Get your largest pot ready! This recipe yields a ton of delicious barbecue meatballs, making it ideal for a large gathering. This one is one that I am frequently asked to do.
| Prep Time: | 45 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Servings: | 30 |
| Yield: | 5 dozen meatballs |
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup vodka
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 (15 ounce) package Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 (14.25 ounce) cans tomato puree
- 1 (18 ounce) bottle hickory smoke flavored barbeque sauce
- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 (14 ounce) bottle ketchup
- ½ cup vodka
- 2 tablespoons dried minced onion flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, 1/2 cup vodka and Worcestershire sauce. Season with 2 tablespoons onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix in ground beef, ground turkey and bread crumbs. Shape into meatballs, and set aside.
- In a very large pot over medium heat, Combine crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, barbeque sauce, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup, and 1/2 cup vodka. Season to taste with onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer.
- Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook meatballs until evenly brown on all sides. Carefully place into sauce, and simmer for at least an hour.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 370 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 87 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 17 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 885 mg |
| Sugars | 18 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These were really phenomenal.
we didn’t love this.. General consensus was tasted in between a marinara and bbq sauce and most would have preferred one or the other. personally, too much ketchup taste for me. the meatballs themselves weren’t bad
Tight on time-bought the meatballs. The sauce was so incredible that I saved the leftovers (which was a lot) and slathered it over the rotisserie chicken the next day! Delicious!!!
The sauce is amazing, though I switched the bbq sauce as well, but the meatballs left me wanting more spice and flavor. my husbsnd, kids, and in-laws loved it all though!
This recipe is fantastic. It’s perfect for a large crowd. I made these for my sons
Oh-My-God! It was DELICIOUSO!!!!! I love and I will make for everyone’s b-day!!!!
The only change I made was leaving out the pineapple. I still enjoyed them and plan making them again
my husband loves it!!! I used phil’s bbq sauce:)
A mild flavored bbq sauce. I made the meatballs and they were nothing special. Next time I make this dish I will use premade meatballs.
We really liked these meatballs! I did make a couple of small changes. Because I cut the recipe to 8 servings, I used only one package of Jennie-O ground turkey breast (1 1/4 lb), and I didn’t add water but rather pineapple juice. I also sprinkled in a little Tajin (a new favorite seasoning). For the sauce I used a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, no puree, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, no brown sugar (because of the BBQ sauce), and only a big squirt of catsup. I didn’t have pineapple but used pineapple juice instead. I browned the one-ounce meatballs in a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil before adding them to finish cooking in the sauce. This is a really nice recipe that I will definitely make again! I have enough left over for another meal for the two of us, and we will look forward to this! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I made this for a potluck and it was a hit! SOOO delicious! The sauce is amazing! The only change I made was that I used all turkey and I added 1 chopped onion to the meatball mixture. This recipe is a keeper!
Didn’t try the meatballs, but I did make this sauce for use with frozen meatballs. Heads up everyone, it makes ALOT. The sauce was delicious, but I prefer my bbq sauces to be a bit more smokey and definitely less tomato. Thanks for the basic recipe, I look forward to altering it to my preference next time around.
I made these meatballs for a potluck at work and have been hailed the meatball queen. I did make a couple small alterations due to ingredients I had on hand. I used ground pork instead of turkey, a 28-oz bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s and omitted the vodka and crushed tomatoes. I made the meatballs and sauce the night before then cooked them in the crock pot on low for about 2.5 hours at work the next morning. They turned out fabulous! I’m sure the original recipe would be just as good. All my coworkers have said that I must bring these meatballs to all future potlucks.
Really good and very easy! I used all turkey and omitted all of the vodka from the recipe. I also used all fresh tomatoes from my garden (instead of the canned) and cooked them together with all of the other sauce ingredients. Also, baked the meatballs in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes (while making the sauce)… I put them in a crock pot and poured only half of the sauce over the meatballs. I froze the other half of the sauce to use later.
I’ve made these meatballs many times for parties and always get rave reviews. I make them every year for our New Years Eve party and there is never a single meatball left. The only thing that I change is that I use ground pork instead of ground beef because I don’t eat beef. Delicious!
I have used this recipe at least 10 times now! WONDERFUL meatballs! I actually use frozen meatballs, but I prepare the sauce as written (except I have usually left out the vodka) and then throw everything in a crock pot. It is sooooo good! I use Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce – our personal fave – amazing! I’ve also had good luck with KC’s. YUM! I can only imagine how much better this is with the homemade meatballs! Someday I will try! I’ve also thrown Little Smokies/Mini Hot Dogs in the sauce. Sometimes I will just let the sauce cook first in the crock pot, and add the meatballs after awhile. They usually heat up pretty well, and this keeps ’em from getting soggy. THANKS for the recipe!
followed recipes completely. meatballs where mushy, and sauce was too tomatoey. will not use this recipe again.
At first I didn’t think this recipe was that good. Though I think part of my impression was because of the bad choice in trying to pair it with cooked linguine. I intentionally made the full yield in order to have left overs. I didn’t have an issue with them not cooking through enough. As the sauce was simmering, I used a large skillet and browned the meatballs in small batches before adding them to the pot with the sauce. They cooked through while the sauce simmered for about an hour. Reheating them and serving them alone I realize that they are quite tasty. I agree with one of the other reviewers that these would make great meatball subs. Though I didn’t initially like them, my family did. And I’ve since served some of the left over meatballs and gotten many compliments. These do take a while to make, but they are worth it. Something that might help cut down on prep time is to have a few volunteers with you to form the meatballs. This might go without saying, though I’ve learned the hard way that you need to be careful when you are simmering the sauce so that it doesn’t become burnt on the bottom of the pot. A splatter screen is a good idea too. Thanks Liane!
This was a great recipe. I altered it a little and used bround turkey and sausage finely cut. I also left out the vodka. My family loved this and I will be making it agan!
This is the best BBQ meatballs ever ! I made this for a Pampered Chef party and every participant of the party wanted the recipe so with their order went a copy of this recipe 🙂 This is definitely a keeper !
I made these for a family reunion. I boiled the meatballs instead of frying them. It makes them less greasy, is easier to do and they hold their shape better. I put them in a crock pot, put the sauce over and cooked on low for 3 hours. Very yummy and I got rave reviews.