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Best Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies Recipe

These easy Lil’ Smokies sausages wrapped in bacon are one of our favorite party food recipes, especially when we’re in the mood to hog all the compliments (no pun intended) on game day gatherings or at the buffet table.

This delicious appetizer is also known as “bacon wrapped weenies,” or you can simply call them “Meat Covered in Meat.” Savory little smokies sausages are wrapped in bacon, cooked to crispy perfection, brushed with barbecue sauce and broiled until they’re lightly glazed.

close up of 28 pieces of bacon wrapped little smokies sausages on white background.

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We love making bacon finger food for a party, like our I Heart Bacon Appetizers, Tater Tots and Bacon Cheese Bites and Bacon Deviled Eggs. Be sure to check out our roundup of 52 Best Bacon Appetizer Recipes!

Take a plate of these smoky bacon wraps to your next picnic or potluck, and bask in the bacon-infused love from your friends.

The Best Bacon for Wrapping

Thin-sliced bacon is perfect for this recipe. By the time the bacon bakes in the oven to a crispy, golden brown, the juicy sausages are perfectly cooked.

Ever wondered how many slices are in a pound of thin-sliced bacon? The number is usually between 20 and 24. See? You really do learn something new every day.

Center cut bacon is especially ideal for this recipe, and that’s what I used for this batch because I wanted it to photograph well. Each short piece covers 2 Little Smokies sausages (with a few trimmings that I fry up for bacon bits).

1 pound of center cut bacon, 3 sausages and a pair of kitchen scissors on a wood cutting board.

Regular bacon works just fine, but the end pieces can be a little unpredictable in terms of curling and shrinkage. Feel free to use whatever bacon you prefer! 

Best BBQ Sauce for Glazing

Whether you like your barbeque sauce tangy, sweet, or spicy, anything goes with this recipe so choose your favorite!

Tomato-based, vinegar-based or mustard-based barbecue sauces will all taste fantastic, and each will bring out distinctive flavors of the savory sausage links and bacon strips.

Want more saucy ideas? Here’s a guide to 12 regional barbecue sauce styles.

Assembling the Appetizers

The preparation couldn’t be easier. Just wrap the bacon around the sausages leaving an overlap of about 3/4 inch for shrinkage during cooking. Arrange on the baking sheet seam side down. You don’t need to secure with toothpicks at this point (unless you want to).

A parchment paper lined baking sheet arranged with 30 uncooked bacon wrapped mini hot dogs.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven until browned and crispy. The total time will vary depending on your bacon’s thickness, but in my oven it took about 35 minutes.

30 pieces of cooked skewered appetizers on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Remove from the heat, turn your oven to the Broil setting, and brush the little smokies with barbecue sauce.

Brushing appetizers with BBQ sauce using a red silicone basting brush.

Return to the oven and broil just until sauce bubbles, about 1 minute or so. Remove from oven, cool on a rack for at least 5 minutes, and insert toothpicks before serving.

28 finished pieces of glazed lil smokies with toothpicks on a square platter.

Grilling Instructions

If you want to grill these tasty bacon hors d’oeuvres, just put them on a greased foil pan and cook them over medium heat.

Check and turn frequently until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush with your favorite barbeque sauce. Return to the oven, cook a minute or two longer, and serve.

Variation: Brown Sugar Recipe

Instead of glazing the appetizers with barbecue sauce, try this variation: little smokies wrapped in bacon brown sugar recipe.

Put 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (either light or dark is fine) in a large bowl and use your hands to crumble the sugar and make it smooth. Roll the uncooked, bacon-wrapped little smokies in the sugar. (Alternately, you can sprinkle brown sugar over the little smokies wrapped in bacon, patting to adhere.) Arrange on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

If you like your small bites HOT, you can also sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper.

Then, bake in a 350 degree F oven until browned and crispy. If you like, you can turn the appetizers over once during baking for even browning.

Leftover Cranberry Sauce? Try This Variation

For a delicious sweet-tangy flavor, use cranberry sauce instead of the BBQ sauce in the recipe. If you prefer a smooth glaze, puree the sauce in a food processor or blender if you prefer a smooth glaze.

By the way, whole berry and homemade cranberry sauce can be frozen in a sealed container for up to 3 months. The canned, jellied cranberry sauce does not freeze well and loses its texture when thawed.

How to Store and Reheat

We’ve never had any leftovers and you probably won’t, either. But if you do, you can tightly wrap the appetizers and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days.

To reheat, spread on a baking sheet and cook in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes, until sizzling.  

Keto Little Smokies Appetizers

If you’re following a low-carb diet, you may be wondering “Are smokies keto friendly?” or “How many carbs are in Smokies?”

The good news is that most small smoked sausages are both low-carb and keto friendly.

According to Carb Manager, 5 links of little smokies beef sausages contain 1g total carbs, 1g net carbs, 11g fat, 8g protein, and 140 calories. Be sure to check your package label to be sure that your brand is low carb.

Here’s the easy recipe, which is adapted from the cookbook 101 Things To Do With Bacon by Eliza Cross (Gibbs Smith, Publisher). This recipe is also featured as a web story.

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close up of 28 pieces of bacon wrapped little smokies sausages appetizers.

Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies

Eliza Cross
Lil Smokies sausages are wrapped in bacon, baked until golden brown and glazed with BBQ sauce for a sweet savory appetizer that's sure to be the first to disappear at your next party.
4.93 from 53 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Bacon Appetizers
Cuisine American
Servings 30 pieces
Calories 484 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 14-ounce package beef cocktail wieners
  • 1 pound regular sliced center-cut bacon
  • 1/3 cup barbecue sauce of your choice*

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Wrap each cocktail wiener with a piece of bacon and arrange on the baking sheet seam side down.
  • Bake, turning several times, for about 40 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and brown.
  • Remove from the oven and turn on the broiler. Brush the bacon-wrapped little smokies all over with barbecue sauce. Return to oven and broil for about 1 minute, until barbecue sauce bubbles.
  • Remove to a wire rack and cool on pan for at least 5 minutes. Skewer with toothpicks, arrange on a tray and serve.

Notes

*Holiday Variation – Use cranberry sauce instead of the BBQ sauce. Puree in a food processor or blender if you prefer a smooth glaze.
To store: Tightly wrap any leftovers and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days.
To reheat: Spread the bacon-wrapped Little Smokies on a baking sheet and cook in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes, until heated through and sizzling. 

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Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 484kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 31gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 1545mgSugar: 7g
Nutritional Information Disclosure
Keyword appetizers, bacon, small bites
Did you make this recipe? We love seeing what you made! Be sure to leave a review, and show us your bacon creations on Instagram! Tag us at @BensaBaconLovers!

Nutrition Disclaimer: All nutritional information shared on this site is an approximation. I am not a certified nutritionist, and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline.

If you enjoy this recipe for Lil Smokies sausages wrapped in bacon, we’d be thrilled if you clicked the little stars above and gave the recipe a 5-star rating.

For more delicious meat wrapped in meat, try our popular recipe for Smoked Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Bacon! And for the perfect side dishes from top bloggers, check out our roundup of 15 tasty side dishes to serve with bacon-wrapped scallops (that also taste great with lil’ smokies!)

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Close up of 24 bacon sausage appetizers.

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eliza cross

About Eliza & BENSA

BENSA was founded by bacon expert Eliza Cross, author of more than a dozen cookbooks. She has written three bacon cookbooks including the award-winning Bacon Beans and Beer, the bestselling 101 Things to Do With Bacon, and the popular sequel 101 More Things to Do With Bacon. Learn more about BENSA...

42 thoughts on “Best Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies Recipe”

  1. 5 stars
    Anything wrapped in bacon just tastes great, right? This looks like a fun recipe to try with my kids, thanks for sharing it! :)

    Reply
  2. 5 stars
    Oh wow, this looks delicious. Perfect party nibble. I’m going to make them for my Halloween party this weekend. Yum! Can’t wait.

    Reply
  3. 5 stars
    I needed to take something to work and saw these little smokies. They were gone so quickly! Next time I’m making extra for home so we get a few lol!

    Reply
  4. 5 stars
    We always made these with brown sugar, but loved these with the BBQ and planning on making them with cranberry sauce for the holidays!

    Reply

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