Sriracha Honey Meatballs

This recipe makes insanely hot or slightly hot meatballs. It just depends on how much honey you choose to add. I enjoy food with a medium heat level. The first time I made this, it was… well… too hot. My tip is taste the sauce prior to pouring over the meatballs. If its too hot, add more honey then. The sauce’s heat index will slightly increase as it cooks.

That said, these are a great addition to any tailgate, picnic or weeknight dinner. I serve with mac and cheese, to cut the heat of the meatballs. Pick your favorite side and these make a great meal. Best part… made in the slow cooker so they practically make themselves!

Step 1:

Make the sauce. Combine Sriracha, honey and lime juice. I remind you here, to taste the sauce for its heat level. Too hot? Add more honey. Not hot enough (really??) add more Sriracha. Set bowl aside.

Step 2:

Make the meatballs. Combine all of the other ingredients (turkey, panko, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and egg). Mix together until all combined. Don’t over mix as that will make your meatballs tough.

Step 3:

Roll out meatballs and coat bottom of the slow cooker with a little bit of the sauce. The idea is to fully coat and immerse the meatballs in the sauce. The sauce will thicken and create a wonderful, spicy, sweet glaze all over the meatballs. If don’t have a large cooker and need to layer the meatballs, be sure all of the meatballs are fully coated with the sauce.

Fully formed meatballs ready to be coated in the sauce.

Bottom of slow cooker with a coating of the sauce

Meatballs all coated and ready to cook.

Step 4:

Cook on low for 4 – 8 hours.

I use a Ninja cooking system (Affiliate link) and love the results I get when I use it to cook these meatballs. Should the sauce start to overcook, I add a little bit of water to loosen up the sauce toward the end. If you wanted to make this recipe even easier, buy pre-made meatballs, like the ones you find in the freezer section. Just make sure they are the plain meatballs and not the Italian version. Coat them in the sauce and then cook in the slower cooker.