These are dumb easy and people go nuts for them. Hand-roll the meatballs, smoke them, throw them on Hawaiian rolls with marinara and melted cheese. I made like 25 of them last time and there were none left.
What you need
Meatballs
- 2 lbs ground beef (80/20) or a mix of beef and pork
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
- 2 eggs
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
For assembly
- Hawaiian rolls (the 12-pack kings)
- Marinara sauce — jarred is fine
- Sliced provolone or American cheese
- Butter for the rolls
How to make it
1. Mix the meatball ingredients together. Don’t overwork the meat. Roll them into balls a little bigger than a golf ball. You want them sized so one fits on a Hawaiian roll. Line them up on a foil-lined sheet pan.
2. Smoker at 250. Cherry or apple wood. Put the meatballs right on the grates or on a perforated pan. Smoke for about an hour until they hit 165 internal. Use a Thermapen and check a few of them — the ones on the edges cook faster.
3. While the meatballs are smoking, warm up your marinara. When the meatballs come off, toss them in the sauce and let them sit in it for 10 minutes. They soak up the sauce and it’s way better than just putting sauce on top.
4. Slice the Hawaiian rolls in half as a sheet. Butter the cut sides and toast them in a cast iron skillet or under the broiler. Lay down cheese on the bottom half, add meatballs, spoon more sauce on top, close it up. Cut into individual sliders.
5. If you want to get fancy, do the whole assembly on a sheet pan. Bottom rolls, cheese, meatballs, sauce, top rolls. Put it in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes to melt everything together, then cut into squares.
I make homemade fries with these. Cut up some russet potatoes, toss in oil and seasoned salt, air fry at 400 for 20 minutes. Beats frozen fries by a mile.
