Traeger Bacon Stuffed Smoked Meatloaf

This Traeger bacon stuffed smoked meatloaf recipe with cheese is so amazing! If you’re looking for the ultimate comfort food that oozes with flavor, try this as a killer easy smoker recipe on your electric or pellet Green Mountain today! 

How Long Does it Take to Cook Traeger Meatloaf?

You need about 2 hours to cook this until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F inside. This timing is using 2 pounds of ground beef. If you wanted to make a smaller log with half the hamburger it would take less time. Have a thermometer on hand to check once you turn up the heat to crisp the outside.

1. Wood chips or Pellets – We like using a variety pack to make our electric smoker recipes. We also love these Jack Daniel’s wood chips. Apple pellets were used to make this particular one in our Green Mountain smoker.
2. Smoker – we have a simple electric smoker and just purchased a larger pellet grill & smoker! 

Timing – you’ll need the meat smoking chart at the top of this post to know what temp and how long to cook each meat. If your smoker doesn’t have a built in digital thermometer you’ll want that too.

We have one with and one without. It sure is nice to be able to check without opening the lid. When smoking meats you don’t want to do that if at all possible. An even temp. is very important to achieving the perfect “cookness”. Now let’s get started…..

What can You Stuff Meatloaf with?

Cheese is best of all. If you are going to wrap the outside with pork you could leave out the cooked slices inside but both would be amazing. To create an ooey gooey center I think shredded cheddar as well as some thicker slices are best but any variety would work including cream cheese.

No this is not simple, ours is with cheese has bacon inside too! Yes you can leave both of these items out but seriously, just go all in and give yourself a treat this evening.

How to Make Smoked Meatloaf with Bacon

We added both shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a few thicker slices too so it would really ooze out. Your meat mixture will be amped up with spices and diced onion so every bite will be PACKED with flavor. One slice will do ya’. 😉

Here are a few step by step photos to show you how to make this amazing meat loaf recipe. We will include oven directions as well below.

You will need a few items to get this going and make it layered in a sense with different ingredients wrapped inside. It is kinda’ like a surprise once it is done.

Equipment needed

1. A large bowl for mixing
2. Parchment paper
3. Grill pan or silicone mat to place on your grate inside your smoker

I guess wax paper would do too but I prefer this for rolling your meat loaf up. A baking sheet is handy too if you’re making this in the oven. Use a loaf pan if you’re making a smaller/shorter version of this if that’s all you have on hand.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Stuffed with Cheese Ingredients

• 2 lbs. ground beef or you could use half spicy ground sausage and half lean beef.
• Onion
• Eggs
• Onion powder
• Paprika
• Cayenne pepper – adjust to your desired heat level
• Salt and pepper
• Cheese – sharp cheddar is our preference
• Bacon – precooked, we smoked bacon right before we made this
• And we added BBQ sauce to the top – if using one with heat be prepared for it to REALLY heat up, we prefer honey style to bring a bit of sweetness in

This is a quick step by step but there is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post as well: Make sure you preheat smoker to 150, or preheat oven to 350 degrees. Ensure there are pellets or wood chips inside your smoker, enough to last almost 3 hours.

How to Stuff a Meatloaf

• We used apple chips for this smoked meatloaf recipe.
• In a bowl add all ingredients except bacon and cheese.
• Mix together well. Set out a piece of parchment paper on to your countertop.
• Lay your meatloaf mixture down and spread out so it forms a square and is about 1/2″ thick all the way across.
• Sprinkle your shredded cheese on top, then place your sliced pieces of cheese (if you decide to add more) on top of that spread out.
• Lift up one end and roll tight all the way to the other end and seal with your fingers pressing meat together so it doesn’t unroll.
• Lay meatloaf log on a long grill plate as you see we used in this post.
• Place inside your smoker, on grates, in the middle.

Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf in the Oven

If baking in your oven at 350 degrees F, use a baking sheet with parchment underneath. If you want a really crispy outside you can instead set on a cooling rack, on top of a sheet pan so it can drip the grease down below. This method will take approx. 60 minutes to reach 150 degrees internally.

What temperature do you smoke meatloaf?

Start out at 150F for about 2 hours for 2 pounds. If you want to add barbecue sauce on to the top pour some on at this time. Then you will turn your smoker/grill up to 400 degrees until it crisps on the outside as much as you’d like and internal temp reaches 150 degrees. Times may vary on this depending on how thick your loaf is. Take off griddle and place on cutting board. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

I liked using this grill pan you see here so it didn’t leak below the grates and create a mess You can add smoked corn for the last hour if you want too.

How to Make Smoked Meatloaf Spicy

You can add 1/4 cup bbq sauce to top add once you turn up the temp. Let’s talk choosing a bbq sauce. The first time we made this stuffed meat loaf we added barbecue sauce which we buy all the time. It was SPICY! We think it amplified the little bit of spice it had in it while it was crisping up in the smoker. Now we use honey style. Learn from us.

If you really like heat then by all means use a spicy or somewhat hot sauce. Just know that the heat will be amplified in the last stages of cooking/smoking.

Also, you can adjust the amount of cayenne pepper added to the meatloaf mixture itself. We do a like a bit of a kick but 1 tsp is great for myself and the kids. If my husband was making it just for himself he’d opt for 2 tsp.

What kind of pan should I use?

Why we like a grill pan vs. a silicone mat or baking sheet. Some people swear by silicone but I am not a fan. First off I’d rather use cast iron vs. any sort of plastic type of material for baking or grilling. Secondly, I love that this griddle/grill pan has ridges so a lot of the grease is kept away from the meat. If you flip it over it is a flat cast iron griddle too. Perfect for making pancakes on the stovetop, it’s super versatile.

How to Keep Smoked Meatloaf Moist

• Ensure that your stuffed meatloaf mixture is the same thickness all the way across in the initial flattening out process.
• Preheat your smoker or oven before adding food.
• Do not open the smoker for the first 2 hours so it cooks evenly.
• Want bbq meatloaf? Add it before you turn it up to 400 degrees at the end to add even more flavor and lock in the moisture!
• Always check internal meat temperature before serving. This should be 150 F internal temperature when you take it off, no higher.
• Allow meat log to rest for at least 10 minutes so it stays in tact when you slice it and juices don’t run out.

What is the best wood to smoke a meatloaf?

Meatloaf recipe with cheese is great using maple, pecan or apple would be our choices. We almost always have apple on hand because it goes great with any sort of Traeger beef recipe. Enjoy and don’t count the calories on this one. 😉

Other Traeger recipes you’ll love

• Serve with our garlic smoked bread and enjoy!
• Next try our smoked brats that are cheap and done in no time.
• Or our smoked pork recipe that feeds a crew.
• This is how to smoke a steak and have the most killer meal ever.