One meatball, two sauces.

I love meatballs. Fresh, homemade meatballs. Not the frozen processed plastic golf balls you get at sub shops and cheaper Italian restaurants. I also love that they are easy to throw together, all the GP's love them, and they are dirt cheap to make.

Recently my husband found out he will be working in Tampa for the next couple of years, which means we will pack up and move again this summer. This way he can be closer to work, and we can have better schools for our children. Win, win. A move, plus summer time means our budget will be tight for the next few months, so I just love when I can find cheap eats that still taste delish.

That is where meatballs come in. Ground beef is always cheap and can be used in so many ways. My favorite is a good juicy hamburger fresh from the grill. But, I don't have one at the moment, and no way in heck am I using the community grill at our complex. It's rusted, sitting uncovered under a tree where birds nest, and I've seen my fair share of their presents left behind on it. It baffles my mind that people actually use that grill.

So burgers are out, but one of these days I will break down and purchase a cast iron grill pan so I can do them on the stove top. Especially since when we move I will finally have a gas stove. Which I am super excited about!!! Until then, I'll make meatballs.

I have yet another recipe I wanted to try from The Pioneer Woman for her BBQ Meatballs, but when my husband heard meatballs that I wasn't putting in marinara, he asked me to make his favorite Honey Garlic Meatballs.

I usually make them New Years Eve. My family likes to do a buffet of appetizers that we nosh on all night. The meatballs are always gone first. The recipe I used for the meatballs was a Cooking Light recipe for Beef Meatballs but I was out of eggs and Ree's doesn't use eggs so I went with hers.

I have to say I had mixed feelings about the final result. I only cooked mine for 30 minutes and they could have gone 5 minutes less. I did however love the method of rolling them in flour and briefly browning on top of the stove and that tangy BBQ sauce that covered them. Usually I just bake them meatballs in a hot oven and glaze them in the honey garlic sauce, but this time I did like Ree and poured it over top and baked. They were so tasty. But again, they were a bit over cooked and needed a bit of garlic to give them some umph for me.

All in all, the recipe is easy, cheap, and quick to come together. I think adding a bit of garlic and cutting back on the baking to 25 minutes would give me a much tastier ball - o -meat. Either way, you can't go wrong, my GP's gobbled up the honey garlic before the BBQ. Can't say I blame them, they were my favorite too!

I served them over jasmine rice because that is what I had on hand. Ree suggests egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread. The honey garlic meatballs are great little party appetizers too. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have egg so I used Ree's meatball recipe for the browning and baking but I'm giving the original recipe for how I make them.
Let's get cooking......

After you mix up the meatballs you pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes, then roll them in flour.

Then fry baby fry, or is it saute baby saute? Or brown baby brown?

Then pop them into a baking dish.

Then give em' some sauce and pop them in the oven.

Check them at 25 minutes.....mmmmm, look at those babies. Resist the urge to pop one in your mouth, those suckers are HOT!!!

And serve anyway you like, over rice, mashed taters, as a sandwich, or just by themselves. Just make them.

I'm giving both original recipes, but feel free to mix it up and use Ree's recipe for meatballs with the honey garlic sauce, you won't be disappointed.

BBQ Meatballs


FOR MEATBALLS
1 1/2 pound Ground Beef (I used 2 pds)
3/4 cups Oats (I used 1 cup of quick oats)
1 cup Milk (I used a bit more I think 1 1/4)
3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion (I used 4)
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt (I used 2)
Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste
FOR COOKING MEATBALLS
1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)
Canola Oil
FOR SAUCE (I  cut this in half since I was making half a batch of honey garlic)
1 cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion
1 dash Tabasco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.
After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.
Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.
Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (I cooked mine for 30 and probably would only go 25 next time, maybe my oven is hotter?)


Honey Garlic Meatballs 

1 1/2 pounds ground round
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 garlic cloves, finely minced, pressed, or grated on a microplane zester
Cooking spray
Sauce:
2 Tbsp. butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use Lite)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine the ground round, parm cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, tomato sauce, mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and 2 cloves of minced garlic in a bowl and mix well.

Prepare a broiler pan by coating with cooking spray. Shape mixture into 30 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until done. Drain the grease and set them aside.

While meatballs cook make your sauce.

Melt butter in saucepan and saute garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add ketchup, honey and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer five minutes. Add meatballs to sauce. Return to a boil and simmer uncovered 5 until sauce glazes meatballs.


Now.....