January 25, 2010

Barbecue Meatballs

This is a favorite recipe in our house. My husband would like me to make this every week (but I need more variety than that). I did a tutorial, for my friend Katy, who told me she likes to see how things are made.
This would also be a great thing to make for your superbowl party in a couple weeks. You can make the meatballs ahead, freeze them, and then put these together just before game time.



Barbecue Meatballs
Meatballs
3 pieces white bread, crusts removed
milk
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion, diced fine
1 tsp fresh garlic, grated
1 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 egg
Sauce
1 (12 oz) jar chili sauce
1 (12 oz) jar grape jelly



1. Tear bread into a few pieces and cover with milk. (I smashed mine down after the picture so it was covered).
2. Gather ingredients. This is why I don't like saying "2 garlic cloves." Look at those! They are enormous, almost as big as my egg!
3. Grate garlic with this beauty
4. About that much... I ended up using 1 1/2 enormous garlic cloves.
5. Dice onions
6. Combine meat and egg.
7. Now that your bread is soaked...
8. Break into small pieces and combine with meat.
9. Add remaining ingredients
10. Mix with hands until just combined. But don't over work the meat!



11. Roll into desired size. (mine were about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)
12. Bake at 400 degrees until almost done, for my size about 11-12 minutes.
13. This is the kind of chili sauce you must use. My mom says. If you don't have this brand (I don't even know what the brand is), then get the best kind you have. Combine this with jelly in your crockpot. (Might help to loosen the jelly in the microwave for a minute.)
14. Add meatballs to sauce. Let them marry flavors until warm, or until your party starts.
15. Serve over rice.

Tips:
  • If you want to make these a little lower fat, do half ground turkey and half beef. It's still delicious.
  • Use really light fluffy white bread, it makes it much more tender (like Wonderbread)
  • For your Superbowl party, omit the rice and put a box of toothpicks next to your crockpot.
  • If you don't have grape jelly, use whatever you have in the house
  • If you want to make these meatballs ahead: once you have rolled out the balls put them in the freezer, once they are frozen, put in freezer safe bag until ready to bake. OR bake them, let them cool, then place in the freezer.
  • Use these meatballs on your spaghetti too - just omit the sauce.

15 comments:

Lori said...

Love these kind of meatballs, perfect for a game day! I'd love to find that sauce you've shown. I've only found one type around here and I'm not too fond of all the ingredients. :)

Erica said...

These SO would be perfect for the super bowl! My husband would dig these.

Amanda said...

These look wonderful... and I love that you give a lower fat option. Now. I would never consider USING the lower fat option, but I appreciate how thoughtful you are! ;)

Blessings-
Amanda

Katy said...

Thanks Sarah! I'm excited to try these!

Sarah said...

Lori - I live in Utah and have seen them at most of the stores around. Let me know if you can't find them and i will hunt it down for you. No really, I will. It is worth it.
Erica - Let me know what your husband thinks!
Amanda - I do what I can :)

Pam said...

The sauce sounds interesting, I bet it tastes amazing. You just can't beat a good meatball.

Jessica said...

looks good. I really like seeing all the steps.

Hannah said...

These are the best. They really are.

Anonymous said...
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Amanda said...

These look so tasty!! Thanks for visiting my blog :)

Luisa said...

The meatballs look tasty. I'm even considering trying the sauce I can't believe the combination jelly and chili sauce?! The pork also looks great. I see 2 futute tasty meals. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Luisa said...

ok I couldn't resist even though it's 10:30pm and I already had cooked rice meatballs we made the chili sauce and grape jelly and warmed it up and it was spicy sweet. Recipe keeper I took a picture of it on my blog for thies week.

Kera said...

hi new friend! thanks for checking out my blog! See you around! hugs.

pierre said...

your meat balls are lovely !!!
cheers from a french foodie in Paris Pierre

Hillary said...

I have a similar recipe, but I cheat and use frozen meatballs -- and yes, this is definitely great football food! My husband would eat it everyday if he could, too. :-)Thought I'd share my version in case you're interested.
--
Cranberry Party Meatballs

2 (1-pound) bags frozen cocktail-size meatballs (I use Trader Joe's brand)
1 (16-ounce) can Jellied Cranberry Sauce
1 (12-ounce) bottle sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Combine cranberry sauce, chili sauce, cumin and cayenne in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the cranberry sauce is melted and smooth.

Add meatballs; stir gently to coat. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through. Place in chafing dish or slow cooker to keep warm.