Smoked Fatty

What can go wrong with a bacon-wrapped, BBQ rubbed Smoked Fatty? Virtually nothing, if you ask me! This is an amazing breakfast treat packed full of eggs, cheese, peppers, pico de Gallo, and anything else you want to throw in!

This is hands down the best-tasting breakfast sausage log you are going to eat right off of the grill. Whether you are feeding a crowd with the Grilled Sausage Breakfast Casserole and Twisted Bacon or just trying to have a creative brunch with the family on a Sunday afternoon, this one is going to knock your socks off!

🍽️ Why This Works

Special Treat – This isn’t the fastest breakfast in the world, but it is one of the best! Grab the kids and put together a really special treat for a breakfast.

Tasty – You know, I could just stop at “bacon-wrapped” and it would be delicious, but when you add in the fire-roasted poblano peppers, eggs, and dry rub, you have a meal fit for kings!

Flexible – Mix up the ingredients to make it your own! Don’t like pico or sausage? That’s easy to fix! Want to spice it up? It’s simple to do!

🥓 Ingredients

📝 Ingredient Notes

Breakfast Sausage – You won’t use a full pound. Pick your favorite pork sausage or go for other fillings. Keep in mind what you plan to combine your personal fatty with so the meat will complement it. Look for Apple, Sage, Maple, and Johnsonville even puts out a French Toast variety now.

Bacon – This is one of those times when the thickness of the bacon is key. The first time we made this, we realized that the cut bacon was extremely thin, and it wasn’t cut very square. When choosing bacon, aim for a medium thickness and look for the straightest cuts possible.

This is another area where flavor will come into play. Bacon now comes in Hardwood, Maple, Hickory Smoked, and a whole slew of other ones to test drive on this recipe.

Eggs and Cheese – Scramble the eggs ahead of time and sprinkle in the cheese.

Additions – I love a bit of salsa with my eggs, so we added some pico de gallo and roasted poblano pepper. It wasn’t too hot, but it added a lot of flavor. This is the time to customize it and make it your own.

Seasoning – Choose your favorite dry rub for the bacon. I used Burnt Sacrifice’s Dallas Rub. Any of your favorites will do nicely. I would steer away from any exotic flavorings until you have made this a few times.

⏲️ Equipment and Tools

Parchment Paper – This is the secret to the whole recipe! Start the layering on a piece of parchment paper. This allows you to get a good grip when you are rolling this into a cylinder. Check out the photos below. Don’t skip this!

SmokeWare Vented Chimney Cap – Strictly speaking, you don’t need this, but it sure does make life a lot easier to control the temperature on Kamado-style grills. It is much easier to open and close and you can really dial in the temperature.

Smoking Box – If you are using a gas grill, but still want that great smoky flavor, pick up a smoking box. This is a small metal box with holes in it. Add the wood chips to the box, close the lid, and put it in your gas grill to create that wood smoke. You can use any smoking wood. We prefer a stronger smoke flavor so oak, hickory, pecan are some of our favorites. Consult this free wood smoking cheat sheet for more options!

🔥 Instructions

Step One: Lay out a sheet of parchment paper and then weave six to seven slices of bacon to form a square. Warning: If the bacon is too thin, it will separate. If it is too thick, it will not fold over very well.

Note: Spend an extra minute or two to make sure the bacon forms a tight weave. It is important that you minimize any spaces between the bacon.

Step Two: Layer the sausage on the bacon, pressing firmly. Rather than mixing the filling ingredients in a bowl, we’ll be layering them. Keep ¾ – 1″ of the bacon uncovered around the perimeter. You need this space for the rolling process later.

Step Three: Add the scrambled eggs and any other flavorings you want at this point. We added the cheese, pico, and roasted poblanos.

Step Four: Lift the parchment paper and gently roll it over to form a cylinder. Press it together firmly so it will hold everything inside. The bacon will adhere to itself, but if you feel it needs some extra support, then add a few toothpicks.

Step Five: Sprinkle the smoked fatty with the dry rub and work it with your hands for even coverage. Pin the ends of the BBQ fatty with toothpicks to keep them together.

Step Six: Set up the grill to 375° using indirect heat. For Kamado-style grills, the plate setter works great. Add your favorite wood chips and get the smoke flowing.

Step Seven: Let this smoke for about 45 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 165°. You’ll be able to look at it and tell that it is done. Add BBQ glaze right before you take it off, or leave it off, like we did.

Step Eight: Transfer the smoked fatty to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

🫑 Roasting Poblanos

We wanted a little peppery flavor but didn’t want the heat. A poblano was the perfect answer. On a medium-high grill, we added the whole pepper to the GrillGrate and let it cook for 5-7 minutes on each side.

The skin becomes a bit charred and blistered list you see in the photo above. When both sides are blistered, remove it.

Cut the pepper in half and scrape out the seeds. The skin can be a bit waxy, but it is easy to peel away.

❗ Recipe Tips and Tricks

It is easy to overfill the bacon weave when assembling. Keep in mind that you need to roll it up, so don’t go overboard on the filling.

Toothpicks are your friend here. I didn’t need them for the rolling this time, but I did use them to secure the ends. Remove them before serving.

Use cold bacon straight from the fridge, as it’s easier to work with.

Spend the time when weaving the strips of bacon to make sure it is super tight. It will make rolling the smoked fatty that much easier.

Look for the straightest packs of bacon at the store. I was surprised at how wavy some packs were. The straighter the cut, the easier it is to weave.

Use the parchment paper to help roll the smoked sausage fatty up. A piece of plastic wrap would also work if that’s what you have on hand. Up in photo 3 above when I reached the point where the parchment was going to roll onto itself, I gently pulled it out and then started to roll again using the parchment.

Be mindful of how much salt or barbecue rub you use to season the fatty, especially when using sausage which is usually pretty high in salt.

Storage and Reheating

If you have any leftovers, store them in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Cut off a slice to reheat in the microwave for a minute or two. Make sure you cover this when reheating, as it has a tendency to splatter.

Meal Prep

Buy all of the ingredients ahead of time. I had to make a quick trip to the store for a missing ingredient as we were assembling, which caused delays.

Cook the eggs ahead of time and refrigerate.

Prep the weave and store it in the refrigerator.

Additions and Substitutions

This is the perfect recipe for adding and replacing ingredients. The stuffing can be any combination you want!

Poblano can be replaced by Jalapeno, Chipotle, or other peppers. Keep in mind some of these varieties are hotter than poblanos so make sure you can handle the heat!

Instead of pork sausage, you can use grilled meatloaf, ground beef, ground turkey, or even ground lamb for a Mediterranean twist.

Experiment with other ingredients for the filling: cream cheese, mac and cheese, Provolone, cheddar

You can add shredded hash browns to the center as well.

Choose your favorite dry rub and BBQ sauces. Swapping those out will make a big difference. This all-purpose dry rub makes an excellent choice if you’re looking for a homemade option.

Making your own barbecue sauce is also exceptionally easy! Try this amazing whiskey BBQ sauce, the smoked pumpkin bourbon BBQ sauce, or a tangy cherry bourbon BBQ sauce.

Flavor Combinations

Garlic Lovers	Roasted Garlic Cloves
Hot Pepper	Roasted Habaneros and Sazon Seasoning
Buffalo Seasoned	Buffalo Seasoning or Frank’s Hot Sauce
Savory Blends	Rosemary, Thyme and Oregano
Smoked Salmon	Thin Slices of Smoked Salmon on Eggs
Onion Lovers	Caramelized Onions (and Mushrooms)

Serving Suggestions

As long as you have the grill going, grill some baby potatoes with garlic to round out the breakfast. I also like to serve grilled root vegetables with this. The starches work well with this smoked breakfast fatty recipe.

Need more options? Plenty of choices in our BBQ sides list!

♨️More Smoked Breakfast Recipes

The smoker can produce some of the most mouthwatering meals and breakfast is no exception!

There’s not much that wouldn’t pair wonderfully with some smoked bacon slices.

Smoked shotgun shells are another fabulous bacon-wrapped sausage treat that will disappear really fast from the plate!

Eggs are a breakfast staple and you can take them to the next level with this smoked eggs recipe. Smoked deviled eggs will definitely impress everyone in both taste and appearance. They also work great as a party appetizer!

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