Whether you are tailgating or hosting a holiday party, you can never go wrong with some BBQ cocktail meatballs.  They are the perfect and delicious snack or appetizer and can feed a crowd. Make everything from scratch or just the sauce, I have both recipe options for you.

Prep the BBQ cocktail meatballs

Depending on how much you want to do or time you have, you can make your own meatballs or buy them frozen. I have done it both ways with the same results.  The smokiness of the grill along with the homemade BBQ sauce elevate ordinary cocktail meatballs into a delicious treat enjoyed by all.

How to prep frozen meatballs

The easy and more convenient option is to use frozen meatballs of your liking and add some extra flavor using spices.  Pour the meatballs into a foil pan and cover them in yellow mustard for the binder followed by a generous coat of your BBQ rub of choice. Make sure all the meatballs are equally covered.

How to make homemade meatballs

For the meat, use a mix of 2/3 ground pork and 1/3 ground beef (80/20). In a large mixing bowl, add in the ground meat, salt, pepper, 1 raw egg, breadcrumbs, 1/2 diced white onion, chopped parsley and Tabasco Original Red Sauce.  With your hands, mix all the ingredients together.  Make sure to blend in all the loose ingredients massaging them into the meat.

Scoop up enough of the mixture and roll a half sized golf ball.  Place the raw meatballs on a wire rack.

How to make homemade BBQ sauce.

Making homemade BBQ sauce is so easy and you can adjust the tanginess and spice to your preference.

In a sauce pan add 1/4 cup each of Sparkling Ice Grape Raspberry, brown sugar, ketchup, Sriracha or your choice of hot sauce,Worcestershire sauce and BBQ seasoning. Let the ingredients simmer over low heat for 10 minutes allowing them to mix nicely together.  The aroma from this sauce fills the kitchen with that sweet and savory scent. Trust me, you’ll be salivating before this recipe is ready!

Time to grill the BBQ cocktail meatballs

Heat up the grill to 300 degrees and set it up for indirect heat.  Place the wire rack loaded with the meatballs and let it smoke on the grill until they reach 145 degrees internal temp.  total process will depend on whether the meatballs were freshly made or frozen.  Should estimate 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Pour the homemade BBQ sauce all over the grilled meatballs and set back on the grill for a few minutes allowing it to thicken and caramelize.  Enjoy!

Printer friendly recipe below:

Check out the Recipes Page for other tasty ideas!