Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

By Kevin Pang

Updated August 20, 2026

  • Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Media 1 of 2
Ready In
1 hr
Rating
5(219)
Comments
Read comments

One night right before dinner, my then-9-year-old son, Liam, announced that he had invented a recipe. Bacon cheeseburger balls was exactly what it sounded like — his love for meatballs and for bacon cheeseburgers, rolled into one. He had written out the ratios of beef, bacon, cheese and onion so that they added up to exactly 100-percent because he was studying percentages in school that week. We made it a few days later, and it was good! I tweaked a few things, and the result is, in Liam's words, “better than really good”: a tender, juicy, beefy meatball with bacon, sweet onion and melted cheese in every single bite.

Featured in: How to Feed a Family on $28 Per Day

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

    or to print this recipe.

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

For the Meatballs

  • Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil

  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon, or 5 slices standard bacon

  • ¼ cup water

  • ½ medium yellow onion

  • 1 egg

  • 1 pound ground beef (preferably 20-percent fat)

  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

  • ½ teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

  • Black pepper

  • ½ cup panko or standard bread crumbs

  • ½ cup shredded Cheddar

For the Sauce

  • ½ cup mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon ketchup

  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard

  • 1 tablespoon sweet relish

  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

12 grams carbs; 165 milligrams cholesterol; 749 calories; 24 grams monounsaturated fat; 17 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 64 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 1 gram fiber; 712 milligrams sodium; 29 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray (or brush foil with olive oil). Heat oven to 450 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Keep in fridge while you make the meatballs.

  3. Step 3

    Finely dice bacon. Add bacon, along with a quarter cup of water, to a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook until just about crisp, around 5 to 7 minutes. While the bacon cooks, finely dice half an onion.

  4. Step 4

    When the bacon is just shy of crisp, remove with a slotted spoon into a medium bowl. With skillet still over medium heat, add diced onion and cook in bacon fat until soft, around 5 to 7 minutes. Remove onions with slotted spoon (leaving excess fat in the pan) and add to bowl with bacon. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    In a separate large bowl, lightly beat one egg. Add raw ground beef to the bowl, along with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, a few grinds of black pepper, panko bread crumbs, Cheddar and cooled onion-bacon mixture. Gently combine using a wet hand, taking care not to overmix, which can make the meatball tough.

  6. Step 6

    Roll beef mixture into 16 balls, about 1½-inch diameter each. Place onto the prepared baking sheet with space between the meatballs. When oven is heated, cook on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until the meatballs are nicely brown on top.

  7. Step 7

    There will be a lot of excess oil from the balls, and some of them may still stick to the foil because of the cheese. Gently pry the meatballs off the baking sheet and place on a large plate lined with two sheets of paper towel. Serve with sauce.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
219 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Jackie

I love black and blue burgers and I’m thinking blue cheese dressing would be a lovely dip, as well.

jamie

i used parchment paper. No sticking

Kevin Pang

@Gabrielle Kevin Pang, the recipe developer here. You can leave the breadcrumbs out; its goal is to make the meatballs more tender. There’s actually gluten-free breadcrumbs, or you might consider substituting cooked rice in milk.

Jeff

Perhaps different "gluten free" individuals are more or less tolerant of some gluten in their diets, but I have a gluten free friend who tells me that there he has no issue with oatmeal, whether or not the packaging states that it's gluten free. All this to say, I routinely substitute oatmeal for breadcrumbs in recipes like this (meatballs, meatloaf, etc.) and wouldn't hesitate to feed the meatballs to him, nor would he hesitate to eat them.

Patty

Do not overcook. I left mine in the oven for 30 minutes and they were dry and inedible. What a sad waste of effort, time and groceries. But the sauce was excellent.

live your life

Tasty recipe that is fun to make. Made w oven bacon crumbled and reserved fat to cook onion. The sauce was surprisingly good - I didn’t have sweet relish so used about a teaspoon of pickle brine and a dash of maple syrup for sweetness. Served w crispy baked frozen French fries and roasted broccoli. I think grownups enjoyed this more than my first grader. Next time I’d try making this without bacon as I hate the lingering porky smell from cooking it. Five stars, bravo Liam!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.