When I perfected my homemade BBQ sauce recipe for these shrimp and grits, I couldn’t stop talking about it. I kept telling Kevin how delicious it was, and how proud of it I was, so he naturally wanted a taste. Sadly I had already used all the BBQ sauce for the shrimp and grits, and he has a shellfish allergy. This BBQ sauce would be so good on anything! Grilled chicken, pulled pork sandwiches, and these crock pot BBQ meatballs.
I’m just telling everyone right now that this is what I plan to bring anytime we go to someone’s house and are asked to bring an appetizer. These were so easy! I made the meatballs quickly in the morning before my kids woke up and whipped up the BBQ sauce while they were having breakfast. Four hours later (or eight if you put your crock pot on low), I was snacking on these meatballs straight from the crock pot.
Naturally, since my kids are carnivores they absolutely devoured these and begged for more. I served them as a main dish with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans, but they would also be delicious over grits, similar to my shrimp and grits recipe. You can even make them into BBQ meatball subs! Even though it’s February and we are a ways from football season, these definitely scream “game day snack” to me. They would also be perfect for cookouts and BBQs all summer! So many options.
And I will say it again, I’m obsessed with this BBQ sauce recipe. It’s just the right amount of sweet, spice, and heat. You can’t go wrong making a double batch and storing the rest in a mason jar in your refrigerator. I promise that it won’t last long.
Since these crock pot BBQ meatballs are perfect for just about any occasion, I hope you plan to make them this weekend. Enjoy!
- 1 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- 2 tbsp. yellow mustard
- ¼ tsp. ground balck pepper
- A few dashes of hot sauce
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- Heat oil in a saucepan. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.
- Add molasses, ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, chili powder, mustard, black pepper, and hot sauce. Heat until bubbling and allow to simmer for 15-10 minutes.
- For a smooth BBQ sauce, use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and blend for a few minutes until smooth. If you are short on time, you can skip this step.
- In a medium bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, bread crumbs, and egg. Mix with your hands and form meatballs roughly 1½ inches in diameter and place in crock pot.
- Pour BBQ sauce over meatballs and gently stir to combine, ensuring the meatballs are covered on all sides with the sauce.
- Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Give them a stir before serving. Enjoy!
Ahh, these sound DIVINE! We had a Hello Fresh meal recently that really upped our BBQ sauce game, and now we can’t just eat regular store-bought BBQ sauce anymore. Ha! We love meatballs because they are SO great for entertaining, so this recipe is right up my alley! Pinning for sure!
These are SO easy! We had them for dinner over garlic mashed potatoes but I bet they would be great with grits too! Definitely such an easy appetizer too and the homemade BBQ sauce is DELICIOUS! And my southern husband approved so I hope a couple of southerners like yourself like it too 🙂