Instant Pot: Honey BBQ Meatballs

These honey bbq chicken meatballs are tender, gluten-free and super easy to make!

NUTRITION

Per 5oz meatball, there are 125 calories, 6.5g fat, 9g carb and 8g protein. I usually have 4 per serving but you can literally customize to your own dietary/macro needs. Because of the almond meal, these are gluten-free! If you are looking for a lower carb meatball, try my buffalo chicken meatballs by clicking here! Buffalo sauce has a way lower carb content than bbq and honey however these aren’t outrageous, I just like to give you options!

WHERE TO BUY

I buy the Almond meal (pictured below) at Trader Joe’s! I wasn’t sure where to find it but I asked and it was right next to all of the nuts. I buy my calorie and fat free Walden Farms Blue Cheese Dressing at Sprouts or on Amazon (by clicking here) and most recently I saw it at Walmart!

SERVE WITH

I served these meatballs with white rice the first time and cauliflower rice the second (click here for that recipe). Both times were delicious! I also added a side of baby carrot and celery sticks for more health.

SAUTEING IN THE INSTANT POT

I browned the meatballs on the stove top however you can use the Instant Pot if you don’t want to dirty another pan. I have had issues after sauteing directly in the IP because if you don’t clean out the bottom of the pan completely before switching to pressure cooking the burnt bits cause the machine to malfunction. I rather not even go down that route.

OVEN OR CROCK-POT

If you don’t have an instant pot,  follow steps 1-6 below and instead of putting them into the IP, put into a baking dish and bake these in the oven on 400 for 15 minutes. Alternatively you could also cook in the crock-pot. Simply follow steps 1-6 and place in the crock-pot on low for 4 hours.

Products I love to use when making this dish:

Instant Pot

Calphalon Saute Pan

Crock-Pot (if you don’t make in IP)

Baking Dish (if you cook in the oven)

Baking Tray

Print

Instant Pot: Honey BBQ Meatballs

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: honey bbq, meatballs

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 # ground chicken
• 3/4 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp grass fed butter (or oil to cook meatballs)
• coconut oil (to grease hands)

SAUCE

• 1 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
• 1/2 cup honey

SERVE WITH

• baby carrots
• celery sticks
• green onions, sliced
• light ranch or blue cheese dressing (like walden farms)
• white rice or cauliflower rice

Instructions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

   

2. in a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, almond meal, salt, minced garlic and green onions. put a couple tbsp of coconut oil in a tiny bowl. 

   

3. lightly grease hands with coconut oil and start to form balls about 2" wide with the meat mixture (makes approx 24 balls)

   

4. over medium high heat, in a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp of butter and start browning all sides of the meatballs. (depending on the size of your pan you may need to do multiple batches). Transfer to instant pot when done browning. 

   

5. while meatballs are browning, make sauce by mixing bbq sauce and honey in a small bowl.

   

6. add sauce to the Instant Pot by pouring honey/bbq sauce over meatballs. gently stir so that all of the meatballs are all coated with the sauce. 

   

7. place lid on Instant pot and be sure vent is turned to "sealed". Manually set instant pot on high for 4 minutes. when done, use the quick release method (turn IP off and turn to venting immediately)
   

   

8. top with sliced green onions and lite dressing. serve with carrots, celery and white rice or cauliflower rice (click here for how to make!)!