BBQ Meatballs

One of my all-time favorite things! Sooooo yummy & SOOOOOOOOO easy!!!!

A sudden craving for these came over me this morning, so I just had to make them for lunch today. :)

It's basically the same recipe I'd use for meatloaf (only for meatloaf I'd use a mixture of ground meats) or salisbury steak, only shaped into meatballs. :)

What you'll need:

Hamburger--About 2 pounds, but you could use more if you wanted to make more; seasoned bread crumbs; salt & pepper; one medium onion (feel free to use any color you have); 3 cloves of fresh garlic; one egg; ground cinnamon; Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick.

Not present for picture day: Soy & BBQ sauces. My bad!

Throw the hamburger into a bowl and grate the onion with a box grater directly into the hamburger (you want all the juice, etc., too). Make garlic paste and add it to the bowl as well. Add a palmful of grill seasoning, the egg, a dash of cinnamon, about 2 tbsp of soy sauce and about a cup of the bread crumbs to the bowl. Mix it all up with your hands, but don't over-mix it, as it'll make the meat tough.

Turn the meat out onto a cutting board (or counter, whatever), and divide it evenly in half repeatedly until you have 32 equal portions (you could absolutely make them larger or smaller, these will be about 2-3 bites each). Roll the portions into balls.

Heat up a skillet (I used a non-stick skillet, but it really doesn't matter too much) over medium heat and plop a few in the pan--do NOT over crowd the pan!! I do batches of about 6. Brown one side, flip, brown the other, flip, brown another, etc. I usually only do 3 sides. You're going to bake them, so don't worry about cooking them through, just make them a little crunchy on the outside. Remove the meatballs to some paper towels to drain the grease, and throw another batch in the pan. When the grease drains, move the meatballs to a foil-lined baking pan. Trust me...line your pan with foil. Your husband will thank me later when you make him do the dishes. ;)

When you get all of the meatballs browned, top them with your favorite BBQ sauce. Use whatever you like, really. I'm usually a fan of home-made sauces, but I really love Sweet Baby Rays for this.

Bake at about 375-400 degrees for about an hour. They will be all sorts of ooey gooey yummy when you pull them out.

Yes, as you can probably tell, they were too good to keep people's hands off them, so I wound up taking photos after plates were dished. haha!

Serve over rice, with tooth picks as an appetizer, on hoagie rolls with swiss cheese, etc. NOM!