5 Ingredient Cheddar & Green Chili Fatty

I’ve got a killer recipe for you today. This is one of my go-to’s when I need to make something that’s simple, cheap, and will feed a crowd. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s so easy and delicious people think I am a lot better at bbq and grilling than I really am! The Fatty is the ultimate simple meal that can seem really complicated and hard to do, but in reality it couldn’t be easier.

These are our ingredients for today:

1.5-2 Pounds Bacon

2 Pounds Sausage

8 OZ Cheddar Cheese (Tillamook Medium Cheddar)

7 oz Can Diced Green Chilis

2 Tablespoons All Purpose BBQ Rub (Barker BBQ House Blend)

First start on the bacon weave. I made one big mistake here that you can easily avoid: all my pictures will show the bacon straight on a cookie sheet. Save yourself some hassle and build your bacon weave on a piece of wax paper with a layer of cooking spray on the paper (the bacon stuck to the bare cookie sheet).

I like to build bacon weaves in a 8×8 or 9×9 pattern. Start by laying out your horizontal strips then put your first vertical strip down like the picture below.

Next pull the strips back that were UNDER the first vertical piece and add your second vertical slice of bacon, fold your strips back across and continue like the below pictures will show.

You will end up with something like this at the end: the goal is a square that is as even as possible with as few gaps as possible.

Next spread out the two pounds of sausage into a uniform layer on top of the bacon, leaving 1/2 – 1 inch border of bacon around the sausage.

Spread the green chilis out in the middle of the sausage like the picture below.

Then add the 8 oz of shredded cheese on top of the chilis. You may need to compress some of the cheese down, I have found that shredded cheese works better for uniformity and melting than big long thick sticks of cheese.

Last ingredient for the inside of the fatty is some BBQ rub to bring all that flavor together. I used our House Blend rub: sprinkle 2 tablespoons over the top of the cheese.

Time to roll this guy up. Like I mentioned before, if this was on wax paper it would have been much easier. if you use the paper simply lift from one end and let the fatty roll into itself. The key here is to get the sausage sides to all seal around the cheese and chili filling, and then tuck the bacon in on the sides. After you get it rolled you will end up with something like this:

After you have your fatty in a log shape, sprinkle all over with bbq rub. I used the same House Blend I used on the interior for consistent flavor.

Next is a step I see a lot of people skip, but one I think is massively important for a great finished product. Lay out some plastic wrap on the counter and place the fatty on top of it. Roll the fatty up on the plastic wrap getting the ends very tight and making the log into a perfect uniform shape.

This has 2 big benefits. First, the tighter the meat is on the ends the less of a chance of the filling coming out while cooking. Second, the more uniform the shape and size of the fatty the more even it will cook.

After wrapping it up place the fatty in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. It will “set up” a little and be perfect for the smoker.

After 30-60 minutes in the fridge it’s time to get this cooked. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Set your cooker to 275 degrees. I used my Rec Tec Grills Stampede. I have cooked different fatties on all sorts of cookers though and have found the following temperatures work best:

2 hours at 275 degrees and then finish at 350 degrees for around 30-45 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

It is imperative that the internal temperature of the sausage hits at least 165 degrees before it comes off the cooker.

If you don’t have a quality digital thermometer trust me, it’s time to get one. What I recommend to friends (and use myself) is the Thermoworks Thermopen MK4.

Don’t worry if the internal temp climbs above 165 as the bacon gets crispy: the cook won’t be affected negatively because there is so much fat content in the different ingredients. After it comes off the smoker it should look something like this:

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang.

I let it rest for 10 minutes or so then I slice it into individual portions and serve it up!

I can’t wait to see you pull off this easy 5 ingredient cook in your own backyard. Tag me (@barkerbbq) in your pictures on Facebook and Instagram and head over to the shop and grab some rub while you are here.

Now get to smokin’

5 Ingredient Cheddar & Green Chili Fatty

Ingredients

8 oz Medium Cheddar Cheese2 lbs Breakfast Sausage1.5-2 lbs Bacon7 oz Diced Green Chili’s2-3 tbsp All Purpose BBQ Rub (Barker BBQ House Blend)

Instructions

Lay out the bacon weave in a 8×8 or 9×9 square on oiled wax paper.

Spread 2 pounds of sausage in an even layer on top of the bacon leaving a 1/2-1 inch of bacon around the sausage.

Add green chilis, cheese and BBQ rub to the middle of the fatty.

Wrap up the fatty. Place fatty in plastic wrap and wrap tightly to get a uniform shape and to seal the ends. Put in fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Unwrap from plastic wrap, cook at 275 degrees for 2 hours, then cook at 350 degrees until bacon is crisp (about 30 minutes).

Take off cooker when bacon is crisp, rest 10 minutes at room temperature then slice and serve.