If you love quick and easy healthy appetizers, these Instant Pot gluten-free barbecue turkey meatballs have a special ingredient that makes these hard to resist!!
Bacon. Yup, these turkey meatballs are also loaded with turkey bacon inside. Take a bite and try not to eat the whole batch of gluten free BBQ meatballs in one sitting!
They aren’t kidding when they say bacon makes it better. This bacon also makes it healthier because it is turkey bacon!
(*This post was sponsored by Smart & Final, but all opinions about this awesome store are my own.)
I started with what I call the drool shot. I hope you don’t mind but I am so excited to show off these yummy gluten free barbecue turkey meatballs! Do you have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker? It makes cooking a total breeze!
Why this easy gluten free meatball appetizer recipe is perfect for a party.
The downside of cooking for a crowd is the lack of space. Enter my two favorite things. 1.) My pressure cooker (Instant Pot), and 2.) Smart & Final. Smart & Final is my go-to place for great deals on the foods I love to buy.
(**They even get gluten-free foods in, at a MUCH lower cost than regular grocery stores! Smart & Final has the lowest prices in town! You get warehouse prices on all of your family’s favorite foods.)
If you haven’t used a pressure cooker yet, wait until you see how fast it works to cook your food…without heating up your whole house! Now you can use your stove and oven for other food!
If you have read my blog for a long time, you know another reason I love Smart & Final is that they give back to their community.
Not many companies do this! Each year Smart & Final donates back the first percentage of net profit from the sale of their in-house First Street products to local charities.
Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs
Let’s get back to the food because once you try these, you are going to become addicted. This easy gluten free meatball appetizer is perfect for any time including game day!
I found all of the ingredients at my local Smart & Final store, except the gluten-free breadcrumbs. If you don’t need gluten-free, Smart & Final also carries their own First Street Breadcrumbs that you can use!
For this Instant Pot meatball recipe, I used First Street Ground Turkey, Turkey Bacon, Apricot Jam and their Honey BBQ Sauce. I used their eggs as well.
I chopped up the turkey bacon and added it to the ground turkey meat. It adds a smokey dimension and extra moistness to these meatballs.
Pour in the First Street Barbecue Sauce and Apricot jam into the pressure cooker. This pressure cooker is going to cook these meatballs in just 20 minutes!
Add the meatballs to the Instant Pot. You can see the turkey bacon chopped up in these. I am getting hungry just writing this post!
If you have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, this is going to be a huge timesaver for you! I made a whole chicken in 30 minutes last week. Amazing!
Are you ready to make these for yourself?
More Delicious Party Appetizer Recipes:
- Here are all of my most popular appetizer recipes are in this roundup!
- Healthy Chicken Meatballs Four Ways
- Hot Cream Cheese Scallion Dip
- Black Bean Dip and Nachos
How to make gluten-free turkey meatballs in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker:
How to make gluten free BBQ turkey meatballs in a pressure cooker.
- 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 6 slices raw turkey bacon
- 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup apricot jam
- 1 bottle honey barbecue sauce
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Slice up the turkey bacon into small pieces.
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In a large bowl, add turkey bacon, ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic and other spices. Mix well.
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Spray cooking oil in the internal pot in the pressure cooker. Add jam and barbecue sauce.
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Use your hands to roll small meatballs with the turkey meat mixture.
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Add the meatballs to the pressure cooker.
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Follow the instructions for operating your pressure cooker. I used on by Corsori, so I chose meat as my cooking option.
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Cook for 30 minutes.
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Allow pressure to ease before opening your pressure cooker. If in doubt, refer to the instruction guide that came with your pressure cooker.
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Enjoy the meatballs!
MORE delicious recipes featuring Smart & Final products
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- GF Peach Cobbler
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- One-Pan Blackberry Tarragon Chicken and Rice
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- GF Raspberry Cream Cheese Crumble Bars
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- Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese with Arugula and Strawberry Hot Sauce
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- Southwestern Spinach and Corn Cheese Dip
Paula M Schlotterbeck
These look wonderful! How many little meatballs do you usually roll out in a batch? Do they all fit on the bottom of the pan or do you need to stack them somehow? I’m a (gluten-free) Instant Pot newbie so excuse my questions and thank you for the recipe!
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Paula, thank you so much. Sorry for the delay, we were out of town. I stack the little meatballs on top of each other. The sauce flavors cooks= into each meatball beautifully. Thank you so much for reaching out, I hope you like these as much as we do.
Jason
Looks like some good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Sandi Gaertner
Thanks so much Jason 🙂
Debra C.
I love how moist and delicious these meatballs came out! I’m loving my instant pot. Great recipe!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much Debra, these were a huge hit at our last party.
Trish Berkshire
If I dont have a pressure cooker, do you know how much time I would need to add to cook this on the stove?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Trish, you will want to simmer on low for about 45 minutes. Be really careful stirring them until they cook a bit first so they don’t break apart. Also, liquid evaporates more when cooking stovetop so make sure it doesn’t get too dry. Alternatively, you can make these in a slow cooker too. Take care.
Roxana
This is an interesting recipe using pressure cooker and then the apricot jam combining savory and sweet flavors. I love the idea of turkey meatballs.
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you Roxana 🙂
Marie | Yay! For Food
These turkey meatballs look so delicious and full of smoky and sweet flavours! You had me at bacon! I love that Smart & Final donates back to charity too!
Sandi Gaertner
I love that they donate back too…I wish more companies did that!
Jagruti
Oh wow, I didn’t know that you can prepare meatballs in a pressure cooker too, Thanks for sharing this tips.
Sandi Gaertner
The meatballs stay so moist :-).
Ginny McMeans
I didn’t realize you could make this in a pressure cooker. Passing this on to my sister. Thanks!
Sandi Gaertner
Awesome. Thanks Ginny 🙂
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
I’m giving you props — because that truly was a drool shot in the beginning of this post! I’m going to a friend’s for dinner tomorrow and I’m supposed to bring the appetizer…. soooooo…….
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much Lisa :-). I hope everyone likes them.
Chava Mazal Stark
You are speaking my language! Instant pot and turkey bacon loaded turkey meatballs??! Sounds lovely!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you…I hope you enjoy :-).