Smoked Onion Bomb

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Have you been wanting to try smoked onion bombs? These easy, finger-licking appetizer recipes are perfect for entertaining guests or even impressing your family on a weeknight.

So look no further—smoked onion bombs are the appetizers you didn’t know you needed. Packed with delicious ingredients, they’re sure to explode your taste buds! 

Smoked Onion Bomb Recipe 

So you thought onion bombs couldn’t get any better? Imagine the flavors when you smoke them low and slow for a few hours, for that delicious smoky flavor. 

Plus, they are packed full of all the good stuff…cheese & sausage and then wrapped in bacon! Apart from tickling your taste buds with a surge of savory flavors, you are sure to love this recipe due to its ease and effortlessness of preparation.

Smoked onion bombs are the ultimate smoked side dish. They are so amazing that you could also serve them as a main dish! 

What You’ll Need

• Yellow Onions: Look for large, round onions — the rounder the better. Flat or oblong onions are harder to form into bombs and the rings don’t sit evenly. I pick the biggest ones I can find at the supermarket and hold them up to check the shape before buying.
• Cheddar Cheese: Cut your own cubes from a block — pre-shredded cheese has added starch that affects how it melts. You want a clean melt that oozes when you cut the bomb open, not a dry clump.
• Ground Pork: I use pork sausage here rather than plain ground pork — the seasoning in the sausage adds flavour to the filling without needing to add much else. If you use plain ground pork, increase the rub and add a pinch of fennel seed.
• Garlic 
• Egg 
• Bacon 
• Breadcrumbs 
• Salt 
• Pepper

How to Make Smoked Onion Bombs

Step 1: Preheat Your Smoker

Preheat your pellet smoker to 250°F using hickory or applewood pellets for great smoky flavor.

Step 2: Prep the Onions

Slice the root and stem ends off the onions. Cut each onion in half crosswise (across the equator of the onion) and remove the papery outer skin and any blemished layers. 

Remove the inside of the onions and mince, leaving the outer rings intact. These large rings will form the exterior shell of your onion bombs. The easiest way to separate the rings cleanly is to push from one cut end. The rings will slide out without tearing. Keep the two or three largest outer rings from each onion half — those are your shells. Mince the inner pieces and set aside for the meat mixture.

Step 3: Make the Meat Stuffing

Combine the ground pork, minced onion, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, and milk in a large mixing bowl, then rub in. Mix until just combined — don’t overwork it or the filling will be dense. The mixture should hold together when you press a handful of it but not feel wet or sticky. If it’s too wet, add a small handful of breadcrumbs.

Step 4: Assemble

Place a portion of the meat mixture in the bottom round of one of the onion rings. Gently press a cheese cube into the center of the sausage.

Top with another onion ring stuffed with sausage, sealing up the edges to keep the cheese in. Your meat-stuffed onions should be nice and round.

Press the top and bottom halves together firmly and work the meat out to the edges so there are no gaps — any opening will let the cheese escape during the cook. If the bomb won’t hold its shape, wrap the bacon tightly and the toothpicks will hold everything together.

Step 5: Wrap in Bacon

Wrap each onion’s seam with a piece of bacon, then secure it with a toothpick.

Wrap an additional piece of bacon from the top to the bottom and back up, sealing the holes at the ends, and secure the onion with another toothpick.

The first piece of bacon goes around the equator — this is the most important wrap because it holds the two halves together. The second piece goes pole to pole and covers the top and bottom openings where the cheese could leak. Pull the bacon tight before securing with the toothpick. At this stage, the bombs look messy — that’s fine; the bacon tightens up and sets properly on the smoker.

Step 6: Smoke 

Smoke for 2 ½ hours or until the meat’s internal temperature reaches 160°F. Around the 90-minute mark, the bacon will have gone from pale and raw-looking to a deeper golden brown and starting to tighten. The onion shell will have softened and taken on color. The smell at this stage — hickory smoke, rendered bacon fat, caramelizing onion — is when people start drifting over to the smoker to ask what’s cooking.

Step 7: Baste The Onion Bombs

At the 2.5-hour mark, brush each bomb generously with BBQ sauce and close the lid. Continue smoking for 30 more minutes. The target internal temperature is 175°F — insert the probe into the meat filling through the side, avoiding the cheese center, which will give a false reading.

When ready, the bacon will be deep mahogany and slightly crisp at the edges, the BBQ sauce will have caramelized and gone sticky, and the whole bomb will feel firm when you press it lightly. Rest for 5 minutes before serving — the cheese inside is volcanic at this point.

What Is an Onion Bomb?

An onion bomb is a dish made by stuffing an onion shell with seasoned ground pork and cheese, wrapping it in bacon, and slow-smoking it until the bacon crisps, the onion softens, and the cheese melts completely inside.

What Temperature to Smoke Onion Bombs At

Preheat your smoker to 250°F, and place each onion bomb on the grill grates. The onion bombs need to reach an internal temperature of 175°F to ensure they are cooked through and safe to eat. 

How Long to Smoke Onion Bombs

Smoking your onion bombs on your grill, preheated to 250° F, will take approximately 3 hours. However, the internal temperature is much more important than the cooking time when smoking on the BBQ. 

The 3-hour timeframe for this onion bomb recipe is only a recommendation; focus more on the internal temperature as mentioned below. 

You can choose to baste the bombs with BBQ Sauce before the 3-hour mark, close the lid, and continue smoking until the bombs reach an internal temperature of 175° F for more flavor.

How to Store Leftover Onion Bombs

Any leftover onion bombs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for up to three months.

Tips for Making the Best Onion Bombs

 Follow these rules to ensure you’re always making the best onion bombs: 

• Always cut off the ends: Separating the onions can be a hassle, depending on your onion. However, slicing the ends off the onions before halving and separating them helps, as you can push the individual onion rings out from the ends.
• Experiment with flavors: You can mix things up with different seasonings and sauces. This could mean filling your bombs with a different blend of cheeses, adding jalapenos, or anything else that sounds good to you!
• Use foil: If your onion bombs have trouble standing up straight, you can use balls of foil to help them. 

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Looking for More Bacon Recipes?

Do you love bacon as much as I do? Here are some of my favorite recipes with bacon

• Bacon Jerky
• Bacon Wrapped Shotgun Shells
• Traeger Bacon Mac and Cheese
• Brownies Topped with Bacon Salt
• Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Bacon
• Mashed Potatoes Topped With Bacon
• Bacon-Wrapped Burgers

What to Serve Onion Bombs With

Smoke On!

Charlie

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