firecracker meatballs — sweet, savory & spicy meatballs

I absolutely love making these chicken meatballs whenever we have guests over because they require very little work for an amazing turnout. One of the things that’s great about these firecracker chicken meatballs is that you can even make them ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for quick add-ons to your salads or as a quick snack.

If you’re prepping this dish for a game-day or get-together, you can prep the meatballs the night before & stick them in the fridge to finish them off the next day.

When prepping, I like to pull out all of my ingredients and equipment so that it’s ready to use. I LOVE my OXO Good Grips mixing bowls, they have a silicone bottom so it makes spills/messy less likely to happen.

Firecracker Chicken Meatballs

Print Recipe

These chicken meatballs are filled with a sweet and spicy sauce that is sure to be a hit for any game day! So much flavor packed into a small bite with minimum effort needed!

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Salad, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken, meatball, quick, spicy, sweet

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings 18 meatballs

Author Stephanie

Equipment

2 baking sheets
1 small/medium sauce pan
parchment paper
mixing bowls

Ingredients

Meatballs

1½-2 lbs. ground chicken/turkey
4 tsp minced garlic or to taste (who doesn't love garlic)
2 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder

Firecracker Sauce

1 cup hot sauce (I personally prefer Frank's)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼-½ tsp red pepper flakes (or more depending on spiciness preferred)
salt to taste

Instructions

Place 2 over racks near center of oven and preheat to 475°. Then line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the small/medium saucepan combine all of the ingredients for the firecrack sauce over medium high heat, bring to a boil then lower heat and let simmer 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sauce cool; sauce will thicken as it cools down. This is OK.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, eggs, onion powder & paprika. Using your hands, mix ingredients umtil well combined. Be sure to not over mix as that could result in dryer meatballs.
Using either an ice cream scoop or a cookie scooper, shape the mixture into a ball and place on baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes
Using a slotted spoon, dip each indidvual ball into the sauce & put back on the baking sheet, and bake again for an additional 1-2 minutes. Once done baking, place on serving dish & drizzle with remaining sauce

Notes

Additional Notes:

– if you want to have additional sauce for dipping purposes, then double the recipe for the sauce & place it in a dipping dish alongside the serving plate.

– these are great to make ahead and use for meals throughout the week as well! You can do a meatball parm or throw them in some salad greens for a perfect weekday lunch.

For more easy appetizer recipes check out my 5 Easy Apps post here.

Have you tried this recipe yet? If so, let me know in the comments what you thought!