This beer BBQ meatballs recipe is rich, smokey, slightly sweet, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Ready in an hour, it’s a crowd-pleasing appetizer that can easily double as a main course!
Why you’ll love this meatball appetizer recipe
If you know me, you know I love meatballs! They’re my favorite comfort food, and you can pretty much always find frozen beef meatballs in my freezer. However, I confess that I don’t love traditional grape jelly meatball recipes.
They’re just too sweet for me. Instead, I make meatballs with BBQ sauce and beer!
- Flavor – Thanks to the sauce, every bite is sweet, tangy, smokey, and made with just a bit of tang, creating a well-balanced flavor with lots of depth.
- Texture – My secret to moist meatballs that are fall-apart tender and never dry is the use of Panko. It’s light and airy and helps the meatballs hold their shape without weighing them down.
- Versatile – Mix and match different types of beer and barbecue sauce to create a unique taste. Go wild, and find your favorite combination!
Serve these BBQ meatballs as an appetizer at all your parties and family gatherings, and your guests will be begging for the recipe! Or, pair them with roasted garlic mashed potatoes or pasta for a delicious dinner.
Key Ingredient Notes
For the meatballs
- Panko Japanese breadcrumbs – Do not substitute regular or Italian-style breadcrumbs, or your meatballs will be too dense and heavy.
- Milk adds moisture and flavor to the meatballs and acts as a binder, helping them hold their shape. Feel free to use whole milk, reduced-fat milk, or fat-free milk.
- Lean ground beef – 90/10 lean ground beef works best for this recipe. Any more fat and your meatballs are likely to become soggy.
- Eggs act as a binder, preventing your meatballs from falling apart.
- Garlic – Use a garlic press to make using whole fresh garlic cloves easy! I love garlic. So, I typically use 5 cloves, but you can scale it down to 2 if you’re not as big of a fan.
- Worcestershire sauce adds moisture to the meatballs and a rich, smokey flavor that makes them to die for!
For the sauce
- BBQ sauce – I almost always have homemade BBQ sauce on hand, but you can use whatever you like best! I’ve tried honey barbecue and hickory smoked barbecue and loved them both.
- Beer – I like medium-bodied beer and I think it’s best for this recipe, but again, use whatever you like best. Just steer clear from darker stouts as they will give your meatballs a bitter taste.
- Sriracha – Add as little or as much as you like depending on your spice preferences.
How to make beer BBQ meatballs
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 375°F.
1. Prepare the meatballs
- Soak Panko with milk in a small bowl.
- Combine the beef, panko mixture, garlic, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Make sure to thoroughly mix the ingredients. I recommend using your hands for even distribution!
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the beef mixture into 1.5-inch balls, and roll them in your palms until smooth.
- Arrange the meatballs in a 9×13 baking dish.
Avoid overworking
Be careful to mix the ingredients just until combined. Overworking the ground beef mixture can cause the meatballs to become tough and chewy.
2. Make the sauce
- Whisk the BBQ sauce and beer in a small bowl.
- Add a couple of squirts of Sriracha and salt, and whisk to incorporate.
3. Bake
- Pour the sauce evenly over the meatballs, making sure they’re all coated.
- Bake until the meatballs are cooked through. This typically takes about 40 minutes!
Tips for Success
- Use pre-made frozen meatballs for an even easier recipe! Two to three pounds is plenty. Then, just add a few extra minutes of baking time to ensure they cook completely.
- Use an instant-read thermometer like a Thermapen to ensure your BBQ meatballs reach an internal temperature between 160°F and 165°F to ensure they’re fully cooked and safe to eat.
- Avoid overbaking, and remove your meatballs from the oven as soon as they’re fully cooked. Continuing to bake will cause them to dry out and become tough. We definitely don’t want that!
- Rest your meatballs for about five minutes before serving. This allows the natural juices to redistribute, preventing them from drying out or becoming rubbery.
Make-Ahead Tips
- Meatballs with BBQ taste just as good (if not better) on day two! Feel free to make them a day or two ahead of time, and reheat them before serving.
- Reheat barbecue meatballs on the stovetop in a large skillet over medium heat until warmed through. Whisk together more beer and BBQ sauce if you need to freshen the meatballs back up.
Storing Tips
- This BBQ meatballs recipe will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store in an airtight container in the back of the fridge.
- BBQ meatballs freeze well, too! Transfer any leftover meatballs and sauce to a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight.
- Reheat on the stovetop in a large skillet over medium heat or in the oven just until warmed through.
FAQs:
I love to serve this barbecue meatballs recipe as an appetizer alongside other snacks like homemade jalapeño poppers, pulled pork flautas, and shrimp cocktail. However, they’re also great as a main course with brown butter mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or pasta. Then, I add roasted veggies or a light side salad for a bit of nutrients.
Many people like to add grape jelly to meatballs to create a thicker sauce with a sweet flavor. However, I much prefer to omit it, for a richer, more savory flavor.
Combine the meatball mixture, and shape the meatballs as usual. Then, combine the meatballs and sauce in a crockpot, cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. It’s the perfect hands-off option for parties!
More Meatball Recipes
Beer BBQ Meatballs
Ingredients
For meatballs:
- 1 cup Panko Japanese breadcrumbs
- ½ cup milk Note 1
- 2 lbs lean ground beef Note 2
- 2 large eggs
- 3-5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the sauce:
- 1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice
- 1 cup beer of your choice
- Couple squirts of Sriracha
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (177°C).
To make the meatballs
- In a small bowl, combined Panko and milk. Let it soak for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine beef, Panko mixture, garlic, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
- To make uniform meatballs, use a medium cookie scoop and form 1.5-inch meatballs. Roll each meatball between you palms to smooth them out.
- Arrange the meatballs in a 9×13 baking dish.
To make the sauce
- Whisk together BBQ sauce and beer. Stir in couple squirts of Sriracha and salt.
To bake
- Add the sauce over the meatballs and carefully mix until meatballs are coated.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through. (If you’re using frozen meatballs bake for about 1 hour.)
- You can also use slow cooker to cook the meatballs. Simply place the meatballs with sauce and cook for 5 hours on low.
Tips & Notes
– Store leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Store in an airtight container in the back of the fridge.
– BBQ meatballs freeze well, too! Transfer any leftover meatballs and sauce to a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 3 months.
– Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight.
– Reheat on the stovetop in a large skillet over medium heat or in the oven just until warmed through.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on September 29th, 2014.
Wow- made these to test out for a later party. Used 1-ish pound ground chuck, 1-ish pound ground sirloin and 1-ish pound ground pork.
Doubled the sauce ingredients. Tossed the garlic in to the panko to whirl thru the food processor. Skipped the pan lining of foil (wasteful and I’m always afraid i’ll get a small piece in my mouth-ugh!) Followed the directions on baking but next time I’ll roll ’em over half way thru to get all that yummy sauce glazed on all sides well. AMAZINGLY GOOD! They will be made again and again.
Hi, Madeline! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the meatballs. I love that you used the mixture of cuts and types of meat! I bet it added even more flavor. 🙂 Thanks for trying my recipe and for your feedback!
Can I marinate the meatballs in the sauce overnight and then slow cook it all the next day?
Marty, I’m not sure how it will hold up the overnight marinating. If they are frozen meatballs, I think it’ll be fine.
You are SO right that these will knock the socks off of those grape jelly meatballs! Yum!
Thank you, Becca! They’re delicious!
Made these tonight and they were delicious!!! Even the hubby gave it two thumbs up! Thank you for sharing.
Great to hear that, Shelly! I’m glad you tried my recipe! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
I love serving meatballs over couscous for dinner. It’s so fast and simple. This sauce sounds awesome. Plus, my husband will love an excuse to buy beer.
Meatballs are the best! 🙂 Thank you, Renee!
what kind of bbq sauce…sweeet?
It’s totally up to you. Whatever you like is good. I used honey bbq sauce.
Sounds great, but what is Sriracha?
It’s a spicy sauce. Very well known by its big bottle with rooster on it and green cap. 🙂
I can’t wait to try these on Game Day! I know you said any flavor beer, but what do you think about using Redds Apple Ale? Thanks
Hmm, I’ve never had Redds Apple Ale, and honestly have no idea what to say. Quick google search gave me an impression that it’s a light fruity beer. So it might get overpowered by BBQ sauce. I usually drink medium bodied beers and they usually work great. For this particular recipe, I used Samuel Adams Octoberfest that I had on hand.
These look amazing and I love the idea of flavorful beer barbecue sauce! Sriracha is my favorite hot sauce! You have a great blog and picture are amazing! Found you through food gawker and I’m glad I did! I have to save and pin so many from the recipes here, because I love them!
Welcome to my blog, Mira. I’m so glad you found it. “When in doubt, add Sriracha” is my mantra. Haha jk, but really I almost always add Sriracha when I need a little kick! 🙂
These meatballs look incredibly delicious but the hero of this dish is definitely that beer and barbecue sauce! It sounds seriously amazing and jam packed full of yummy flavour. Thanks for the great recipe!
The sauce is definitely the hero! Thank you, Thalia!
What’s the green stuff on top to make them look pretty?
Holly, I sprinkled some dried chives.
Thank you. I’m making these next Sunday when the girls from work come to meet our new baby. They look so good.
That sounds awesome! Congrats on your new addition. 🙂
can these be made ahead and frozen?
Yes, but before cooking in the sauce. I wouldn’t suggest freezing after you cook them in the sauce.