Beef and bacon all wrapped up in a perfect little cheese topped meatball. Are you at all surprised that my kids went absolutely nuts over these Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs?
I served the meatballs on their own with a whole bunch of cut up veggies and ranch dip. (We are super fancy like that.) However, my oldest was quick to point out that these meatballs would make the world’s greatest burger if I served them in a bun. I’m thinking that they would also be delicious with a side of barbecue sauce and some roasted potato wedges. I already have them on the menu again for next month!
If you haven’t made meatballs before and are leery of making them, don’t be! It is so much easier than you might think. Slightly wet hands makes it easier to smooth and shape the meatballs. (I usually run water over my hands a couple of times while making them.) It took me maybe ten minutes to shape all of these meatballs and then it was just a matter of waiting for them to bake and topping them with cheese.
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/4 pound bacon chopped very small
- 1 cup panko or plain breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
- 4 - 6 ounces thinly sliced cheddar or pepper jack cheese cut into 1" square pieces
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the beef, pork, and bacon in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to crumble them together. Add the breadcrumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and onion powder. Mix everything together with your hands or a large spoon. Scoop and shape into small 1" meatballs and place on two foil lined baking sheets. Bake for 18 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the oven and increase the oven temperature to broil. Top each meatball with a small square of cheese and broil an additional 90 seconds to 2 minutes, just until the cheese has melted. Enjoy!
My first choice for meatballs is almost always a mixture of ground beef and ground pork. It keeps the texture a little bit lighter and the combined flavor is great too. If your preference is all-beef, feel free to sub additional ground beef for the ground pork. The little bit of bacon added to these creates a slight smokiness along with the bacon flavor and it doesn't make the meatballs greasy at all.
I use panko breadcrumbs most of the time when I make meatballs, however I was out of them last week. So, I simply grabbed a crusty loaf of bread and grated a chunk of it to create the amount of crumbs that I needed. Feel free to use whichever binder or crumb that you like best.
Big Dude says
These look and sound delicious Mary and I tend to agree with your son on the burger.
Kim Honeycutt says
These sound so very delicious! I could see serving them as the meat with side veggies for dinner.
Thanks!! Pinning it!!
Joshua Hampton says
These meatballs look really tasty. I agree with your son's suggestion; I think it would taste really good in a bun with a side of potato wedges. And maybe coleslaw?
Amanda says
Oh my word! Delicious!
Anonymous says
can also use as a meatloaf recipe…
Jean OToole says
OMG, Mary I'm either really hungry or you hit the jackpot and amazing! Ranch dressing!!! These would make a great sub sandwich, appetizer etc.! Thanks! Posting it everywhere!
Ronald Roberts says
I am going to try this. But with my own style. I will lightly cook the bacon and pork, combining them both into a food processor and cool maybe even add hot pepper flakes then follow the directions.