Cocktail Meatballs with Cherry BBQ Sauce
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These Cocktail Meatballs with Cherry Barbecue Sauce are slightly sweet with a little bit of smoky heat kick you will love. An easy appetizer that is perfect for parties, game day, and potluck meals.
Cherry barbecue cocktail meatballs are an awesome addition to your food spread for your next get together. They are versatile too; you can thread them onto toothpicks for a bite-sized appetizer, make mini meatball sliders, or spoon them directly from a slow cooker to plate.
Tips for Making Cocktail Meatballs with Cherry BBQ Sauce
Make the Barbecue Sauce: This Homemade Cherry BBQ sauce is quick and easy to make. It’s a delicious, slightly sweet sauce with just a little bit of smoky heat that is perfect for cocktail meatballs. It will take about 15 minutes to throw together and you can let it simmer while you prepare and cook your meatballs.
No time to make the barbecue sauce? No problem, just grab your favorite BBQ sauce from the grocery store.
Make the Meatballs: The meatballs are easy to whip up with some ground beef and a few common pantry ingredients. Trust me, homemade is so worth it.
Choose a lean ground beef, such as a ground round or ground sirloin. Also consider a ground chuck for the meatballs. It has a higher fat to meat ratio, but pan-frying releases most of the fat that can be drained off before adding your barbecue sauce.
Check out the additional tips for making meatballs in this recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Cooking Tip: Make Your Own Breadcrumbs
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the ground beef. Let the breadcrumbs soak up the liquid and soften a bit.
- Add your ground beef.
- Mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs in the skillet.
- Add the cherry barbecue sauce to the skillet and simmer until the meatballs are cooked.
Alternatively, you can finish cooking the meatballs in a slow cooker. After browning, place the meatballs in the slow cooker crock and cover with the cherry barbecue sauce. Cook on low 2-3 hours and keep warm until you are ready to serve.
These cherry barbecue meatballs are delicious over rice as a main meal, or thread onto toothpicks for a bite-sized appetizer, or use them to make mini meatball sliders on homemade slider buns.
Cocktail Meatballs with Cherry BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1 small onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups Cherry BBQ Sauce or BBQ sauce of choice
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, dried breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, pepper, and salt. Stir to mix thoroughly. Add ground beef. Mix until combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Add olive oil to the skillet, and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes. Drain off fat.
- Add the cherry barbecue sauce to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, and then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until the meatballs are done. Stir occasionally while cooking.
To Finish Cooking in a Slow Cooker:
- After browning as described in step 3, transfer the meatballs to the slow cooker and cover with cherry barbecue sauce. Cook on low 2-3 hours, keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Nutrition
Serve these cherry barbecue cocktail meatballs over rice as a main meal, thread onto toothpicks for a bite-sized appetizer, or make mini meatball sliders with homemade slider buns.
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Cocktail Meatballs with Cherry BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1 small onion chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups Cherry BBQ Sauce or BBQ sauce of choice
Instructions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, dried breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, pepper, and salt. Stir to mix thoroughly. Add ground beef. Mix until combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Add olive oil to the skillet, and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes. Drain off fat.
- Add the cherry barbecue sauce to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, and then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes until the meatballs are done. Stir occasionally while cooking.
To Finish Cooking in a Slow Cooker:
- After browning as described in step 3, transfer the meatballs to the slow cooker and cover with cherry barbecue sauce. Cook on low 2-3 hours, keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Just finished making the Cherry BBQ sauce and it taste great. Just the right amount of heat and sweet and the cherries give it a nice flavor. Tomorrow will be the meatballs (waiting for the venison to thaw) Can’t wait 😀
Rick, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! The soft-boiled egg and fish roe sound like a wonderful addition.
What a tasty flavor combo!! I love having bite sized apps like this for parties!
I love this unique flavor combo! They look delicious.
I love serving mini meatballs during holiday parties! These looks great, I love the sound of Cherry BBQ Sauce 🙂