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In an oven dish with a white interior, fifteen barbecue meatballs are cooked.
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Barbecue meatballs

I love meatballs and when I can add more flavour to them they are even better. These barbecue meatballs are the perfect combination of juicy meatballs and savoury barbecue sauce.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Basics
Keyword: barbecue, Meatballs, minced meat
Servings: 4 portions

Ingredients

Barbecue sauce

  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tbs oil
  • 100 ml ketchup
  • 1 ½ tbsp vinegar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar lightly packed
  • 100 ml room temperature water
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • ½ tsp chili powder

Meatballs

  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 125 ml barbecue sauce see above
  • 50 ml milk
  • 40 g bread crumbs
  • 500 g mince meat
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp white pepper

Instructions

Barbecue sauce

  • Mince garlic and fry in a pot for a few minutes in the oil until fragrant.
  • Mixed the rest of the ingredients and add to the pot.
  • Cook for ten minutes on low heat, don’t let it boil. Whisk occasionally.
  • Take off heat and let cool off for a bit before adding it to your dish.

Meatballs

  • Turn on the oven to 180 °C (360 °F).
  • Take mince meat out of the fridge and let come close to room temperature.
  • Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
  • Mix onion, garlic, barbecue sauce, milk and breadcrumbs in a bowl and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
  • Once the mixture has come together in to a sludge add the mince, egg, salt and pepper.
  • Stir it all together into a smooth batter. I will do it using my hands but feel free to use a spoon.
  • Wet your hands with cold water and roll the mince batter into round meatballs. Place on a cooking tray, space apart.
  • Oven cook for 10 minutes in the middle of the oven.
  • If using a frying pan, add some butter in the bottom of the pan and fry the meatballs on all sides until golden in colour.

Notes

At home we would use a mixture of beef and pork, but I have tried this recipe with everything from beef to pork to turkey and chicken and it all works.
If you plan to big batch meatballs, the oven is your friend. They are freezer friendly and fry up on the day you need them.
When freezing, if you have the space in your freezer, freeze them flat before putting them into bags or other containers, that will make it easier to take out just a few for a quick lunch or dinner.
To make a smooth barbecue sauce, pour it through a sieve after it has cooked together and cooling down, to catch the small bits of garlic.