Smoked Breakfast Fatty Recipe

Wow everyone at your next family breakfast or brunch with this smoked breakfast sausage BBQ fatty recipe. Wrap up all you favorite breakfast foods into one bacon weave bundle of deliciousness that everyone will love.

Sometimes the BBQ world and smoking is a little… over the top to say the least. The elusive BBQ fatty definitely fits into that category but in the best way possible.

I am and always will be a breakfast lover. Marrying my two favorite food categories of breakfast and BBQ just feels quite magical if I’m being honest.

This recipe boasts a lot of different components that all come together fairly easily, but some prep is needed in advance for this recipe.

Below I will show you two different ways I like to make this breakfast fatty. One sweet and one savory, but you can easily customize yours however you like.

I encourage you to read through the entire article before beginning so you have a solid understanding of making the perfect bacon weave, rolling out the sausage layer, and how to stuff it properly.

Additionally, I’ll walk you through your smoker set up and give you tips for glazing and serving.

Let’s get cooking!

“School” Supplies:

• Cutting Board
• Large Plastic Bag
• Rolling Pin
• Gloves
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper or Plastic Wrap
• Cooling Rack (makes this easier to take on and off the grill)
• Frying Pan & Spatula (for pre-cooking your eggs)
• Meat Thermometer (this one is AMAZING)
• Basting Brush

“Class” Notes:

As a culinary instructor and recipe developer, I thoroughly test each recipe.

Use the guided notes below to reference additional cooking details, techniques, and tips to help you have a foolproof cooking experience.

What is a BBQ fatty?

A classic BBQ fatty starts with a filling of your choice (in this case, breakfast foods) layered over ground pork and then wrapped and rolled up tightly into a bacon weave.

The fatty is smoked and cooked low and slow on indirect heat on your smoker until it’s fully cooked and the bacon is crispy.

You can slice it and serve it (almost like a stuffed pork loin meets a meatloaf) for a large crowd.

It’s great for serving to a group of people for a Sunday morning get together but also works for Easter brunch or Christmas morning.

Breakfast Fatty Ingredients:

• Apple Wood Bacon: Avoid very thick slices of bacon. Thin works better for this recipe so that it gets fully cooked and the fat renders and gets crispy.
• Ground Sausage: Use your favorite spicy pork sausage or try chorizo for a chorizo breakfast fatty recipe.
• Scrambled Eggs: Precook and scramble the eggs. You can add other things into the eggs like poblano peppers or green bell pepper, red onion, etc.
• Hash browns: You can opt to precook hashbrowns. I also love tater tots for this recipe because they’re quick and simple and roll up well.
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese: I like cheddar, but your favorite shredded cheese works great here!
• BBQ Dry Rub: I love this Cajun BBQ Dry Rub recipe or sometimes this homemade Tajin seasoning for some heat. Use what you like!

Want a sweet and savory breakfast fatty combination? Try stuffing your sausage fatty layer with precooked cinnamon rolls. You can check out the photos and videos and see how I did this both ways!

How do I make a bacon weave?

Bacon weaves are a crucial part of keeping the ground sausage and breakfast filling intact and together as it smokes on the grill.

Also, who doesn’t love how awesome a bacon weave is?

You create a bacon weave much like you would the lattice on a pie crust.

Start by dividing up half of your bacon from the package (you need 12 slices total). I like to place down a piece of parchment paper or a piece of plastic wrap to build my bacon weave on.

This will be helpful when you need to go and roll everything together because everything is built over the bacon weave.

Here are the steps to follow for making the perfect bacon weave:

1. Lay 6 pieces of thin cut bacon down over your paper so they’re laying vertically right next to one another.
2. Folding every other strip bacon towards the edge (3 slices), lay one of you unused strips of bacon across horizontally where you pulled the bacon back from.
3. Place those 3 strips you folded back over the horizontal piece you added. Repeat this step, now pulling back the other 3 pieces of bacon you didn’t pull back the first time.
4. Add another horizontal piece of bacon and repeat until all the other strips of bacon are fully woven into one another.
5. You can season this inside layer of your bacon weave with a little BBQ seasoning if you like here.

Assembly and Rolling:

Here is the best way to assemble and layer your fatty.

Start with your bacon weave down first over parchment or plastic wrap. I like the sausage layer to be even and thin, so I place it into a large plastic bag and roll it out thin over the top with a rolling pin.

You can cut the bag open and place the perfect sausage layer over the bacon weave. Make sure the sausage covers and hits all the way to the edges of the bacon weave.

Over the top of sausage, add your scrambled egg mixture. Place the hashbrowns or tater tots and cheese over top of the eggs (like you’re building a large burrito).

Tips for rolling:

• Keep your filling away from the ends of the bacon and sausage layer, it will push out a bit as you roll.
• Use the paper or plastic to help you roll the BBQ fatty up tightly like you would a burrito or a cinnamon roll.
• Seal and pinch around the edges of the sausage fatty to ensure your filling is sealed entirely.
• Tuck the seam pieces of bacon side down onto a cooling rack and pop it into the fridge while you preheat your grill.

Smoking Instructions:

You can make a BBQ breakfast fatty on any grill (charcoal grill, pellet or electric smoker, and even a gas grill) if you utilize indirect heat. Preheat the grill to 250 degrees F.

Remove your fatty from the paper or plastic and set it onto the cooling rack. I like to move the rack on and off the grill for easy transfer.

You can season the bacon slices on the outside of the breakfast fatty with your BBQ rub before it goes onto the smoker.

Low and slow heat allows you to evenly cook the whole thing until the internal temperature reaches a final temperature of 165 degrees F. while the bacon on the outside renders and cooks until nice and crisp.

Use a meat thermometer to accurately check the temperature. When the BBQ fatty has been smoking for at least an hour, turn the heat up to 350 F. to allow the bacon to crisp up and cook the rest of the way through.

Pro Tip: Have a foil pan lined under the fatty’s to catch the bacon fat to avoid that dripping into your grill and causing a flare up!

Glazing and Serving:

If you want to add a BBQ sauce or even a sweet glaze like maple syrup or cinnamon roll frosting to the outside, I recommend glazing the last 10-15 minutes before you pull it off of your smoker.

Remove it using the cooling rack and transfer the breakfast fatty to a cutting board and let it rest another 10 minutes or so for easier slicing. Use a carving knife or serrated knife and cut 1-1.5 inch rounds out for serving.

Serve your fatty up for brunch with small batch cowboy candy, a smoked bloody Mary, a brûléed grapefruit, or a side of pancakes and enjoy!