Smoked Meatballs

These smoked meatballs are super easy and so tasty. We make them with pork and beef, add mushrooms for extra moisture, and throw in some BBQ rub to give them extra BBQ flavor. You'll never want to eat meatballs any other way again.

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• Why We Love These Meatballs
• Ingredient Notes
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Serving Ideas
• Frequently asked questions
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why We Love These Meatballs

• They're fun: Meatballs are fun, and cooking them outside is even more fun. These smoked meatballs are great as a main dish (with spaghetti, veggies, or salad) or appetizer (dipped in marinara sauce or pesto).
• They're easy: Combine the ingredients, roll the mixture into balls, and put them on the smoker—this recipe is that simple.
• They're delicious: These meatballs are so good that I have to stop myself from eating the whole batch in one sitting. They're perfectly moist, full of flavor, and slightly caramelized on the outside. Perfection.

Looking for other easy smoker recipes? Try our smoked baked beans, Traeger pulled pork, smoked baked potatoes, or smoked chicken thighs.

Ingredient Notes

Ground beef and ground pork: This combination is our favorite for these meatballs. The pork is high in fat, which adds moisture and prevents the meatballs from being too dense.

Mushrooms: Any mushrooms will work here, but we use baby bellas. We like to chop them into very small pieces or pulse them in our food processor (like in the photo above).

Parmesan cheese: We use fresh parmesan cheese and grate it ourself or get the high-quality pre-grated parmesan cheese that's usually kept with the nicer cheeses in the grocery store. Skip the unrefrigerated canisters of grated parmesan—they're just not as good.

Onion: Don't skip this—it adds so much good flavor. We use a sweet onion, but a white or yellow onion would work fine too.

Mayonnaise: This might sound weird, but the mayonnaise acts as a great binder and also helps keep the meatballs super moist.

Egg: The egg helps bind the meatballs together (along with the mayonnaise).

Garlic: What's better than garlic in a meatball? Mince your own for best results.

Worcestershire sauce: Worcestershire sauce adds great umami flavor.

Fresh basil and parsley: Use fresh basil and parsley for best results. If you have to substitute dried, 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs equals about 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.

BBQ dry rub: We love our Kansas City BBQ rub recipe and Kosmos Q Dirty Bird dry rub. Most poultry BBQ dry rubs work well.

See recipe card for full ingredient list and amounts.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Preheat your smoker to 250°F.

Step 2: While your smoker is preheating, combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Step 3: Roll the meatball ingredients into approximately 1.5-inch diameter meatballs (I use a cookie scoop to help get a consistent size. A small ice cream scoop would work as well) and place them on a large metal sheet pan or aluminum foil pan.

Step 4: Place the pan directly onto your smoker and smoke at 250°F for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches about 115°F.

Step 5: Increase the temperature to 350°F and place the meatballs directly onto the grill grates. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F.

Step 6: Enjoy! Serve with marinara for dipping or on top of spaghetti (check out our serving ideas below for a full list of ideas!).

Serving Ideas

Here are some ways we love serving these meatballs:

• On top of spaghetti (obviously)
• As an appetizer with marinara sauce (our favorite store-bought sauce here) or pesto for dipping
• On top of salad
• With sautéed onions, mushrooms, and peppers
• On a sub with mozzarella, peppers, and onions

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📖 Recipe