, sear, dehydrate, smoke, and grill! It’s the perfect addition to your summer lineup.
Charcoal. I used Royal Oak Charcoal Hickory Blend Hardwood Pellets to fuel the grill. This is a delicious combination that infused the bacon with the perfect hint of hickory. I love this brand because it gives you a pure smoke every time - no fillers!

The Process for Making Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers

Watch the video to see how Bobby T and I made these Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers With Bourbon BBQ Glaze. For now, here’s a brief rundown of how this dish came to be.

Fire up the grill. We stoked the Recteq Bullseye with Royal Oak Charcoal Hickory Blend Hardwood Pellets and fired it up to 275℉.
Prep the jalapeños. We prepped the jalapeños by removing the stem portion and cutting the peppers in half. We removed all of the seeds and chopped each pepper in half again so we had decent-sized chunks that would fit nicely over the shrimp.
Assemble the poppers. To assemble the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers, we put the thick portion of the shrimp into the jalapeño chunks. Then, we wrapped the shrimp and pepper with a slice of thin-cut bacon and set them in a baking tray. The best part of this recipe is that you don’t need toothpicks because the weight of the pepper and shrimp will hold down the bacon!
Add seasoning. Once we assembled the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers, we seasoned them with BBQ Bob’s Alpha Barbecue Rub.
Start smoking. We set the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers directly on the Recteq Bullseye grates and let them cook for 35 minutes, then flipped them and let them go for 10 more minutes.
Glaze the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers. We mixed the butter and BBQ Bob’s Momma T’s Bourbon BBQ Sauce and set it on the grill to warm for 5 minutes. Then, once the bacon was crisp, we basted the poppers with our bourbon BBQ glaze. We closed the grill and let the glaze set for 2-3 minutes, then pulled the shrimp off the grill. Our shrimp had a total cook time of about 55 minutes. The only thing left was to let it cool and dig in!

The Results

These Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers were the perfect bite! The spiciness of the jalapeño toned down as it smoked, giving the poppers just a hint of heat. BBQ Bob’s Momma T’s Bourbon BBQ Sauce was the perfect addition to the bacon, making it crisp and flavorful.

Serving Suggestions for Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Poppers With Bourbon BBQ Glaze

These poppers are great on their own, but you can serve them alongside a decadent pizza.

Storing Leftovers

You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze them for up to 4 months. You can also prep these shrimp a day in advance if you’re refrigerating them, or up to a month in advance if you plan on freezing them.