These Smokey Bacon Baked Meatballs are so easy to make and full of flavour. This is a budget meal that you can make ahead.
This is a favourite bacon recipe from Dan and Steph Mulheron, who took out Series 4 of My Kitchen Rules. Dan and Steph live and work in Queensland’s Hervey Bay, where they own a delightful beachside cafe, Eat at Dan & Steph’s. I’ve eaten there several times, and the food always pleases.
I like making these Smokey Bacon Baked Meatballs for family dinners as the rich, comforting flavours always please. I like to make my regular recipes as simple as possible, so I’ve developed a few hacks for the recipe below, which you might like to try.
Smokey Bacon Baked Meatball Hacks
- I substituted a bag of easy melt cheese for the mozzarella and Jarlsberg cheeses.
- Rather than dirtying your food processor and making extra washing up, finely chop the garlic and onion first, then the bacon and oregano.
- If the meatball mix is too runny or you want to extend it to feed more, add half a cup of breadcrumbs to the mix.
- You can use a slow heat cooker instead of the oven to cook the tomato sauce. Add the meatballs into the slow heat cooker and allow it all to cook there on high for about an hour. It won’t get brown on top but still tastes delicious.
- The best pasta for this dish is spaghetti. If you purchase spaghetti that has been bronze extruded it will be rougher than other varieties. This roughness grabs the sauce and adds to to flavour combination.
- Serve it with a green salad and slices of bread to mop up any juices.
Smokey Bacon Baked Meatballs
Smokey Bacon Baked Meatballs is one of Dan and Steph Mulheron's favourite bacon recipes. It’s a delicious and economical recipe that doesn’t skimp on the bacon, of course!
Ingredients
Sauce
- 6 rashers SunPork bacon
- 1 medium brown onion, peeled
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 250ml vegetable stock
- Pinch salt and black pepper
Meatballs
- 500g SunPork pork mince
- 1 free range egg
- Pinch of salt & black pepper
- 125g mozzarella cheese, grated
- 125g Jarlsberg cheese, grated
- 1 bag of pasta
Instructions
- In a processor, add garlic, onion, bacon and oregano – blitz until chopped up well.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a large fry pan and add this mix and fry off for 6 mins
- Pour half of the mix onto a plate to cool, then put it in the pan with the remainder of the bacon mix. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock and balsamic. Stir well and allow to simmer for 15 mins to reduce and infuse
- Season to taste
- While the sauce is cooking, get into the meatballs – in a large bowl, add the pork mince, eggs, salt, pepper and the cooled half bacon mixture
- Use hands and squish it all together well, then make golf ball-size meatballs.
- Then add meatballs straight into the tomato sauce and sprinkle with both kinds of cheese all over.
- Place the entire frypan into a preheated oven at 220 degrees for 25-30 mins or until golden brown on top and the meatballs are cooked. (You could use a baking dish if you don’t have an oven-proof frypan)
- Allow to sit for 10 mins and serve with cooked pasta.
Notes
Make these meatballs and serve them with your favourite pasta for an easy mid-week dinner!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 629Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 174mgSodium: 812mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 45g
Eatdrinkandbekerry.net offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only.
More Great Pasta Recipes
I love pasta and have a collection of favourite pasta recipes that you can try.
Steph and Dan Mulheron
Great recipe Kerry, will give it a go.