Smoked Stuffed Meatballs

Homemade Smoked Stuffed Meatballs will have your mouth watering! Smoked Meatballs that are stuffed with ooey gooey mozzarella cheese, smoked on the pellet grill and finished off with BBQ sauce. They are the ultimate game day food, appetizer or main dish for your next party.

Wait, don’t scroll yet! Look at that picture above again. Did you look at it? Is your mouth watering?! Don’t these smoked stuffed meatballs look INSANE?! When we mastered this creation, our whole family just couldn’t get enough of these cheesy bbq bites of goodness. They’re addictive in the best sense of the word!

We love to smoked these alongside smoked potato skins. This combo is perfect for party appetizers and for a main meal! These protein packed meatballs are bursting with incredible flavor. From the gooey cheese center to the candied brown sugar BBQ coating, you’ll love every single bite of this delicious creation.

Why You’ll Love Smoked Stuffed Meatballs

• It doesn’t take long to smoke these stuffed meatballs. Recipes in the smoker can often take hours and hours on end, and these are done smoking in under and hour!
• You can adapt this recipe to create a variety of different flavors. Make a more sweet meatball, spicy meatballs, or something extra savory.
• Smoked mozzarella stuffed meatballs can be used an appetizer or a main dish. This is a very useful recipe to have in your arsenal!

Ingredients for Smoked Stuffed Meatballs

• Ground beef – We recommend using lean ground beef to keep down on the amount of fat and grease that will cook off of each meatball.
• Ground pork – Using both ground beef and ground pork adds a great variation in flavor to the smoked stuffed meatballs.
• Yellow onion – Dice your yellow onion into really small pieces so that it mixes well into the other ingredients.
• Italian panko crumbs – You can use plain panko crumbs, but the flavor that Italian panko crumbs adds to the homemade meatballs is great!
• Eggs – When you make homemade meatballs, you need something that will act as a binder to keep everything together. For best results, allow your eggs to come to room temperature before mixing into the meat mixture.
• Grated parmesan cheese – Smoked stuffed meatballs are stuffed with mozzarella in the center, yet we add more delicious cheese right into the meat mixture too! Grated parmesan is just the best touch.
• Milk – Use whole milk for best results. However, 1% milk and 2% milk will both work too.
• Beef seasoning – We may be biased, but we have some delicious beef seasoning right here at Gimme Some Grilling! If you don’t have that on hand, grab something from your local grocery store to use in this recipe.
• Honey – Honey will make the BBQ sauce extra sticky sweet. It’s a great addition to compliment the flavors of the meatballs and the sauce.
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder – All you need to use to season this smoked meatball recipe is these three seasonings and some beef seasoning. The perfect flavor combo!
• BBQ sauce – Make your own homemade bbq sauce or grab a bottle of your favorite pre-made sauce.
• Brown sugar – Using brown sugar along with honey and BBQ sauce on the outside of the meatballs makes an almost candy-like coating. Savory sweet and oh so mouthwatering good!
• Mozzarella string cheese – Feel free to use fresh mozzarella instead, but we’ve found chopping up string cheese is the easiest way to stuff each meatball.

How to Make Smoked Stuffed Meatballs

Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Then combine ground beef, pork, Italian panko crumbs, yellow onion, milk, parmesan cheese, salt, eggs, Beef seasoning, pepper, and garlic powder in a mixing bowl.

Place the bowl of meatballs mixture into the freezer for about 15 minutes to allow it to thicken a bit. Don’t skip this step, it really helps to easily form the meatballs!

Cut 9 sticks of mozzarella cheese into fifths.

Then take a medium size cookie scoop and scoop the meat mixture out of the bowl and form a ball. Press your thumb down into the middle of the meatball to create a cavity, and stuff it with a piece of mozzarella cheese.

Wrap the edges of meat around over the stuffed cheese and seal it well so that it doesn’t ooze out when cooked.

Place each stuff meatball on a oiled wire rack and place into the smoker and smoke for 35-40 minutes.

While they smoke, mix together the bbq sauce, honey, and brown sugar.

After the 35-40 minutes have passed, brush the BBQ sauce mixture onto the meatballs and then cook for another 10 minutes. Once the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit, they are fully cooked.

Remove the meatballs from the smoker and serve immediately!

How to Store Leftover Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

FRIDGE: Place leftovers into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also prep these meatballs ahead of time and store them in the fridge for 24-48 hours before smoking them.

FREEZER: Freeze fully cooked meatballs on a baking sheet. Once frozen solid, transfer to an airtight container or freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. We recommend freezing meatballs that have not been coated in BBQ sauce for the best results.

How to Reheat Leftover Meatballs

To reheat, place in the oven or until each meatball reaches a safe internal temperature. Coat in some more BBQ sauce to make them sticky and savory sweet again.

What to Serve with Smoked Stuffed Meatballs

Make a spread of smoked appetizers by cooking smoked chicken wings, smoked queso dip, and armadillo eggs to serve with smoked stuffed meatballs.

Or serve this as a main dish with a side like smoked baked potatoes or grilled baked potatoes. A veggies side like grilled asparagus or grilled zucchini would also pair deliciously too.

What substitutions or additions can I make to smoked mozzarella stuffed meatballs?

Freshly minced garlic and fresh parsley would both be great additions to the flavor of the meatballs. You can also use any other fresh herbs or spices.

Swap out the mozzarella for ricotta cheese or goat cheese for a more “fancy” appetizer. These would meatballs would taste incredible with a honey garlic sauce instead of BBQ sauce too!

Get really adventurous and wrap each meatball in bacon before smoking. Secure the bacon with toothpicks!

Make a double or triple batch of these incredible smoked stuffed meatballs so that you have plenty to eat when you devour the first batch in minutes!

More Smoker Recipes You’ll Love

• You can make your next cook-out burgers on the smoker with this recipe for Smoked Burgers!
• Revolutionize your deviled eggs with this Smoked Deviled Eggs recipe.
• If you’ve never had Smoked Meatloaf, then you’ve gotta try this incredible recipe!
• Looking for some snacks? Check out this recipe for Smoked Pretzels.