Honey Garlic Meatballs - Oven or Slow Cooker

You'll love this quick and easy weeknight dinner the whole family will go crazy over! Oven and Crockpot recipe instructions included!

Next time try this meatball stroganoff.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 Storage
• Make-ahead
• 💭 Tips for success
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• 📚 Related recipes
• Equipment
• 🍽️ Serve with...
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

Easy honey garlic meatballs recipe is baked with a sweet-tangy-spicy sauce that forms a sticky glaze.

Surprisingly quick to make for a busy weeknight meal and it works as well for family dinners as it does for appetizers. And let me tell you - these make a delicious appetizer!

Ingredients

• ground beef
• breadcrumbs (fresh)
• onion
• salt
• pepper
• eggs
• catsup
• honey
• brown sugar
• soy sauce
• garlic
• jalapeno

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. In a heavy skillet, saute garlic and jalapeno.
2. Stir in the ketchup, honey and soy sauce.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the meatballs to the sauce.

Slow cooker instructions

I realize that some of y'all will want to make these honey garlic meatballs in the slow cooker. It can be done but the one thing I don't like about it is that the sauce can break and get a little watery. I'd suggest making an extra batch of sauce to have on hand just in case that happens.

It's also very important, if you're going to use a slow cooker, to use the leanest beef possible. You don't want fat floating around on top of the sauce!

To make this easy meatball recipe even easier in your crockpot make the sauce as instructed in the recipe and place half of it in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add your uncooked meatballs and then add the rest of the sauce on top.

Cover and cook on low about 4 to 6 hours.

🥫 Storage

Let the meatballs come to room temperature then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days.

You can also freeze for up to 3 months.

Make-ahead

I like to make them ahead of time in a big batch, leaving the sauce off, and keep them in the freezer. My homemade meatballs recipe has so much more flavor and fewer weird ingredients than the commercial ones.

You could use the frozen meatballs from the store if you wanted to, though.

When I make meatballs I undercook them slightly. Here's why...

If I am going to freeze them for heating up later I'll cook them to an interior temperature of 150F before flash freezing. This way, when the meatballs are being warmed up they finish cooking and don't overcook.

If I am cooking them to eat immediately I cook them to 155F and let them sit on the counter for 5 minutes or so while I finish dinner prep.

During that time the temperature continues to rise until it's at a perfect 160F and the meatballs are not tough or overcooked. In this recipe, the meatballs are going to simmer a few minutes in the sauce so they'll finish cooking then.

💭 Tips for success

• Although some people feel that fattier meats yield a more tender meatball (80/20) I prefer leaner meats. Try both and see which you like better.
• Some people mix ground meats - beef, pork, veal, lamb. I prefer just beef.
• As a general rule 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat is about right.
• Keep your ingredients icy cold when mixing and forming the meatballs.
• Gently mix with your hands. It just works better.
• Rub a little olive oil on your hands to keep the meatball mixture from sticking.
• Cook a little of your mixture before forming the meatballs and taste it for seasoning. Add more salt as needed.
• Don't pack them together like snowballs. Gently form the meatball so that it's as loose as possible without falling apart.
• This easy meatball recipe is great for appetizers - just make them smaller.
• Undercook slightly and let them stand for 5 minutes or so before serving.
• Make a big batch and flash freeze them when they are almost cooked. Once frozen move them to freezer containers. You'll have meatballs anytime you want them for a fraction of the cost of the commercial kind -and without the weird stuff.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.

📚 Related recipes

I don't know about you but I need a collection of quick weeknight dinners for those days. You know what I'm talking about. Man does not live by easy meatball recipes, alone - am I right?

Here are some of my favorite busy night dinners. I think you'll love them, too.

• Bourbon chicken has a similar flavor to this meatball recipe. It's a copycat of your favorite food court fare!
• Swiss Steak is another old favorite - and it's so easy when you make it in a slow cooker.
• Mac and Cheese with Pulled Pork is family friendly - everyone loves it!

Equipment

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This meatball maker comes in two sizes - one for dinner size meatballs and one for appetizer meatballs. It helps to keep the meatballs uniform in size - which means you won't have any over or under baked meatballs!

🍽️ Serve with...

• Clover Leaf Rolls
• Mashed Potatoes
• Squash Casserole

📞 The last word

This easy meatball recipe is a keeper!

I use it often when I have to take a meal to someone at church or a potluck of some sort. Everyone loves them and asks for the recipe.

Make them smaller for appetizers - I like to stick them on cocktail skewers with a candied jalapeno on top.

My Mom's Recipe Was Legendary

For much of my life meatballs were our Christmas Eve dinner. Mom made her meatball recipe in one of those newfangled electric frying pans with a crockery insert. It is avocado green and I say "is" because I still have it and use it once in awhile.

Anyway, those little spheres of ground beef would simmer away and the house would fill with a sweet-tangy smell that always made my tummy gurgle appreciatively. She'd serve them with buttered rice, a salad, and Christmas cookies for dessert.

When I grew up and moved out we started having all holidays at my house with me doing the cooking - Mom preferred to garden or clean or do about anything rather than cook. Still, Christmas Eve was always at her house and it always included meatballs.

📖 Recipe

First published December 11, 2017. Last updated October 29, 2021.