Crockpot Bourbon BBQ Meatballs

These crockpot bourbon bbq meatballs take just 5 minutes to prep and are the best appetizer for game day, football season or a fun night at home with the family! Sweet, savory and tangy, these meatballs will be the hit of your next party! 

Party food recipes like these Crockpot Bourbon BBQ Meatballs are great for game days, holidays, and pretty much any gathering.  Party guests love finger foods and dips!  We LOVE easy, family-favorite recipes like my Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball and this Everything Bagel Pigs in a Blanket.  This is one of my Appetizer recipes you’ll definitely want in your collection!

BBQ MEATBALLS RECIPE

Well folks, the football season is winding down to a close, with just one more Sunday of games before the BIG game.  You know, the one where the champion is determined, the commercials are awesome and the halftime show is always entertaining.

But this year, it’s undoubtedly going to look a bit different.  There will likely be less football parties with large gatherings of people, but I think even if you keep it to close family, you can still have a great spread.

Party foods… specifically game day foods, are some of my all-time favorites!  There’s something so tantalizing about a spicy buffalo chicken dip, a big platter of nachos, or a perfectly pop-able bite sized meatball.

These bbq meatballs are a grown-up version of my honey garlic meatballs, in that the sauce involves some more complex flavors like molasses, cayenne and of course, bourbon!

But the best part is that it’s base is bottled bbq sauce and store-bought frozen meatballs, so it’s a quick, 5 minute prep, with minimal ingredients.

How to make Bourbon BBQ Meatballs

1. Add meatballs to slow cooker and set aside.
2. Mix sauce.  In a mixing bowl, add bbq sauce, bourbon, honey, molasses, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper.  Stir well.
3. Add to meatballs.  Toss the meatballs in the sauce until well coated.
4. Cook.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
5. Serve.  Serve hot, sprinkled with minced parsley if desired.

Additional cooking tips

• Type of Meatballs – since this dish has sweeter flavors, I don’t advise using and Italian seasoned meatball variety for this recipe.  Personally, I pick up a bag of my grocery store’s brand meatballs, in the homestyle variety.  Trader Joes has some amazing frozen meatballs as well.
• Type of BBQ Sauce – to keep things simple, I like to use an original variety of bbq sauce, and let the other flavors shine through.  Any flavor will work though.
• Bourbon – since the bourbon is mixed in with other flavors, there’s no need to break the bank and bust open a bottle of super expensive bourbon for this.  But conversely, you want to enjoy the flavor.  My advise is to just use a brand of bourbon that you would sip on it’s own.

Variations of this recipe

• Spicy – a fan of a spicy kick?  Try using half regular bbq and half spicy bbq sauce, adding more cayenne pepper, and adding some hot sauce.
• Mild – if you’re really sensitive to heat, you can omit the cayenne pepper.
• Meatballs – to save on some time, this recipe uses pre-cooked frozen meatballs that have been thawed, but you can use homemade meatballs if you want.  Just sear or partially bake them first, so they hold up well in the slow cooker.
• Bbq sauce – I normally use bottled bbq sauce (Heady Country is one of my faves), but if you’d rather use homemade, you certainly can!  I like to use my homemade Bourbon BBQ Sauce when I’m using a made from scratch version.
• Frozen – no time to thaw the meatballs? No problem!  Just use them frozen, but cook on LOW for 4 hours.  The sauce may be a bit thinner.

Making BBQ meatballs ahead of time

Since these meatballs cook in the slow cooker, and there’s not any rushing around cooking, I don’t find I need to make this recipe ahead of time.

If you want to do it, you can make it 1-2 days ahead, and reheat in the slow cooker until hot and bubbly.

Storage

Leftover meatballs should be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Freezing

Meatballs can also be frozen for up to 3 months.  Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat.

Special equipment for this recipe

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• Slow Cooker – this model is one of my favorites!

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Any nutritional information shared is an estimate, and is automatically calculated through a program.  If calorie count is important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer.  Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

 

The Chunky Chef is not a nutritionist and doesn’t provide full nutritional information for recipes as there is a potential for error and we wouldn’t want to potentially and/or unknowingly pass along incorrect information.