Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Meatballs

Chicken meatballs covered in the most delicious Hawaiian BBQ sauce! They’re spiced up with a sweet and tangy homemade sauce that will have you hooked. Tender, filled with flavor and require minimum work — WIN!

Posting on Tuesday! Just in time for your New Year’s Eve party. These Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Meatballs just have to grace your appy-teaser table. Can you tell i’m trying to make ‘appy-teaser’ happen? Did you think of Mean Girls? I’m totally not embarrassed to admit how much I love that movie. And here’s the part where Regina George would tell me it’s not going to happen! Ah. Whomp. Whomp.

You already know that i’m a total sucker for sweet, savory meals. I just love the way these chicken meatballs taste when dunked in the easiest hawaiian bbq sauce. NO seriously. It’s just a few simple ingredients that you bring to a boil and let simmer. Yes, it’s that easy. And you KNOW that I wouldn’t make you work hard on New Year’s Eve so you can mix up the chicken mixture the night before and just bake them fresh right before the evening starts. And And And not only are they a cinch to whip up, they’re also on the healthier side! They’re baked (????????????) so you can eat these up guilt free.

If the recipe for the chicken meatballs sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Remember when we made these? And how super easy that was? Well it’s the same basic recipe with the sauce swapped out for this new homemade Hawaiian bbq sauce.

This is my go to chicken meatball recipe. I love having basic recipes in my arsenal and swapping out the sauce/ingredients to create brand new flavors that are easy and quick.

Did I mention that these are also perfect for the BIG GAME that’s just around the corner? How crazy would the guys (and gals) go for these? I also like to make a double batch of the sauce because we wuv extra sauce to drizzle on brown rice with these chicken meatballs. ❤️❤️❤️

The ingredients for the meatballs are super simple. Just a little panko, minced garlic, onion powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. I use eggs to help bind the meatballs. If your supermarket doesn’t carry ground chicken you can make these with ground turkey too.

Keep in mind you want to *just* combine the ingredients for the meatballs. The more you work the meat, the drier they become. I shaped mine into 3 tablespoon sized balls and they take about 11-13 minutes in the oven. You can certainly make these into cocktail sized meatballs, just adjust the baking time accordingly.

Since the meatballs are flavored just to keep them moist, all the real action is packed into the sauce.

To make these Hawaiian bbq meatballs, I used pineapple juice, soy sauce, ketchup, grated ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar. The sauce is enough to coat all the meatballs with a little left over to drizzle on just before serving. If you’re like me and you live for the sauce action, you may want to double the recipe for it. I’ve served these hawaiian bbq chicken meatballs with pineapple fried rice and it was so delicious with the extra sauce drizzled on there.

Just like my other meatball recipes, you can mix the meatball mixture the night before and allow all the flavors to get together and flavor everything really well.

Your New Year’s Eve guests are going to step into 2016 with a big smile on their faces thanks to you and these chicken meatballs!

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Yield: 18-22 meatballs

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Meatballs

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Chicken meatballs covered in the most delicious Hawaiian BBQ sauce! They're spiced up with a sweet and tangy homemade sauce that will have you hooked. Tender, filled with flavor and require minimum work -- WIN!

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Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 ¾ - 2 pounds ground chicken (or turkey)
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs*
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Hawaiian bbq sauce:

• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• ½ cup pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ⅓ cup brown sugar

Instructions

1. Position 2 racks near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 475ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine the ingredients of the Hawaiian BBQ sauce over medium high heat, allow to come to a boil, reduce the heat so it simmers. Let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools so don't worry if it looks thin.
3. In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, garlic, salt pepper, eggs, panko, paprika, and onion powder. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together. It's easier to tell when the ingredients are combined when using hands. DO NOT OVERMIX, it will result in drier meatballs.
4. Shape the meat mixture into ball, about 3 tablespoons of meat per ball. You can also do this with an ice cream scoop. Place shaped meatballs on prepared baking sheet. bake for 11-13 minutes or until the meatballs are completely cooked.
5. Using 2 tablespoon, dip each individual meatball into the sauce. Alternately, you can brush each meatball with the sauce. Place back on the baking sheet and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes. Drizzle or brush with additional sauce as desired.

Notes

• Panko is a Japenese style of breadcrumbs.
• A combination of ground chicken and turkey can be used to make these meatballs.
• If you would like to serve your meatballs with sauce, I would double the ingredients for the sauce portion as this recipe makes just enough for basting.
• The meatball mixture can be prepared the night before and baked the day of, if desired.

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