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Cheesy BBQ Sausage Bites & Grilling Party Platter | Grill | BBQ | Pork | Sausage | Bacon | Cheese | Cheesy | Ideas | Recipes | Backyard | Meatballs | Summer

Cheesy BBQ Sausage Bites & Grilling Party Platter

Recipe created by Clint Cantwelll on behalf of Kingsford® Charcoal. I added some more notes under the recipe, based on my own cooking experience.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 servings
Author: Maggie

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 450 grams ground breakfast sausage
  • 3 mozzarella string cheese sticks
  • 12 slices bacon Footnote 1
  • 1 cup Kingsford® Original Smoked Hickory BBQ Sauce plus additional sauce for serving

Instructions

  • Build a charcoal fire for indirect cooking using Kingsford® Charcoal Briquets with Hickory or Mesquite by situating the coals on only one side of the grill, leaving the other side void, and preheat the grill to 350 degrees F (176°C). (Footnote 2)
  • While the grill preheats, divide breakfast sausage into 12 even portions then flatten into disks. Cut each string cheese stick into four even portions and place each cheese section onto a ground beef disk. Gently form the ground sausage around the cheese so that the cheese is entirely encased. Wrap each cheese stuffed meatball in a slice of bacon and use a toothpick to secure the end of the bacon. (Footnote 3)
  • Place the bacon wrapped meatballs onto the cool side of the grill, cover the grill and allow them to smoke for approximately 20 minutes. When until they are cooked through and the bacon is nicely browned and crisp (Footnote 4), brush meatballs with Kingsford® Original Smoked Hickory BBQ Sauce, cover the grill, and allow the sauce to set for 2 minutes.  
  • Remove meatballs from the grill and serve immediately with additional BBQ sauce.

Notes

  1. I prefer to use un-cured thin cut bacon to cook this dish. The tender bacon will easier to wrap, and it crisp up better.
  2. My husband loved this dish so much, so I’ve cooked it several times since I tested the recipe. I found out the result was as wonderful even when you bake the sausage bites - bake at 350 degrees F (176°C), brush sauce, then turn on broiler to cook for another 2 minutes.
  3. I highly recommend you to use bacon to cover as much sausage as possible. The bacon will keep the sausage juicy, and it renders more fat.
  4. If the bacon hasn’t crisp up, move them to the flame side of the grill to sear for 1 to 2 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1meatball, Calories: 231kcal, Carbohydrates: 8.1g, Protein: 15.7g, Fat: 14.6g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 741mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5.4g