Good question. There seems to be a little confusion out there between ABTs and Armadillo Eggs. Essentially both are cheese-stuffed peppers, but the difference is that ABTs are wrapped in bacon and Armadillo Eggs are wrapped inside of a meatball. Cheese, jalapeno pepper and then wrap it all up in a ground beef patty. Delicious.
There are quite a few variations on this little BBQ gem. Some prefer a cream cheese and jam mixture, while other go the regular cheese route (cheddar, monterey jack, etc). Other variations come from adding a breading to the "egg" by rolling it in pork-flavored Shake and Bake or by mixing Bisquick in with the patty.
I’ll let you figure out your favorite way to do them, but here are the basics for this barbecue recipe.
How to Make Armadillo Eggs
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Stem and seed the jalapenos (wear gloves). If it’s for a large group you may prefer to quarter them to make them more bite-sized. They may also be halfed or left whole.
- Stuff them with cheese filling. Either shredded cheese, cubed cheese or a mixture of 2 lbs cream cheese, 6 tbsp raspberry jam and 2 tbsp Rib Rub.
- Make a patty out of the meat. Stick the pepper in the middle and form a meatball around the pepper.
These are best done low and slow to tender the pepper. If done at a higher heat the pepper doesn’t soften up before the meat is done.
Cook them at 225-250°F for approximately an hour till they are golden-brown and the meat is 165°F internal temperature. The cheese should just be melting out as they are finished. As a tip I would recommend cooking them on a either Frogmats or a grilling tray.