As you probably already know, things are heating up at the Best of Barbecue Facebook Fan Page! We recently held a recipe contest to find a new, great meatball recipe — and we certainly found one! Out of all our entries, The Companion Group felt that Ernie R.’s “Chicken Cordon Que Balls” were the perfect combo of creativity, traditional meatball-making, and tastiness! Congrats, Ernie! If you want to try out his recipe for yourself, check it out below!

Ernie R.’s Chicken Cordon Que Balls Recipe

• Serves 6
• Prep time: 30 min
• Cook time: 1 hr 15 min
• Total time: 1 hr 45 min
• Allergy: egg, wheat

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground chicken breast
• 1/4 lb. ham (finely chopped)
• 3/4 C. Swiss cheese
• 1/2 C. bread crumbs
• 1 lg. egg
• 1 heaped tsp. favorite BBQ rub
• 6 pieces of thick-cut bacon (cut in half to make 12 pieces)

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well with your hands.
2. Mold mixture into golf ball-sized meat balls (will make about 12 meatballs).
3. Wrap 1/2 slice of bacon around meatball and hold in place with a toothpick.
4. Place meatballs in your meatball grilling basket.  If you do not have one, you may use a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
5. Place meatballs on smoker at 250°F for the first 45 minutes (this will give the meatballs a nice smokey flavor) then increase the temp to 350°F until chicken is done (165°F) and bacon is cooked.
6. Let meatballs rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve with your favorite dipping sauce: BBQ, ranch dressing, honey mustard, blue cheese, gravy, etc…

For a more detailed account of how we made this recipe in our Best of Barbecue kitchen, including tons of pictures, check out our next post!

Niki Gross

Niki is the Marketing Communications Manager for The Companion Group. She is responsible for marketing and communications strategies, from advertising to websites. She is a wife, mother, yogi, and lover of cheeseburgers, proper grammar and a strong work ethic!