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Home » Ingredient » Beef

Beef

Sweet Heat Meatballs

Published: August 4, 2014   |   Updated: October 3, 2022   |   29 Comments

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★★★★★5 from 4 reviews
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A sweet and spicy glaze makes these sweet heat meatballs a great appetizer for holiday parties, game nights, or just about any time you feel like having meatballs on a stick. We use frozen homestyle meatballs to make things easy so you can focus more on the eating part of this delicious appetizer.

A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

Let me just say something here off the bat. I love meatballs. If there’s any kind of food in the world that causes someone’s brain to malfunction and start chanting its name in a frenzied mantra, it’s meatballs for me.

It started a very long time ago. Let’s fairy tale this. Once upon a time, I happened across a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served spaghetti and meatballs. I ate it and I fell in love.  And we lived hungrily ever after. The end.

A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

Probably not the best of fairy tales but I started off making Parmesan meatballs which I put in subs and gradually recreated the dish that started this all.

Then came the invasion of the evil Ikea Swedish meatballs. Can I say yum? Now when I see meatball recipes all over Pinterest, it takes a huge amount of restraint not to start a meatball posting crusade and throw in the towel by renaming my blog to The Meatball Inc.

A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

But today I yield. Because these meatballs are so glaze happy they wouldn’t take no for an answer. So here we have sweet heat meatballs. It has this background heat to it that’s just right. And it’s sweet. It’s meat-shaped balls on a stick. Hooray for great inventions!

A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

And while you can opt to make your own meatballs, you can also get frozen ones to work with here. How easy is that? That gives you more time to work on that glaze.

Serve these babies at dinner parties, cookouts, or whatever function you have. It’s great for party food or just plain snacks!

MORE MEATBALL RECIPES TO TRY

  • Parmesan Meatballs
  • Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs
  • Slow Cooker Grape Jelly Meatballs

Did you make this recipe? Rate it!

♡ If you liked this recipe, giving it a star rating ★★★★★ in the comments below really helps! For more recipes, subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and  Pinterest.

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A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

Sweet Heat Meatballs


★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

  • Author: The Cooking Jar
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Yield: 25 servings 1x
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Description

A spicy and sweet glaze makes these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 bag (32 oz.) frozen, pre-cooked homestyle meatballs
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 4 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • Salt and pepper to taste


Instructions

  1. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil.
  2. Add molasses, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, chili powder, cayenne, crushed pineapple and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add in meatballs and stir to coat evenly.
  5. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the sauce reduces, about 10 minutes.
  6. Enjoy!

Notes

Makes about 50 meatballs.

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know how you liked it, what substitutions you made, or what you paired it with in the comments below. If you enjoyed it, help me out with a  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating!

Leave A Review

 Nutritional based on 25 servings (2 meatballs each)

A spicy and sweet glaze make these sweet heat meatballs great for parties. Meatballs on a stick for meatball lovers!

posted in: Appetizers, Beef, Quick and Easy, Stovetop

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Nikki says

    December 18, 2018

    These look amazing! I am going to make these for a holiday party this weekend. What kind of molasses did you use? Light/dark/blackstrap? Thank you!

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      December 18, 2018

      You know, it only said molasses on the bottle I bought. Sorry I can’t be more help!

      Reply
      • Nikki says

        December 23, 2018

        I found the regular molasses, thanks!! Made these for a party and they were a hit!! This will be my go-to party meatball recipe, thanks so much!!

        ★★★★★

        Reply
      • Linda J says

        September 15, 2022

        Can you freeze these?

        Reply
        • The Cooking Jar says

          September 20, 2022

          I don’t see why not!

  2. Meg says

    July 9, 2017

    I have to say these are favorites for us! I found your recipe years ago for an appetizer and have used them ever since. Whenever I make them for parties they are the first to go and everyone requests them now. We even have these as a meal with some rice and broccoli. It’s a family favorite for sure and so yummy!

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      July 19, 2017

      I’m thinking of making them for a party coming up soon. A friend’s party who tells me 125 people are coming. That’s a lot of meatballs! I’m thinking maybe 2 meatballs per person for half the amount of people coming, assuming not everyone eats it. And thanks for letting me know a year later how it’s a favorite 🙂

      Reply
  3. Peggy says

    January 23, 2017

    You said you make your own meatballs. What recipe do you follow for that?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      January 26, 2017

      Heya Peggy. I use this recipe to make my own. I would halve the ingredients in that recipe to cater to this one:

      http://thecookingjar.com/parmesan-meatballs/

      Reply
  4. KT says

    September 29, 2016

    Can you mix up the sauce and add sauce and meatballs to crock pot and cook for 6 hours?

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      October 2, 2016

      Yes, I think that will work on the low setting with frozen meatballs. If you decide to make your own meatballs, you will need to broil the meatballs first in the oven to melt away any fat from the ground beef so the fat does not dilute the sauce in the slow cooker. Ground beef is a huge culprit of diluting sauces in the slow cooker unless fat is rendered first!

      Reply
  5. Kelly says

    January 23, 2016

    Can you use turkey balls in ace of beef?

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      January 26, 2016

      You absolutely can, Kelly. Use whatever meatballs you like!

      Reply
  6. Jill says

    January 5, 2016

    I made these for dinner tonight. Excellent! They’re were so delicious. Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      January 11, 2016

      You’re welcome, Jill! I thought they would be more of a party food kinda thing, but I’m glad they weren’t too sweet for dinner!

      Reply
  7. The Cooking Jar says

    January 28, 2015

    Hope the substitute works out well, Joelle! Good luck.

    Reply
  8. Dana E says

    November 16, 2014

    Wow looks so good,I will make these.Thanks

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      November 16, 2014

      Very welcome, Dana!

      Reply
      • Linda J says

        September 15, 2022

        Can you freeze these?

        Reply
  9. Holly says

    August 5, 2014

    Sounds awesome, minus the pineapple! I’m not a big pineapple fan.

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      August 5, 2014

      Thanks, Holly! The pineapple balances out the strong taste of molasses, but if you don’t mind that, win win!

      Reply
  10. Bridget says

    August 5, 2014

    Wow these look amazing 🙂 I’m totally in love with meatballs too. Your pics are so stunning too, major food porn xx

    thenoblefoodie.com

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      August 5, 2014

      Thanks Bridget! Can you believe these were gone in a day? 😉

      Reply
  11. Nagi {RecipeTin Eats} says

    August 4, 2014

    OMG, the Ikea meatballs!! I have seen them all my life but never even THOUGHT of trying them!! ha ha! I never think of making meatballs, now you’ve got me having a hankering for them. I mean, how could I not want “Sweet Heat” ones??

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      August 4, 2014

      It’s sweet at first but after awhile the heat kicks in. It’s a nice and mellow heat, not the kind to make you tear up and pant for water 🙂

      Reply
  12. Christine @ Taste of Divine says

    August 4, 2014

    I love meatballs too 🙂 Whenever my grandma would make them, each batch would disappear when she turned around 🙂 These look delish, and would be perfect for entertaining!

    Reply
    • The Cooking Jar says

      August 4, 2014

      I love making meatballs from scratch but this is a great option to whip some up for company in a hurry!

      Reply
      • nikki says

        September 17, 2014

        Does anyone have reccomendations which brand of pre-cooked meatballs to get?

        Thanks

        Reply
        • The Cooking Jar says

          September 17, 2014

          I usually make my meatballs from scratch but I tried the Target brand of meatballs for this and it was pretty decent. Maybe someone else can chime in with their preferred brand?

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