Smoked Pastrami Meatballs – Girls Can Grill

Grab a package of grocery store corned beef to make smoked pastrami meatballs. They’re great appetizers especially around St. Patrick’s Day.

What are pastrami meatballs

Pastrami is meat that is brined for a long period of time and then smoked. Before it’s smoked, it’s referred to as corned beef, and usually, cuts like brisket or beef navel are used.

You can make corned beef from scratch to make your own pastrami or you can buy pre-brined corned beef in the store. For this recipe, it’s easiest to buy the grocery store corned beef.

Instead of smoking the whole slab of brisket, you’re going to grind it first, shape it into meatballs and then smoke it. You’ll end up with the same great pastrami vibe in much less time.

---

Ingredients

• Corned Beef: This recipes uses corned beef brisket. You can find it in the grocery store around St. Patrick’s Day. For better flavor, look for the point cut because it’s fattier.
• Panko Breadcrumbs: This helps hold the meatballs together.
• Milk: Whole milk will add more flavor, but reduced fat milk or unflavored plant-based milk is fine, too.

See the full recipe card above for servings and a full list of ingredients.

---

How to smoke pastrami meatballs

Heat your grill or smoker to 275F degrees with an indirect heat zone. If using wood chunks for pellets, cherry wood and hickory wood flavors go well with this pastrami meatball recipe.

1. STEP ONE: Remove the corned beef from the packaging and rinse it under cold water to remove the brine. Cut it into cubes.

PRO TIP: To reduce the salt even more, soak the corned beef brisket in a bowl of cold water in the refrigerator overnight. 

2. STEP TWO: Setup your meat grinder. Process the cubed beef through the grinder into a large bowl. Chill.

3. STEP THREE: In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and milk and let them soak for about 5 minutes.

4. STEP FOUR: Add the ground beef to the bowl and mix well. Shape into about 20 meatballs.

PRO TIP: You can make the meatballs any size you'd like. I generally aim for golf ball size. If you make them smaller, they will cook faster. 

5. STEP FIVE: Place the meatballs on your preheated smoker.

6. STEP SIX: Smoke to an internal temperature of at least 165F degrees. This will take about 45 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs.

PRO TIP: If you want to add sauce, baste it on during the final 15 minutes of the cook. 

---

How to serve pastrami meatballs

Pastrami meatballs make great appetizers. You can just serve them up in a bowl or on a platter with toothpicks.

Or make pastrami meatball hoagies by piling them up onto hoagie rolls layered with thousand island dressing, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut.

---

Storage

Store leftover meatballs in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. You can also freeze the meatballs before or after smoking.

PRO TIP: Stock up on corned beef right after St. Patrick's Day when it's on sale. Then, grind it and freeze it. That way, you can make pastrami meatballs or pastrami sausages any time of year. 

---

What meat grinder do you recommend?

It depends how often you plan to grind meat and how much meat you want to grind at once. For small batches of ground meat, I use my KitchenAid attachment.

When, I want to make several pounds of ground meat, I pull out my LEM BigBite.

---

---

Newest Recipes