Smoked Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings
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Some might complain that these smoked bacon wrapped onion rings are a little labor intensive but the remedy for that is to let everyone wrap their own.
I do this for many of the appetizers that I do at my house and not only does it save me a ton of work, it gives everyone a since of being involved in the process and even the smaller ones can do something too.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Smoker Temp: 240°F (116°C)
- Meat Finish Temp: N/A
- Recommended Wood: Pecan
- 4 sweet onions, large
- 2 lbs bacon, thin sliced
- Jeff's original barbecue sauce
- Jeff's original rub
- Toothpicks (optional)
I had 6 sweet yellow onions but only used 4 onions to get 12 large rings with 2 layers each.
Cut about ¼ inch from the root end and the stem end. It will be flat on both sides.
Peel the skin from the outside of the onions.
Cut the onion into ½ inch pieces. You should get 3-4 slices from each onion.
Remove the inner layers to leave the 2 largest outside layers.. we'll call them layer 1 and layer 2.
If the slices are large enough, you might be able to get another slice from the 3rd and 4th layer.
By using rings that are 2 layers thick, it's a lot more robust and holds together better. It also gives you more onion inside the bacon and that's a good thing.
Pick out 12 of the best rings of onion.
Lay the raw onion rings on a plate, cutting board or perhaps a cookie sheet.
Brush the top and sides of each one with Jeff's original barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce).
Sprinkle my original rub on the top and sides of each ring.
Flip the rings over and repeat the sauce and rub on the other side to complete this step.
I recommend you use the thinnest bacon you can find. I usually count slices to determine which package has the thinnest bacon.
If a 1 lb package has 15-16 slices, that's about perfect.
Hold the sauced and rubbed onion ring in one hand and manipulate a piece of bacon around the edges of the ring. When you finish with one slice of bacon, begin another one, going in the same direction.
Each onion ring, depending on the size will take from 2-3 pieces of bacon. If you are careful to stretch the bacon as you wrap, it will cover more area.
Some folks use toothpicks to hold the bacon in place. In my opinion it's not necessary with thin bacon but I will leave that up to you.
Once all of the onion rings have been wrapped in bacon, lay them on a pan with a rack, Weber grill pan or a cooling rack
Apply a generous amount of my original rub to the top and sides.
This rub will give you another layer of flavor and add to the flavor of this wonderful smoked appetizer.
Leave the rubbed onion rings sitting on the counter while you go get the smoker ready.
Set up your smoker for cooking at about 240°F (116°C) using indirect heat and pecan wood for smoke. Other smoking woods will work if you don't have pecan.
If your smoker uses a water pan, you can leave it dry to help the bacon crisp up.
Place the racks of onion rings on the smoker grate and let them cook for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the bacon gets to the right color and is somewhat crisp.. i.e. has good bite-thru.
It's also important that the onion is vey soft. You may have to eat one to test for that;-)
Bacon does not get crispy per se in the smoker but it does reach a point at this temperature where it is not chewy at all and has good bite-thru. This is what you are looking for.
Remove the smoked bacon wrapped onion rings from the smoker when they are finished and serve them immediately so folks can eat them nice and hot.
I did not dip mine in anything but you could add Sriracha to some mayo and a little lemon or lime juice for a good dipping sauce. My original barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) is always a great option and really compliments the smoke.
Enjoy these and promise yourself you'll make a triple batch next time!
Smoked Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings
Ingredients
- 4 whole sweet onions (large)
- 2 lbs bacon (thin sliced)
- ¼ cup Jeff's original barbecue sauce
- ¼ cup Jeff's original rub
Instructions
- Cut the root end and stem end off the onion.
- Peel the skin from the outer layer of the onion.
- Cut the onion into ½ inch slices and remove the centers to only leave about 2 layers.
- Brush barbecue sauce onto the top of the onion slices then sprinkle with Jeffs' original rub.
- Flip the onion slices over and repeat the sauce and rub on the other side.
- Wrap strips of thin bacon around the edges of the onion slices. Expect to use about 2-3 slices each.
- Lay the bacon wrapped onion rings onto a pan with a rack or cooling rack and sprinkle with a little more rub.
- Set up your smoker for cooking at 240°F (116°C) with indirect heat using pecan wood for smoke.
- Smoke cook the onion rings for about 2 hours or until the bacon is crisp and nicely browned.
- Serve immediately when finished.
Hi Jeff, my family and I LOVE the bacon wrapped onion rings as well!
Feeding so many people I use most (all?!!) of the onion and I’ve found that the center of the onion is as good as or better than the rings.
I take the center (usually around the size of a 50 cent piece) and wrap that in bacon. I cut the bacon slice in half, wrap one piece around the onion, then turn the onion 90deg and wrap the second piece of bacon around it. That covers the piece and really allows the onion to cook and mix flavor with the bacon.
The result is a sweet “bacony” (that’s a technical term!), appetizer that is different from the big rings but every bit as tasty, or more!
I also use the rings and the center pieces on smoked burgers as my “dish of the day” when holding a BBQ at my backyard “Bar and BBQ”.
Fabulous recipe! These don’t last long at our house! Remember to use thin sliced bacon for best results. And your rub recipes and sauce recipes are the bomb! Thank you!!!
Recipe is well written so no significant pointers after making these at least a half dozen times beyond onion size. Too small: the hole in the middle of the onion is so small its hard to wrap. Too big: one slice of bacon per ring isn’t enough, that becomes too much food for a grab and go appetizer pre-BBQ party. These are addictive; a much requested huge hit but a bit labor intensive to make. I tell my wife’s friend “only for your Birthday”!
ROFLMAO…anything plus bacon equals tasty. I think these should be called Texas Donuts.
Round Wrapped pieces of Heaven. I pruchased your rubs and BBQ sauce and it truly is great…Thank you for elevating my smoking choices!!
Fantastic! These look amazing. We just did a batch of smoked onion rings as well. We also included some cheese stuffed between two onion rings. These are definitely a crowd pleaser.
Here’s the link to ours if you want to check it out: https://teggsty.com/bacon-wrapped-smoked-cheese-stuffed-onion-rings/
These look amazing! Two questions for you. First, would you add anything to the water pan or would the moisture be too much and make the onion rings soggy? Second, I’m planning on also smoking some kielbasa at the same time. Same question – would that bring the moisture up and ruin the onion rings? Thanks!