Low-Carb Grilled Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 tsp. steak seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 6 slices bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup chopped dill pickle
• 4 oz. Swiss cheese, cut into very small cubes
• olive oil for brushing meatballs

Directions

1. Break the beef up into a plastic bowl, then scatter the steak seasoning and black pepper over it and add the egg. Cook the bacon until crisp and crumble it, dice the dill pickles, and cut the cheese into small cubes.
2. Add the bacon, pickles, and cheese to the beef mixture, then use your hands to bring everything together gently. Don’t work it too much, because that’s how you end up with tough meatballs.
3. Scoop the mixture with a 1/4 cup measuring cup, shape each portion into a meatball, and nudge the cheese cubes toward the inside as you go. Set the shaped meatballs on a small baking sheet and chill them in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, which helps them hold their shape when they meet the hot grill.
4. When it’s time to cook, set the grilling pan over the grill grates so it can heat as the grill comes up to medium-high heat. You can also use a stovetop grill pan, and that should be preheated too.
5. Take the meatballs out of the fridge and lightly brush both sides with olive oil to help keep them from sticking. Arrange them on the grilling pan and cook, turning about every 2 minutes, until they’re browned all around.
6. Begin checking them after about 15 minutes. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to look for an internal temperature of at least 160F/102C, or cut one open and check that the center is cooked through.
7. Serve hot, with dipping sauce for the meatballs if you’d like. These meatballs are good reheated, so doubling the batch is a smart move if you want extras for another meal.