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Sweet, savory, and spicy Firecracker Meatballs! These weeknight ready meatballs are easy to make with a simple homemade firecracker sauce. We serve these over rice with a side of veggies for a meal, or with toothpicks as an appetizer!
Upping our meatball game by tossing them in this sweet and spicy firecracker sauce!
Grab A Straw and Drink The Sauce. We Don’t Judge.
My daughter has been on a vegetarian kick lately, which means I’ve been making a boatload of meatballs. <— Stick with me, I’ll explain.
I meal prep our air fryer tofu and a batch of meatballs every week so that there are a couple of protein options to throw in a bowl with our Instant Pot jasmine rice and roasted veggies. It keeps the whole family happy and is easy to reheat for a quick dinner or lunch.
I’m a big sauce girlie so I love experimenting with meatballs. Lately, we’ve been on a serious firecracker meatball kick.
The firecracker sauce is the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, and tangy which just always leaves me wanting more. Extra sauce is 👩🍳💋 drizzled over the rice and roasted broccoli, cauliflower, or sweet potatoes.
Another thing I’m loving about these firecracker meatballs is that you can use ground beef, chicken, or turkey to make the meatballs. <— Use what ya got!
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Versatile: These meatballs can be served over rice and veg for a complete meal, or just by themselves as an appetizer or snack. They’re great for parties! Extra sauce is delicious drizzled on, well, everything.
- Spice: This recipe does have a kick, but it’s balanced really nicely with a hit of brown sugar. Love that combo!
- Meal Prep: Meatballs are perfect for meal prep since they reheat so nicely!
Firecracker Meatball Ingredients:
Ground Beef – We usually go for a leaner beef, such as 90/10. This recipe will also work great with ground turkey or chicken.
Egg – For binding all the meatball ingredients together and helping them to hold their shape.
Panko Bread Crumbs – Panko is a Japanese bread crumb that is light, airy, and crispy. It works great for meatballs because it doesn’t cause them to get too dense or dry.
Other – For flavor we’re adding some minced garlic, minced ginger, and minced scallion! It’s a simple combination of flavors that work well with the spicy firecracker meatball sauce!
Firecracker Meatball Sauce:
Buffalo Sauce – You can use any buffalo sauce you like. We prefer Frank’s.
Brown Sugar – I love dark brown sugar for the extra molasses flavor, but any variety of brown sugar is fine.
Apple Cider Vinegar – It adds a bit of tangy flavor that balances well with the heat.
Seasoning – We’re adding red pepper flakes for extra heat. You can easily reduce these to suit your tastes.
Mayonnaise – We set aside some of the sauce to mix with mayo to make a creamy sauce for drizzling over the top.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Instructions for Meatballs:
Add all of the meatball ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to combine. Do not overmix.
Use a medium sized cookie scoop to scoop out balls of the meatball mixture. Roll them gently in your hands to shape into a meatball. Bake until cooked through.
Add everything but the mayo to a saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes. Remove 1/4 cup of the sauce to a bowl to cool down a bit.
Toss the meatballs with the sauce. Whisk the reserved sauce with mayo to make a creamy sauce to drizzle over the top when serving.
My Favorite Cookie Scoop!
We use cookie scoops for everything from baking cookies to scooping meatballs to easily filling muffin tins.
Serving:
If you let the reserved sauce cool down a bit (pop it in the fridge for a few minutes), it will create a thicker, glossy sauce once mixed with the mayo. This is delicious drizzled right over the meatballs when serving.
If you stir together the warm sauce with the mayo, it won’t be as pretty but it still adds a richness to the sauce and can be drizzled right over the top.
Either way is delicious!
Helpful Tip!
Storage & Reheating:
Store the meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Reheat in the microwave in a covered dish for 1-2 minutes until hot.
More Meatball Recipes!
- Grape Jelly Meatballs
- Turkey Meatballs
- BBQ Meatballs
- Greek Turkey Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Firecracker Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground beef 85/15 or leaner
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 scallion minced, plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the sauce:
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise see notes
Instructions
To make the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the meatball ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to combine the mixture. Be careful not to overmix.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out balls of the mixture and roll gently into a meatball.
- Place the meatballs evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through.
To make the sauce:
- While the meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce by adding the buffalo sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk well to combine
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove ¼ cup of the sauce and place in a small bowl with the mayonnaise. Whisk to combine. Reserve this sauce for serving. The remainder of the sauce will be used for tossing over the meatballs.
To serve:
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and place in a mixing bowl. Pour the sauce (without the mayo) over the meatballs and stir gently to coat.
- Serve the meatballs over a bed of rice. Drizzle with the creamy sauce (the sauce mixed with mayo).
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