Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce Touchdown Smokies with Eckrich Sausage!

It’s almost football season, woo hoo! We love our football over here in Ohio. We also really love our football snacks over here in Ohio. We teamed up with Dr Pepper® and Eckrich® to bring you a staple recipe this season, Touchdown Smokies! Your get together for whatever Big Game is happening will seriously be the talk of the neighborhood with this easy, homemade recipe.

Lucky for you, you can get all these goodies at Giant Eagle – even using their Curbside Pickup, which is a lifesaver for us busy parents! When you pickup the ingredients at Giant Eagle, make sure you enter for your chance to win in this awesome tailgating sweepstakes to win prizes like a tailgating tent, a YETI cooler, and even a football signed by Mr. Kirk Herbstreit!

We almost always make homemade BBQ sauce because it’s seriously so easy! With the sweet (and delicious) flavor of Dr Pepper, it makes for the perfect ingredient to flavor our sauce for these Touchdown Smokies. To offset any extra sweetness from the other ingredients like ketchup and brown sugar, we also added a fresh serrano pepper. If you are hesitant to too much heat, you can totally use a jalapeno or remove the seeds to just get the flavor without the heat.

Now that we’ve got our sweet and spicy BBQ sauce working, we’re turning to the actually smokies part! Eckrich Smoked Sausage is actually a staple in our household. It’s so so easy to add to our family dinners and it tastes delicious. Okay, my mouth is actually watering right now thinking of all the new savory dishes we are going to make with it.

But, let’s just focus on the recipe at hand folks! You just have to easily slice up the smoked sausage into bite size pieces. Seriously, this recipe is so easy and delicious and a big crowd pleaser. My sister and brother in law came over to test it out and literally couldn’t stop eating it. Addicting.

Now that you’ve got all your smoked sausages chopped up, you’re going to give them some color in a non-stick pan. Just swirl them around in there for a few minutes to bring out some more of that rich, savory flavor that we all love. You can use any kind of the Eckrich Smoked Sausages but we landed on the all beef and the pork/turkey/beef combo.

It’s great that they offer so many options for different palates for all your football foodie friends!  Next, you’re going to grab your Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce that’s simmering on the stove and gently pour over top of your smoked sausages. We have two separate pans here because we separated the two varieties of smoked sausage. If you are just using one variety, no need for two dishes! Then, you’ll pop these in the oven and let them get even more delicious.

Voila, touchdown smokies! The best part about using these cast iron dishes is that they stay warm FOREVER. Obviously, be careful and make sure your guests don’t burn themselves but no worries about busting out the slow cooker because these work perfectly. Again, less dishes. You’re welcome. Serve with toothpicks and watch them disappear quickly! Bonus points, this Dr Pepper comes in a 12 pack and you only need one for the BBQ sauce so you can sip on the other ones throughout the game! Cute paper straws are optional but encouraged. Let us know when you make your Touchdown Smokies!​