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These bacon wrapped smoked dove breasts are a fantastic bite-sized appetizer to make with your dove bounty! Wrapped in bacon, smoked on the grill, and tossed with a sweet chili barbecue sauce, similar to everyone’s favorite Li’l Smokies!
A New Kind of Smoked Dove
If you’ve ever prepared dove breasts after a successful trip to the fields, then you know that one dove recipe reigns supreme – dove poppers. The bacon wrapped, jalapeno popper-style dove is the most popular way to cook dove by far.
But I wanted to try something new. And my mind immediately wandered to the Li’l Smokies appetizer, the mini smoked sausages (some people call them “Li’l Weenies”) that are slow-cooked with a sticky sweet mixture of barbecue sauce, grape jelly, and sweet chili sauce.
Since the mini smoked sausages are about the same size as a dove breast, and everything is better wrapped in bacon, I decided to try out the same barbecue and sweet chili sauce mixture on some smoked doves. And the result was fantastic!
Prepping the Dove Breasts
The first step is to debone your doves, removing the breasts from the small breast plate. If you’re cooking doves, then you probably already know how to do this. But here’s a diagram and step-by-step instructions of my preferred method – and it’s much easier than using a knife like most people recommend!
- Turn the dove breasts over to the bone side. Gently work your thumbs down either side of the breastplate, separating the bone from the meat as you go. Try not to leave any meat attached to the bone… these dove breasts are small enough as it is!
- When the sides of the meat are separated and the bone is only attached in the center, pinch the breastplate together to form a “V” shape.
- Gently pull the breastplate off the meat, using one hand to hold the pinched bone and the other hand to gently separate the meat.
- The dove breasts will still be attached in the middle, so simply take a knife and cut the deboned breasts into two individual pieces.
How to Make Smoked Dove Breasts
- Partially cook the bacon. The trick is to only cook the bacon slices for about 3-4 minutes, just to start to render some of the fat. Don’t cook the bacon all the way through, because then it won’t be pliable enough to wrap the dove breasts. *This method helps to ensure that your bacon will cook all the way through on the smoker, without overcooking your dove. Transfer the bacon to paper towels for excess grease to drain.
- Wrap the dove breasts in bacon and season. Wrap each dove breast in a single piece of par-cooked bacon, securing the ends with toothpicks. Then lightly season with your favorite BBQ seasoning.
- Smoke the dove breasts. Place the bacon wrapped dove breasts on the grill and smoke at about 250-275°F until the bacon is cooked through and the dove is about 165°F internal temperature.
- Make the sauce. Combine barbecue sauce, grape jelly, and sweet chili sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sauce has thickened just a tad bit, stirring frequently to ensure that all of the ingredients are well combined.
- Sauce the smoked dove breasts. Gently toss the bacon wrapped dove breasts in a large bowl with the sauce. Then serve immediately – just be sure to remove the toothpicks before chowing down!
Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Dove Breasts with Sweet BBQ Glaze
Ingredients
- 12 slices bacon
- 12 dove breasts, deboned and cut into individual breasts
- 2 tablespoons barbecue seasoning, like 'Que That Rub and Seasoning
- ½ cup barbecue sauce, see notes
- ¼ cup grape jelly
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
Instructions
- Preheat grill or smoker. Preheat grill or smoker to 250-275℉ with your choice of wood or pellets.
- Par-cook the bacon slices. Cook bacon slices until slightly less than halfway cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Be careful to not cook the bacon until done – you want it to be very pliable still to wrap the dove breasts. Cool the par-cooked bacon on paper towels to drain excess grease.
- Wrap the dove breasts in bacon. Lay one piece of partially cooked bacon flat on a cutting board. Place one dove breast at the end of the bacon, and roll up, wrapping the bacon around the breast. Secure the end with a toothpick. Repeat for all dove breasts.
- Season the dove breasts. Lightly season each bacon wrapped dove breast with BBQ seasoning. As you finish seasoning the breasts, place them on a wire cooling rack with about 1 inch in between each piece.
- Cook dove breasts on the grill. Place the wire cooling rack with the dove breasts directly on the grill grates, close the grill lid, and smoke until the bacon is cooked through and the internal temperature of the dove breast is about 160-165℉, about 1 hour. *Cooking times may vary based on the temperature of your grill, etc.
- Make the sauce. When the doves have about 10-15 minutes left on the smoker, make the sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together barbecue sauce, grape jelly, and chili sauce. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are evenly combined and the sauce has reduced just a bit, about 5-6 minutes. Then add the sauce to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. *You may need to reheat the sauce to thin it out a bit before saucing the smoked dove breasts.
- Sauce the dove breasts. When the smoked dove breasts are done on the grill, transfer them to the bowl with the sauce. Gently stir so that the doves are evenly coated in the sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
- A note about the barbecue sauce – We used a thinner BBQ sauce that had more vinegar notes to it. The sauce we used was Blue’s Hog Tennessee Red. If your BBQ sauce is on the thicker side, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to thin it out and balance the sweetness, or reduce the amounts of grape jelly and chili sauce.
- About the bacon – Regular sliced, not thick sliced, bacon is best for this recipe. Par-cooking the bacon helps to ensure that the bacon will be fully cooked on the smoker without overcooking your dove breasts. Be sure to only partially cook the bacon for 3-4 minutes so the slices are still pliable, and you’re able to wrap the doves without the bacon breaking.
- For the sauce – The longer that you cook the sauce, the more it will reduce, and the thicker your sweet chili BBQ sauce will be. We prefer the sauce to not be too thick, because it will continue to thicken as it cools. Take care to not simmer the sauce for too long.
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