Tender, juicy meatballs oozing with cheesy goodness wrapped in seasoned bacon. It’s time to fire up the smoker to make one of the best appetizers you’ll ever eat!
Author:Lori
Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:1.5 hours
Total Time:2 hours
Yield:20-24 meatballs
Category:meatballs, appetizers, cheesy appetizers, bacon wrapped meatballs, game day appetizers, best meatballs
Method:smoker, grilled
Cuisine:meatballs, appetizers, cheesy appetizers, bacon wrapped meatballs, game day appetizers, best meatballs
Add in the bread pieces pressing down into the mixture. Stir until all of the bread pieces are coated.
Set aside and allow to cool.
Meatballs
To a bowl, add the beef, egg, steak seasoning, shredded cheese, and cooled panade mixture. Using your hands, gently mix to combine the meat. The mixture should be wet/soft but will hold a shape when you form them into meatballs. Scoop enough meat mixture to form a 2” round ball (I use a large cookie scoop to measure out my meatballs). Wet your hands and shape. Damp hands are a trick to keeping the mixture from sticking to your hands!
Take 1 half strip of bacon and wrap it around the meatball. Do not make it tight/stretch it out; just wrap it so the edges overlap slightly. Take a toothpick and secure the bacon to the meatball. Place on a foil-lined rimmed baking pan. Place the meatballs into the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Smoke To Perfection
Preheat the smoker to 250F. Once the smoker is up to temp, remove the tray of cold meatballs from the fridge. Coat all sides with the fine meat rub seasoningplace the tray of meatballs on a cooling rack and place it on the top rack of the smoker.
Smoke for 45-60 minutes or until the internal temp is 155F. Remove the meatballs from the smoker and set aside. Increase the smoker temp to 350F and place the meatballs back into the smoker for the bacon to crisp up. Smoke until the internal temp is 165F.