These honey garlic meatballs are always a hit! Slow cooker or Instant Pot recipe!
If you’ve been looking around on Google for recipes with frozen meatballs in them, you’ve probably come across a lot of different recipe ideas. So many that it might be hard for you to actually pick a recipe to try out.Don’t worry.I’m going to make your choice easy today by showing you the most delicious frozen meatball recipe of them all: My slow cooker honey garlic meatballs recipe.
This one is SOOO good, I even have an instant pot version AND an air fryer version of this recipe!
The best part about this frozen meatball recipe is that it’s fast, super easy, and everybody loves it. On top of that, this recipe is also a super affordable one!These honey garlic meatballs are one ofmy new favorite meatballrecipes! I am always a sucker for a goodhoney-garlic combo.
And if you’re counting Weight Watchers Freestyle points, there is a simple modification to get this recipe to just 6 WW points! Use your favorite turkey meatball recipe and then spread this to 8 servings (which is totally doable! This recipe will feed my big family and sometimes we even have leftovers!)
Frozen Meatballs:
This is what about 28 ounces of meatballs looks like (use a kitchen scale to easily weigh it out).I oftenhave a big bag of the Costco Italian frozen meatballs on hand because they are delicious, and they usually cost less per pound than the plain ground beef you would use to make homemade meatballs!
You can definitely make your own meatballsin bulk and store them in the freezer. That would also work for this honey garlic meatball recipe! If you want to make some homemade meatballs, try thisfreezer meal meatballs recipe or this meatball recipe.
Easy 5 ingredient Honey Garlic Sauce
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Ketchup
- Soy sauce; and
- Garlic
I usually have these ingredients on hand at any given time. It’s sooo easy to put together!
- Place the frozen meatballs in the slow cooker.
- Mix up the simple and delicious sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs.
- Stir to coat the meatballs with the sauce.
- Then just letthe slow cooker do the rest. It’s good to stir the meatballs around once or twice during the cooking time to help keep the sauce distributed evenly though.
All you have to do is throw it in, stir, and wait!
Once the time is up, you will have an awesome delicious dinner prepared and you maybe spent 20 minutes working on it! This is the perfect meal for any school night!
PRO TIP:
I love using a slow cooker liner in my Crock-Pot. It makes clean-up a lot easier! You can find them at nearly any grocery store or buy them online. Ilike bothReynolds and PanSaver, but PanSaver seems to be slightlybetter quality.
The meatballs only need about 4 hours on low beforethey are ready to serve! That means thatif you realize you still don’t know what to servefor dinner (after lunch), you still have time to pull this slow cooker meal together (yes, this happens to me often).
Throw some rice in the rice cookerat the same time with a delay timer and your meal is nearly complete.
If you are really in a bind for time, you can just warm the meatballs in the oven according to the package instructions or at 375 for about 15 minutes, warm the sauce in a small saucepan, then pour the sauce over the meatballs before serving. Quick, easy, and delicious!
And of course, you can whip these up in the instant pot too! Scroll down to the recipe card for the instant pot directions!
More of our Favorite Meatball Recipes:
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Barbecue Bacon Meatballs
- Teriyaki Meatballs
- Turkey-Quinoa Fajita Meatballs
- Alfredo Meatball Sub Sandwich
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Honey Garlic Meatballs Recipe - Air Fryer, Slow Cooker or Instant Pot
These honey garlic meatballs are always a hit! Slow cooker or Instant Pot recipe!
4.59 / 5 ( 123 Reviews )
Print Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours hours
Total Time: 4 hours hours 5 minutes minutes
Serves: 8
Adjust Servings: 8
Ingredients
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup honey 111 grams
- ½ cup ketchup 136 grams
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce 30 ml
- 3 cloves garlic minced (or 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 28 ounces 1 lb 12 oz frozen fully cooked meatballs
- 2 Tablespoons of water for instant pot recipe
Instructions
SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS
In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic.
Place frozen meatballs in a 4-quart slow cooker and pour the sauce over them. Stir to coat. Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
Serve as an appetizer, or over rice or noodles as a main dish.
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS
Turn the instant pot on saute mode and combine brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, water, and garlic. Stir until somewhat thick and bubbly (it only takes a few minutes).
Turn off saute mode and add the frozen meatballs. Stir to combine the meatballs with the sauce.
Place the lid on the instant pot and set it to manual high pressure for 2 minutes.
Once the cooking is done, quick release the pressure, open the lid, stir a little more and enjoy over rice!
AIR FRYER INSTRUCTIONS
Air Fry at 350˚ for 10 minutes, the last few minutes, pour glaze over the meatballs.
OVEN INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 375˚F/191˚C (or according to meatball package instructions).
Place frozen meatballs in a single layer in a 9x13 pan. Bake for 14-16 minutes (or according to package instructions).
Whisk together the brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat, until simmering and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Pour sauce over warm meatballs, stir to coat, and serve.
Recipe Notes
Make this weight watchers friendly by using turkey meatballs and stretching to 8 servings (sooo doable!). This will be 6 points per serving with those easy modifications!
Nutrition
Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 21g | Sodium: 328mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g
Recipe Adapted From: Family Fresh Meals