Turkey Meatballs In Honey BBQ Sauce

Moist Turkey Meatballs Simmering In The Crock-Pot

Our Italian crock-pot turkey meatballs are probably one of the best we’ve ever tried.

Yes, I know we are biased but they really are that good.

We love meatballs and enjoy making meatballs in a pasta sauce but switching up the meat you use makes a big difference.

Related: Eggplant Meatballs

Since my wife is on a low-gi diet she has tried to stick with turkey mince and turkey sausages for protein.

She has also been limiting the amount of rice, potatoes, and pasta she eats.

We actually find the ground turkey or sausages cheaper to buy or often find packages reduced in price.

This is 100% a frugal meal and a change for us since we commonly eat beef and pork meatballs.

Sweet and Spicy Turkey Meatballs

These turkey meatballs are cooked in a homemade honey BBQ sauce which is the same recipe that I used to make my pulled pork crock-pot recipe.

Creating a homemade sauce for these turkey meatballs will make a difference in the taste of this recipe.

If you are pressed for time buying a pre-made BBQ sauce will work just fine for this recipe.

One thing that we did notice about using ground turkey was that it lacked the fat content that you would find in ground beef or ground pork.

To combat the lack of flavour I added some minced up Moroccan black olives that are cured in salt.

WOW, what a great combination with the turkey meatballs.

If you don’t like olives you can simply leave them out of the turkey meatballs or add a touch of olive oil to moisten the meatballs.

How To Cook Turkey Meatballs

I was going to make baked turkey meatballs but decided to just add them raw to the crock-pot.

I put them one by one gently on top of a bed of sliced white onions.

The reason for this is that it will create moisture to cook them through over a 6 hour period on low heat.

After the meatballs are cooked I add in the homemade BBQ sauce and gently mix it in.

I kept the crock-pot going for a further 2 hours on low to let the flavours come together.

I didn’t add the BBQ sauce from the beginning because I didn’t want the sauce to burn or take on a different flavour.

If you want to bake turkey meatballs instead of putting them raw into the crock-pot you can do that as well.

Once baked transfer the turkey meatballs and the BBQ sauce to the crock-pot but either way will work fine.

Another option is to lightly fry the turkey meatballs in a bit of olive oil then add them to the crock-pot.

Sides For Italian Turkey Meatballs

This recipe yields about 15-20 meatballs depending on how big you make.

With 1lb of turkey, this would be more than enough to serve 3 adults paired with garlic, ginger, lime, sesame fried rice, and roasted fennel or Bok Choy.

We roasted the fennel and Bok Choy in the oven with a bit of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Cover for 20 minutes then uncover to give it a nice golden colour.

Roasted fennel becomes so sweet you can’t stop eating it.

So if you aren’t a raw fennel fan, roast it and you might just find out you have a new vegetable on your menu plan this week.

How To Make Home-made Honey BBQ Sauce

First I make the turkey meatball honey bbq sauce so it’s ready when I need it.

Printable version of this recipe is below.

Honey BBQ Sauce Ingredients

• 1 can tomato paste 60z
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups of minced onion
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter

Homemade BBQ Sauce Preparation

• In a saucepan add in your butter to melt than put in the onions and simmer for 2 minutes stirring constantly.
• Once the onions are softened add in your garlic and all the spices and stir. Always keep stirring this recipe.
• Add in the Worcestershire sauce
• Add in the brown sugar and honey
• Add in your tomato paste and stir it around until you mix all the ingredients together and the paste turns brownish in colour.
• Add in your water and apple cider vinegar and stir
• Let simmer on the stove-top for about 30 minutes or until it reduces and thickens
• Stir often
• Let the BBQ sauce cool before using to let the flavours come together.

Ground Turkey Meatballs Ingredients

• 1lb ground turkey of your choice
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seed ground up
• 1 teaspoon ground fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon of roasted garlic spice (bulk barn or Freshco)
• 1 teaspoon Caribbean spice (bulk barn or Freshco)
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup minced black Moroccan olives
• 2 large white onions
• 1/4 cup of water

How To Make Crock-Pot Turkey Meatballs Recipe

• In a large bowl add your ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs and mix around
• Add in all of your spices and mix until combined
• Add in your olives and gently fold in (try not to over-mix meatballs)
• One by one scoop out enough to make smaller than golf ball size meatballs
• Layer the bottom of a crock-pot with sliced white onions and a 1/4 cup water
• Add the meatballs on top of the onions and water
• Turn crockpot on for 8 hours on low, add BBQ sauce after 6 hours and stir the meatballs to make sure they are covered in sauce for 2 more hours on low.
• Serve with your favourite side dishes
• This recipe makes abotu 20 meatballs.

I hope you enjoy my turkey meatballs as they are a simple  make-ahead meal that everyone will enjoy.

Discussion: What is your favourite type of meatballs? Leave me your comments below as I enjoy reading your feedback.

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