These smoked meatballs are slowly smoked on the grill, and then finished with a homemade spicy & sweet BBQ sauce glaze. The ultimate game day food or appetizer for your next party.
I start with the meat. In this case I combined ground Italian turkey and pork for added flavor. You can also use chicken or ground beef. Then added flavor and binding with Panko bread crumbs, garlic and egg. For the cheese, I used blue cheese but there are plenty of options (cheddar, mozzarella, fontina, provolone, anything that melts well).
Here’s my little secret to help the meatballs stay moist, I use butter. I know Paula Deen would be proud!
Just form your ball and make a little well in it, and place a small square of butter in the well, then cover it up and reshape the ball.
I made this recipe on my Green Mountain smoker, but you can make it on your grill or in the oven.
Once the meatballs are cooked, add the homemade BBQ sauce. Gently toss the meatballs around (or use a large spoon) to get the balls fully covered in the sauce.
Make sure to dig in while they’re still warm!.
INGREDIENTS:
- ½ lb Italian ground chicken or turkey sausage
- ½ lb ground Pork
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 3 teaspoon of Frank’s Red Hot Ranch Dip seasoning packet
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup Blue Cheese crumbles
- ½ stick of butter, cut into tiny pieces- about the size of your pinky finger nail.
The Sauce:
- ½ cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes – you can add more or less depending on your spice preference
- Pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Makes about 28 medium sized meatballs
Prepare the meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs.
Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together. Shape the meat mixture into balls, about 3 tablespoons per ball. I like to use my medium size cookie scooper.
Now here’s my little secret to help your meatballs stay moist, once your meatball is formed poke one piece of butter into the center and roll back into the meatball shape.
The Smoker Method:
Preheat the smoker to 225ºF
Place the meatballs on your smoker at 225ºF. After 20 minutes of cooking, brush each meatball with the sauce. Continue cooking until internal temperature reaches 155ºF (one hour).
Turn the smoker up to 350 for 15 minutes to finish them off! You will know they are done when the internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
The Oven Method:
Preheat the oven to 475ºF.
Place shaped meatballs on a baking sheet.
Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the meatballs are completely cooked- internal temperature reaches 165ºF.
Brush each meatball with the sauce.
Place back on the baking sheet and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes.
Place on a serving tray and drizzle with additional sauce.
The Sauce:
In a saucepan, combine the ingredients of the sauce over medium high heat, allow it to come to a boil, reduce the heat so it simmers.
Let simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool.
The sauce will thicken as it cools so don’t worry if it looks thin.
Gently toss the meatballs around (or use a large spoon) to get the balls fully covered in the sauce.
Serve and eat them while they warm!
Whisk Away Kitchen 