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!
Appetizers are our thing and they make the best party foods. Here are more delicious gluten free appetizer recipes to try.
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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! This Instant Pot meatball appetizer recipe is perfect for a party.
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! Use it to make my Grandma's cabbage and meatballs too!
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!
(*This post was sponsored by Smart & Final, but all opinions about this awesome store are my own.)
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.)
Instructions:
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.
Step 1: 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. 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: Pour half of the barbecue sauce and apricot jam into the pressure cooker. 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 2: Use your hands to roll/form mini meatballs out of the meat.
Step 3: 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!
Step 4: Pour the second half of the barbecue sauce and jam over the meatballs to submerge them.
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.
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!
Common Questions:
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 1/3 cup of water (Note: if you use ground turkey or ground chicken, add 1/2 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.
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
📋 Recipe
Easy Gluten Free Barbecue Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 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
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!
Notes
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