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.
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I am starting 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! This Instant Pot meatball appetizer recipe is perfect for a party. (I also include stovetop directions for those who don't have an Instant Pot.)
Why this recipe is great:
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!
These meatballs are juicy, sweet from the barbecue sauce, and absolutely delicious. They make great high protein snacks for the kids, and they are also the perfect appetizer for a get-together or game day.
Appetizers are our thing here and they make the best party foods. Here are more delicious gluten free appetizer recipes to try.
What you need to make this:
Recipe step by step directions:
For this Instant Pot meatball recipe, I used ground turkey, turkey bacon, apricot jam, and honey barbecue sauce.
Step 1: Chop up the turkey bacon and added it to the ground turkey meat. It adds a smokey dimension and extra moistness to these meatballs. Mix well so the bacon is totally mixed into the meat.
Can you use regular bacon?
You can definitely use regular bacon in this recipe. Just note the calorie content will be a lot higher with regular pork bacon.
Step 2: Add the meats, bread crumbs, and seasonings to a large bowl and mix well.
For the gluten free bread crumbs, you can buy them or make your own with my easy gluten free bread crumbs recipe
Step 3: Use your hands to roll/form mini meatballs out of the meat. Pour half of the barbecue sauce and apricot jam into the pressure cooker.
Step 4: Pour the second half of the barbecue sauce and jam over the meatballs to submerge them. This pressure cooker is going to cook these meatballs in just 20 minutes!
What barbecue sauces are gluten free?
You can find lots of gluten free barbecue sauces including Stubbs, Annie's, Sky Valley, Bone Sucking Sauce, Lillie's Q, Organicville, and Kraft. They all have great flavors of BBQ sauce.
Step 5: Close and lock the lid on your Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Cook for 20 minutes. Quick-release to let the pressure out when they are finished cooking.
Stovetop Directions:
Make your meatballs the same way. Instead of an Instant Pot, add the barbecue sauce and meatballs to a pot. Add ¼ cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
When the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the meatballs are done. (Actual cooking time is going to depend on how large you make your meatballs.
Check the internal temperature of a few meatballs and make sure they are 165º F.
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!
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
Yes!! You can easily make this barbecue meatball recipe on your stovetop! To make these meatballs, you need a large pot. Make the meatballs as described in the instructions.
Add the barbecue sauce and ⅓ cup of water (Note: if you use ground turkey or ground chicken, add ½ cup water). Cook on medium-low until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for 1 hour.
You can definitely use different ground meats in this barbecue meatball recipe. Feel free to use ground beef, ground pork, ground chicken, or even ground lamb!
Meatballs that are dry tend to be overcooked, or they cooked dry (not covered in liquid.) Cooking these meatballs submerged in the barbecue sauce will help them stay moist and delicious.
These meatballs will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
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
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave me a rating and a comment. I LOVE hearing from you!! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest to see even more delicious recipes!
📖 Recipe
Easy Gluten Free Barbecue Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground turkey * see note
- 6 slices raw turkey bacon * see note
- ½ cup gluten free bread crumbs * see note
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup apricot jam
- 1 bottle honey barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Slice up the turkey bacon into small pieces.
- In a large bowl, add turkey bacon, ground turkey, bread crumbs, garlic and other spices. Mix well.
- Spray cooking oil in the internal pot in the pressure cooker. Add jam and barbecue sauce.
- Use your hands to roll small meatballs with the turkey meat mixture.
- Add the meatballs to the pressure cooker.
- Follow the instructions for operating your pressure cooker. I used on by Corsori, so I chose meat as my cooking option.
- Cook for 20 minutes.
- Allow pressure to ease before opening your pressure cooker. If in doubt, refer to the instruction guide that came with your pressure cooker.
- Enjoy the meatballs!
Stovetop Directions
- Make your meatballs as directed above.
- Add the barbecue sauce and meatballs to a pot with ¼ cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- When the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the meatballs are done. (Actual cooking time is going to depend on how large you make your meatballs.
- Check the internal temperature of a few meatballs and make sure they are 165º F.
Notes
- You can easily substitute ground beef, chicken, or pork if you prefer.
- You can buy gluten free breadcrumbs/panko, or make your own gluten free breadcrumbs.
- Gluten free barbecue sauce brands include Stubbs, Annie's, Sky Valley, Bone Sucking Sauce, Lillie's Q, Organicville, and Kraft. (There are others so always check the labels!)
- These meatballs will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
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(*this post was updated from an older 12/2017 post with more details.)
Anita
Sandi, do you add the apricot jam and the BBQ sauce into the Instant Pot or do you add it to the meatballs when they are done cooking? Thanks!
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Anita, I add both the jam and sauce into the Instant Pot. Enjoy 🙂
Andee
What size bottle of barbecue sauce?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Andee, the bottle is roughly 18 ounces. Have a great new year :-).
Angela
Cook on high or low for 30 minutes if using an Instapot? Thank you for clarifying. We were guessing 20 min on high would be enough?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Angela, if you are making small meatballs, 20 minutes will be fine. Thank you,
Sandi