These juicy baked Honey Garlic Meatballs are covered in a delicious sweet and savory sauce. They are also perfect for meal prep, so you'll love them for busy weeknights and entertaining.
These tender, juicy meatballs tossed in a sweet savory glaze has been a favorite in our family for many years. We have cooked them for many weeknight dinners, holiday meals, special occasions and even a few weddings.
They are some of the most tender meatballs I have ever eaten. Ketchup, soy sauce, honey and garlic come together in a great union to make a perfect complement for these moist and tender little morsels of beef. I certainly appreciate that I have most of these in my pantry/fridge most anytime, so I can whip them up anytime. My mom found this recipe many years ago in a Taste of Home magazine, and we've been making them ever since. Expect to be wowed and to get rave reviews and recipe requests from all your guests.
Ingredients:
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the printable recipe with measurements.
Meatballs:
- ground beef
- instead of ground beef, you can also use other ground meat, such as ground pork, ground turkey, ground lamb or ground chicken
- breadcrumbs
- you can use either store bought breadcrumbs, in which case I recommend panko breadcrumbs, but you can use other breadcrumbs of your choice.
- you can also make your own breadcrumbs, by pulsing bread in a food processor or a blender
- milk
- the milk is used to soak the breadcrumbs. I use whole milk, but you can use any type of milk that you prefer, even dairy free milk, such as almond/oat milk, etc.
- onion
- eggs
- salt, ground black pepper
- optional, dry herbs and spices
- in addition to salt and pepper, you can also use any of your favorite herbs and spices. I like using spice mixes that include dry chives, parsley, etc, as well as granulated onion/garlic, such as Trader Joe's Onion Salt and/or Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning.
Honey Garlic Sauce:
- butter (or oil) used to saute the garlic
- garlic
- honey
- ketchup
- soy sauce
Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs Video
How To Make Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- First, make the meatballs.
- Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until all the milk is absorbed by the bread.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs together.
- Shape the meatballs.
- Form small meatballs, about 1 Tablespoon each and place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Don't overcook the meatballs, or they will become tough.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce.
- In a medium pot or deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. (Don't burn the garlic.)
- Add the rest of the ingredients (honey, ketchup and soy sauce). Simmer for about 5 min.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for about 7-10 min, until cooked through, at a simmer. Once again, don't cook them in the sauce too long either, or the meatballs will become tough.
Meal Prep
This is a great recipe to make ahead.
- Bake the meatballs ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator.
- You can even freeze the meatballs. Simply place in the freezer in a single layer until frozen solid and place in a ziptop bag or plastic container. Thaw the meatballs and continue with the recipe.
- The sauce takes no time at all to make, so I usually make it on the spot, but you can make it ahead of time also.
What to serve with the meatballs
Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs
These juicy baked Honey Garlic Meatballs are covered in a delicious sweet and savory sauce. They are also perfect for meal prep.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 24 mins
- Total Time: 44 minutes
- Yield: 60-63 meatballs 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs or ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 onion, finely minced
- 2 eggs, mixed
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons dry herbs and spices, optional
Sauce:
- ½ Tablespoon butter or oil
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup honey
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup soy sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until all the milk is absorbed by the breadcrumbs.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs together.
- Form small meatballs, about 1 Tablespoon each and place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes in the preheated oven. Don't overcook the meatballs, or they will become tough.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a medium pot or deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds. (Be careful not to burn the garlic.)
- Add the rest of the ingredients (honey, ketchup and soy sauce), mixing until all the ingredients are evenly combined. Simmer for about 5 min.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for about 7 - 10 minutes, at a simmer, until cooked through.
Make Ahead:
- Bake the meatballs ahead of time. Store in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, make the sauce, then add the meatballs and cook just until heated through.
- You can even freeze the meatballs. Simply place in the freezer in a single layer until frozen solid and place in a Ziploc bag or plastic container.
- Thaw the meatballs and continue with the recipe. The sauce takes no time at all to make, so I usually make it on the spot, but you can make it ahead of time also.
Hi Olga, would this recipe be suitable as a slow cooker meal? If I have the meatballs prepared and frozen how long would I need to cook them in a slow cooker with the sauce?
Hi Anna,
I think this recipe should work well for the slow cooker, but I have never used a slow cooker to prepare them, so you'd need to experiment. I hope you enjoy them.
These came out very delicious. My family very much enjoyed them.. Thank you for a great recipe!
I'm so happy to hear that, Inna. Thank you for taking the time to write.
This might be a dumb question, but how would I know if the meatballs are done in the oven? Are they fully cooked in the oven or almost fully cooked and cooked the rest of the way in the sauce? Im afraid to overlook them. It would be such a waste.
If you make the meatballs the same size that I did (about one tablespoon each), they will be cooked through in the time that I gave in the recipe (12-14 minutes). They should be fully cooked through. To double check, you can take one meatball out of the oven, cut it in half and make sure there's no pink and it's fully cooked through.
Hi Olga, if my family doesn't eat garlic what can I use instead?
Just omit the garlic, Valerie.
If that is something your family doesn't eat, then you're probably used to leaving it out because garlic is a popular ingredient in most recipes.
My family loved these!
Hey Olga can I use fresh bread instead of breadcrumbs?
Yes, you can use fresh bread, just pulse it in the food processor or mash it up with a fork really well so you don't have big chunks of bread in the meatballs.