Homemade chicken and pork meatballs wrapped in bacon with a spicy bite and a touch of maple syrup sweetness. Maple Sweet-Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Meatballs are the best appetizer ever!
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These little bacon-wrapped meatballs are quite popular in our house and with our friends. We've enjoyed them as a casual dinner, as an appetizer... once we even had them as a savory breakfast treat!
Most of the time though, we make this easy recipe for a snack when friends come over for movie night, or we bring them to parties for game day. Basically anytime you have folks coming over and want to set up something tasty to nosh on.
Why you'll love this recipe
The meatballs are homemade, meaning you get to control exactly what goes into them - a huge advantage over frozen meatballs. The mixture is a savory blend of ground chicken and pork with spices and diced onion.
The bacon-wrapped meatballs with brown sugar and cayenne coating the outside, along with a drizzle of sweet Vermont maple syrup, bake up quickly in the oven. The meatballs come out hot and delicious, with a crispy wrapping of bacon and sweet-spicy caramelized sugar.
This is an amazing recipe to make for a Super Bowl party, as a holiday appetizer, or as a fun weekend comfort food snack.
Want more Super Bowl party food ideas? Tap here to see a whole bunch!
🔪 How to make Maple Sweet-Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Meatballs
Step 1: Make the meatball mixture
Mix together the ground meats, parsley, onion, and spices.
Step 2: Make the meatballs
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Use a cookie scoop or your hands to shape the mixture into balls.
Step 3: Wrap them in bacon
Wrap each meatball in a short piece of bacon, and skewer them with toothpicks. Wrap the meatballs and chill them for 1 hour.
Step 4: Coat the meatballs
Coat the meatballs in a small bowl of brown sugar blended with cayenne pepper, along with a drizzle of Vermont maple syrup and put them on a baking sheet. Add a touch of maple syrup to each meatball.
Step 5: Bake 'em
Bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes until they're cooked through and the bacon is crisp. Serve them while they're hot!
Tips:
- Soak the toothpicks in water for an hour before skewering the meatballs. This will keep the toothpicks from burning in the oven.
- Keep the bacon very cold until you're ready to wrap the meatballs. This will make it easier to separate and maneuver the strips.
- The meatballs are quite spicy - to bring the heat down use less cayenne pepper in the sugar mixture.
The recipe for Maple Sweet-Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Meatballs is below. Here are a few other tasty apps you'll want to make, too!
💬 What do you think of these spicy, bacony meatballs? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Maple Sweet-Spicy Bacon-Wrapped Meatballs
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Equipment
- 35 toothpicks, soaked in water for at least 1 hour
Ingredients
For the meat mixture:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ cup diced onion
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
To coat the meatballs:
- 1 pound smoked bacon strips
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup Vermont maple syrup
Instructions
Shape the meatballs:
- Set a wire rack into a baking sheet and cover the rack with foil. Poke holes through the foil in several places.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together by hand the chicken, pork, diced onion, parsley, Parmesan, the tablespoon of cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Mix just until ingredients are evenly combined.
- Use a cookie scoop or your hands to roll the meat mixture into 1½-inch balls.
Wrap the meatballs:
- Cut the bacon strips into thirds.
- Wrap a section of bacon around each meatball and skewer it in place with a soaked toothpick. Place it on the foil-covered rack.
- Repeat with the remaining bacon pieces and meatballs.
- Cover the meatballs loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Coat the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 375° F. When the oven is hot, take the meatballs from the fridge.
- In a shallow dish mix together the brown sugar and the ½ tablespoon of cayenne.
- Roll each bacon-wrapped meatball in the brown sugar mixture, pressing the sugar to the surface to thoroughly coat each one. Place the coated meatballs back onto the foil-covered rack.
- Sprinkle leftover cayenne sugar over the tops of the meatballs. Drizzle Vermont maple syrup over the tops of the meatballs, about ½ teaspoon on each one.
Bake:
- Bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes, until they're cooked through to an internal temperature of 160° F.
- Use tongs to place the meatballs on a serving platter, and serve them while they're hot.
- Makes about 35 bacon-wrapped meatballs.
Notes
- Soak the toothpicks in water for an hour before skewering the meatballs. This will keep the toothpicks from burning in the oven.
- Keep the bacon very cold until you're ready to wrap the meatballs. This will make it easier to separate and maneuver the strips.
- The meatballs are quite spicy - to bring the heat down use less cayenne pepper in the sugar mixture.
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