You Need to Make These Smoked Meatballs

I feel like briskets and pork shoulders get all the attention in pellet smoker recipes. Pellet smokers magically turn any kind of meat (and things that aren't meat!) into an eyes-rolling-back-into-the-head experience. And ground beef is no exception.

Meatballs are universally loved -- if done well. This particular recipe uses two kinds of meat (if you prefer) and just a handful of ingredients letting the smoky, beefy flavor shine.

These are easy to make gluten free, too! Just use gluten free breadcrumbs or make some from that stale loaf of GF bread. (See recipe notes for instructions for this!)

Smoked Meatball Recipe Ingredients

• Ground beef - I use grass-fed 80/20 or 85/15 fat content for this.
• Ground pork - I like using two kinds of meat to add extra flavor. And if my beef is particularly lean, using some ground pork adds a little fat & flavor. This is optional, though. Feel free to use all beef for this recipe.
• Salt & Pepper
• Granulated Garlic
• Steak seasoning - I use my Homemade Steak Seasoning, but you can use any steak seasoning you like or your preferred all-purpose BBQ seasoning.
• Egg
• Breadcrumbs - Use either seasoned or unseasoned. And use gluten free if you like!
• Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, or coconut aminos
• Finely grated Parmesan cheese - also optional, but adds a yummy flavor!
• BBQ Sauce - Use any kind! Trader Joe's Kansas City BBQ Sauce is my favorite store-bought because it doesn't contain HFCS. You could also use a homemade BBQ sauce! I linked to a few below.

How to Make Smoked BBQ Meatballs

1. Preheat your pellet smoker to 225F with a high smoke setting.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients (except the BBQ sauce). Use your hands to gently blend everything together.
3. Form them into 1 ½ in balls using a spoon or a medium cookie scoop. Roll them tightly and put them on a sheet pan.

How to Smoke Meatballs

1. Transfer the meatballs to the pellet grill, putting them directly on the grill grates.
2. Smoke for 30-40 minutes or until they reach 145F inside.
3. Transfer the meatballs to a baking dish or a foil pan. Pour BBQ sauce over them.
4. Put the pan back into the smoker for another 20 minutes.

Smoked Meatballs Recipe Variations

There are a lot of ways you can change up this recipe! It's intended to be a jumping off point. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Change up the meat: Feel free to use ground turkey or chicken, but be aware of them being too dry if the fat content of the meat is super low. You could add in some ground sausage or grated zucchini to counteract this.
• Make them spicy: throw in some crushed red pepper flakes or a diced jalapeño to add some heat.
• Change the cheese: Use grated sharp cheddar or another strong flavored cheese in place of the Parmesan. Or use nutritional yeast in place of cheese if you're avoiding dairy but still want that "cheesy" flavor.
• Make your own BBQ sauce! If you're wanting to control the sugar content better or use naturally sweetened BBQ sauce, I have a few recipes on my site. Any of these would work well here: Balsamic BBQ Sauce, Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce, or Honey Lime Ginger BBQ Sauce.

Smoked Meatball Recipe Tips

Don't squeeze your meat. When you're mixing the raw meat and seasonings don't squeeze it hard in your fists. You may end up with mealy, mushy meatballs this way. Use your fingers and gently mix it instead.

Use a meat thermometer. Most pellet grills come with meat thermometers, but you can use an instant read thermometer stuck into a meatball to check the temp. You don't want dry, overcooked meatballs.

What to Serve with Smoked Meatballs

These smoked meatballs can be served alone as hearty appetizer or as part of a full meal! Here are some tasty sides that would be delicious with these:

Roasted vegetables: Crispy Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Delicata Squash, Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Cozy Carbs: Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (No Drain), Herbed Rice

One day I wrapped a stray meatball in a slice of sourdough sandwich bread and decided they'd be a fabulous meatball sub with some smoky cheese. *drool*

Storing Smoked BBQ Meatballs

Store any leftover meatballs and sauce in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

More Delicious Pellet Smoker Recipes on Perry's Plate

If you love these meatballs, try another one of my smoker recipes!

Bacon Hamburger

Smoked Cream Cheese

Smoked Chicken Wings

Smoking Salmon

Smoked Chicken

If you make one of my recipes, I'd love to see! Post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!

Smoked Beef Meatballs

Yield: Makes 42 meatballs

You'll love how easy these smoked meatballs are to put together! Let them have a little spa time in your smoker, and you'll have the most flavorful meatballs of your life for any kind of party or as part of a tasty dinner.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef (80/20 or 85/15)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
• 2 egg
• 4 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon steak seasoning
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 16 oz BBQ sauce (any kind)

Instructions

1. Preheat your pellet smoker to 225F with a high smoke setting.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients (except the BBQ sauce). Use your hands to gently blend everything together.
3. Form them into 1 ½ in balls using a spoon or a medium cookie scoop. Roll them tightly and put them on a sheet pan.
4. Transfer the meatballs to the pellet grill, putting them directly on the grill grates.
5. Smoke for 30-40 minutes or until they reach 145F inside.
6. Transfer the meatballs to a baking dish or a foil pan. Pour BBQ sauce over them.
7. Put the pan back into the smoker for another 20 minutes.
8. Remove the pan from the smoker, stir them around, and serve immediately.

Notes

1. If you'd prefer to use all ground beef, go ahead. Using two kinds of meat addes extra flavor and if the ground beef is especially lean, the pork would add some extra flavor and richness.
2. You can also use tamari (soy) sauce or coconut aminos in place of the Worcestershire sauce.
3. I make my own steak seasoning, but you can use whatever you prefer.
4. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you need a LOT of meatballs.
5. You can make the meatball larger if you like. Just plan for extra smoke time to get them to the appropriate internal temperature.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  HOMURE H Cookie Scoop 2 Tablespoon,

Nutrition Information

Yield 5 Serving Size 4 meatballs
Amount Per Serving Calories 506Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 123mgSodium 1824mgCarbohydrates 55gFiber 2gSugar 39gProtein 29g

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchases made by using these links won't cost you any extra and helps keep my content free. These links may be Amazon links as I am part of the Amazon Associate Program.

The post Smoked BBQ Meatballs appeared first on Perry's Plate.

Get excited -- I've got a lot of fresh, summery recipes to share with you -- that don't require an oven. So, lettuce wraps. Yay!

Is it getting hot where you are?

It's been in the high 80s this week which is rapidly approaching my comfort threshold. I'm a hot-weather wimp. I admit it. I'm really grateful that it's not ridiculously hot where we live -- except in the middle of the summer. When it's supposed to be.

Despite having a great A/C, the downstairs tends to heat up when I use the oven in the summer, so I avoid it when I can.

Lettuce wraps are a summertime staple for me. I could eat them every day -- much to the chagrin of my kids who tolerate them occasionally.

My favorite part about this particular lettuce wrap is that I sneaked mushrooms into the meat mixture and my kids didn't even know. Sneaking mushrooms is kind of a thing I do. Just for kicks -- like in this Paleo Creamy Mushroom Soup aka "Bacon Soup" -- which is what my kids call it.

Once it all cooks down you can barely even tell the difference. No one said a word about it and I silently giggled to myself.

It's also nice to do this to stretch the meat a little further. I'm always looking to do that because pastured/grass-fed meat isn't cheap. Luckily I can get pork and beef really easily from a local university ranch, but it's still $6/pound for ground meat.

These are hearty and filling, but light at the same time. I love that I was able to incorporate some Marinated Cucumbers to these. You can use plain sliced cukes if you want, but I love that extra little vinegary kick.

I added these at the last minute when I saw some leftovers sitting in the fridge -- SUCH a good decision. In case you get any ideas about my recipe writing process being super sophisticated and glamorous, I'll let you know that a lot of the food and flavor pairings have to do with some kind of leftovers sitting in my fridge that need to be used.

I know, it totally takes the magic out of it, right? Sometimes I do come up with great ideas solely in my head, but most of the time I'm just cleaning out the fridge.

One more thing -- don't leave off that aioli. That right there is the icing on the.... lettuce wrap. Um, that sounds gross. But you know what I meant.

More Asian-inspired One-pan recipes

Here are a few of our favorite Asian-inspired recipes made in just one skillet or pot!

A family favorite -- Egg Roll in a Bowl with Sriracha Mayo is easy to throw together and has all of the tasty flavors of Chinese egg rolls!

Thai Green Curry Zoodles with Shrimp & Broccoli is a knock off of one of my favorite meals from Noodles & Co. It's a great meal for hot summer days, too.

Easy Paleo Pad Thai is another meal on our "favorite dinner list". And another meal made in under 30 minutes!

Paleo Thai Shrimp & Vegetable Skillet is very similar to these egg roll bowls -- but with a Thai flair.

Mango Chicken Curry is an oldie, but such a great recipe for a quick weeknight dinner.

Asian Pork and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

Yield: Serves 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Print

Ingredients

For the filling

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 Tablespoon avocado oil
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 - 2 ½ pound ground pork
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled and quartered
• 8 whole garlic cloves (or 2 Tablespoons minced)
• 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, quartered
• 24 ounces brown mushrooms, halved
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup coconut aminos
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 3-4 green onions, thinly sliced

For the chili mayo

Toggle ingredient group

• ½ cup paleo-friendly mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon sambal oelek or Asian garlic chili sauce
• pinch of sea salt

For serving

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 recipe, Marinated Cucumbers
• 3 heads of baby Romaine lettuce

Instructions

1. Pour the avocado and sesame oils into a very large skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, breaking up the meat, until the meat is cooked through and begins to brown, about 10 minutes.
2. While the pork is cooking, place the quartered onion, garlic, and ginger in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely minced. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3. Use the food processor to chop the mushrooms, too, working in batches. Don't fill the work bowl higher than the center of the blade or they won't chop evenly. Transfer the chopped mushrooms to the bowl with the onion mixture.
4. When the pork has crispy brown spots, add the onion-mushroom mixture to the pan along with the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms and onions have cooked down quite a bit and the moisture has cooked off, about 8-10 minutes.
5.  Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the aioli and chill until ready to use.
6. Add the coconut aminos and rice vinegar to the pork mixture and stir to combine. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the liquid is gone. Stir in the green onions. Taste, and add more salt, if necessary.
7. Assemble the lettuce wraps by putting a few marinated cucumbers into a lettuce leave. Top with a couple spoonfuls of the pork mixture and a drizzle of aioli.

Notes

Nat's Notes:

1. You can make the Marinated Cucumbers and Chili-Lime Aioli up to 5 days in advance.

2. If you aren't picky about soy, you can use 3 Tablespoons tamari or gluten-free soy sauce in place of the coconut aminos.

The post Asian Pork and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps appeared first on Perry's Plate.