We dare you to eat just one of these delicious smoked bacon wrapped meatballs, affectionately known as MOINK balls.
In search of the perfect appetizer for your backyard bash, pre-game party, or family get together? It doesn’t get much easier than these tasty bacon wrapped meatballs, a.k.a. MOINK balls!
Popularized several years ago by my brother in smoke, Larry Gaian, MOINK balls are the tasty combination of beef (moo) and pork (oink) in the form of frozen beef meatballs wrapped in bacon, seasoned with a rub such as Meathead’s Memphis Dust, then smoked to perfection. So simple, and so good! Brush them with a little BBQ sauce and you’re good to go.
Note that while you can make your own meatballs, Larry’s original recipe keeps it simple (stupid) with the precooked frozen variety. For my version, I modify commercial BBQ sauce with the addition of cherry juice for fruitiness, a little squeeze butter for richness, and chipotle powder for smokiness. The result? One of the easiest, most crowd pleasing BBQ and grilling appetizers ever for any couchgating, tailgating, or backyard bash.
Before jumping out our own recipe below, check out this MOINK ball video from our friends at SnS Grills, featuring our commercial pork rub and KC barbecue sauce (read more about them and order them here)! Note that in the video, Russ stuffs dresh ground beef meatballs with cheddar cheese while ours stays true to Larry’s original formulation featuring frozen pre-cooked beef meatballs. Regardless of which way you choose to make yours, friends and family will still devour them in seconds!
Smoked Bacon Wrapped Meatball (MOINK Balls) Recipe
Makes:
Takes:
Ingredients
MOINK Balls
- 24 frozen beef meatballs, thawed
- 12 slices bacon
- 1/4 cup Meathead's Memphis Dust (alternatively you can use our bottled commercial pork rub)
Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 18 ounce bottle BBQ sauce, such as KC Masterpiece (alternatively, you can use our bottled commercial KC BBQ sauce)
- 1/4 cup cherry juice
- 2 tablespoons Parkay® squeeze margarine
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page
Method
- Fire up. Prepare a smoker for indirect cooking. Alternatively, you can set up a charcoal grill for 2-zone cooking by placing a chimney full of pre-heated charcoal briquets on one side of the grill's charcoal grate in order to create direct and indirect cooking zones. Adjust the smoker or grill vents to bring the temperature to about 325°F (162.8°C) and add 2 to 3 chunks of your favorite smoking wood to the charcoal for flavor. On a gas grill, adjust the temperature knobs so that one half of the grill is off and the other half is heated enough to maintain a temperature of approximately 325°F (162.8°C) on the indirect side.
- Prep. Cut the bacon slices in half and wrap each meatball with bacon. Secure the bacon with toothpicks then dust the meatballs with Meathead's Memphis Dust dry rub seasoning.
- Cook. Place the MOINK balls on the cool side of the grill, cover, and allow them to cook until the bacon is browned and crisp, approximately 35 minutes.
- As the MOINK balls smoke, combine the BBQ sauce and cherry juice in a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat until the cherry juice has reduced and the sauce has thickened, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in the margarine and chipotle powder.
- Remove the MOINK balls from the grill. Pour the sauce into a medium sized bowl and use the toothpicks to dip the meatballs into the sauce.
- Serve. Plate the MOINK balls and serve immediately.
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