Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Name: Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 lb 80/20 ground beef; 1 lb country sausage; 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 2 tsp Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Seasoning; 2 cups yellow onion, medium dice; 2 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled; 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs; 2 large eggs, whisked; 1 tbsp Bear &amp; Burton’s The W Sauce; 2 tbsp Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold Seasoning; 3/4 cup LEM Backwoods High Temp Cheddar; 10 slices classic cut bacon; Chile Slinger Original BBQ Sauce

May 07, 2024 • Tom Jackson

Get ready to tantalize your taste buds with the ultimate indulgence: Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf. This recipe levels up the classic comfort food to new heights by combining succulent ground beef, zesty country sausage, caramelized onions, savory garlic, and a symphony of spices, all encased in a glorious bacon blanket. Smoked to perfection on a pellet grill, each slice boasts a mouthwatering fusion of flavors, accentuated by a luscious barbecue sauce glaze. Brace yourself for a culinary adventure that promises to leave you craving more with every bite.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

The LEM High Temp Cheddar holds its structure inside the meatloaf instead of melting out: Standard cheddar melts and runs out of the loaf during a 90–120 minute smoke, creating pockets of grease where the cheese used to be. High-temperature cheddar is specifically engineered to hold its shape up to 400°F, so every slice reveals intact cheese pieces distributed throughout the interior rather than empty cavities.
The bacon wrap does three things simultaneously: It bastes the exterior of the loaf in rendered fat throughout the entire cook, it provides a crisping outer layer that contrasts with the soft interior, and it holds the loaf together structurally during slicing — a meatloaf without the bacon wrap would be significantly harder to cut cleanly.
Chilling the formed loaf before wrapping is the step that makes the bacon wrap work: Thirty minutes in the refrigerator firms the loaf enough that it holds its shape while you lay strips of bacon around it — a warm, just-mixed loaf deforms under the tension of the bacon and produces an uneven wrap that gaps and separates during the cook.
Country sausage in the mix adds seasoning, fat, and bind all at once: The sausage brings its own spice blend, additional fat that keeps the interior moist through the long smoke, and a coarser grind that creates a more interesting texture than all-ground-beef meatloaf — it's three ingredients' worth of work in one component.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Tom Jackson

Rated 3.8 stars by 29 users

Cuisine

American

Servings

12

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Calories

984

Prepare to tantalize your taste buds with our savory Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf—a culinary masterpiece that will leave you craving more. Start by preheating your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to a perfect 325ºF. In a skillet, sauté diced onions in extra virgin olive oil until they're caramelized and fragrant, then set them aside. In a mixing bowl, combine 80/20 ground beef, country sausage, caramelized onions, crushed garlic, Panko bread crumbs, whisked eggs, Bear & Burton’s The W Sauce, Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold Seasoning, and LEM Backwoods High Temp Cheddar, mixing by hand until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Next, lay out slices of classic cut bacon and wrap them snugly around the meatloaf, seasoning with an extra sprinkle of Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold. Place the meatloaf on the second shelf of your smoker and cook until it reaches a juicy internal temperature of 160ºF, approximately 90-120 minutes. For the finishing touch, brush the meatloaf with Chile Slinger Original BBQ Sauce and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Get ready to savor each mouthwatering bite of this indulgent Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf—a delicious twist on a classic comfort food favorite.

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Ingredients

2 lb 80/20 ground beef
1 lb country sausage
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Seasoning
2 cups yellow onion, medium dice
2 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 large eggs, whisked
1 tbsp Bear & Burton’s The W Sauce
2 tbsp Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold Seasoning
3/4 cup LEM Backwoods High Temp Cheddar
10 slices classic cut bacon
Chile Slinger Original BBQ Sauce

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Directions

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 325ºF.
Place the onions in a skillet over medium heat along with the oil and season with Cattleman’s Grill Lone Star Brisket Seasoning. Cook until softened and browned a the edges, then remove from the skillet.
Combine the ground beef, sausage, cooked onions, garlic, bread crumbs, eggs, W Sauce, Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold Seasoning and LEM Backwoods High Temp Cheddar in a bowl and mix by hand.
For the meat into a loaf shape and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Lay out the strips of bacon and place the meatloaf on top. Wrap the bacon around the meat and then season with Plowboys’s BBQ Bovine Bold.
Place on the second shelf of the smoker and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF, about 90-120 minutes.
Brush with the barbecue sauce, then remove from the grill.
Rest for 15 minutes, then slice to serve.

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

What is the history of meatloaf?
Meatloaf has roots stretching back to ancient Rome, where early versions of minced meat mixed with wine, bread, and spices appeared in cookbooks. In the United States, meatloaf became a fixture of home cooking in the late 19th century as immigrant communities blended European culinary traditions with locally available ingredients. During the Great Depression, it became a practical staple — a way to stretch a small amount of ground beef with bread, eggs, and other inexpensive binders to feed a family. The smoked, bacon-wrapped version represents a modern BBQ evolution of that tradition: the same economical, nourishing format elevated by live-fire technique.

Why use 80/20 ground beef instead of leaner ground beef?
The 20% fat content in 80/20 ground beef is what keeps the interior of the meatloaf moist through a 90–120 minute smoke at 325°F. Leaner ground beef (90/10 or 93/7) loses too much moisture during the extended cook and produces a dry, dense loaf. Combined with the country sausage's additional fat, 80/20 ensures the interior stays juicy even as the bacon exterior renders and crisps.

What is LEM High Temp Cheddar and why use it?
LEM Backwoods High-Temperature Cheddar is a processed cheese specifically engineered to hold its shape at cooking temperatures up to 400°F. Standard cheddar melts and runs out of the loaf during the extended smoke, leaving behind greasy pockets. High-temp cheddar stays intact as distinct pieces distributed throughout the interior, so every slice reveals cheese rather than empty voids. It's a sausage-making product that translates perfectly to smoked meatloaf.

Why refrigerate the loaf before wrapping in bacon?
Chilling the formed loaf for 30 minutes firms the interior enough to hold its shape while you lay and wrap the bacon strips around it. A freshly mixed, warm loaf is too soft — it deforms under the tension of the bacon wrap and produces gaps and uneven coverage. The chilled loaf also develops a slightly tacky exterior surface that helps the bacon strips adhere before they begin rendering on the smoker.

Can I use a different BBQ sauce for the glaze?
Yes — any tomato-based BBQ sauce works for the finishing glaze. Chile Slinger Original provides a balanced sweet-heat profile that complements the Bovine Bold seasoning without overpowering it. If substituting, choose a sauce with similar sweetness and body; avoid very thin or vinegar-heavy sauces, which will run off the meatloaf rather than forming a glaze during the rest period.

Can I make this indoors?
3 out of 5 — Works indoors with adjustments. A 325°F oven produces a fully cooked, bacon-wrapped meatloaf with all the interior character of the smoked version. What you lose is the pellet smoke ring and the faint smoke flavor that penetrates the bacon and outer layer during the cook. Consider adding a small amount of smoked paprika or liquid smoke to the meat mixture to partially compensate indoors.

Recipe Highlights

Season the onions while they caramelize — not before or after: Directions Step 2 adds the Lone Star Brisket Seasoning to the onions in the pan during the cook. Seasoning while caramelizing allows the spices to bloom in the fat and integrate into the onion itself rather than sitting on the surface. The seasoned onions then distribute that flavor throughout the entire meat mixture when combined in Step 3.
Mix by hand, not with a mixer: Directions Step 3 specifies mixing by hand. A stand mixer overworks the meat proteins, producing a dense, rubbery loaf with a paste-like texture rather than a coarse, tender interior. Mix only until the ingredients are just combined — visible streaks of sausage and cheese are fine and preferable to a homogeneous paste.
Lay the bacon strips perpendicular to the loaf's length, overlapping slightly: Directions Step 5 specifies laying out strips and wrapping the loaf. For even coverage, position each strip perpendicular to the long axis of the loaf with a slight overlap between strips — this prevents gaps from opening during the cook as the bacon renders and shrinks. Strips laid lengthwise leave the ends and bottom exposed.
Apply the sauce glaze before removing from the grill, not after: Directions Step 7 specifies brushing with sauce and then removing. Applying the glaze while the meatloaf is still on the smoker allows the sauce to set and slightly caramelize on the hot surface during the final minutes of the cook. Applying sauce after removal produces a wet, glossy surface with no caramelization — a different result both visually and texturally.