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    You are here: Home » Food » Beef

    BBQ Meatballs with Red Wine BBQ Sauce

    June 19, 2023 By Mary 2 Comments

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    Jump to Recipe

    BBQ Meatballs are a great appetizer for any outdoor gathering. They also can be adjusted in size as a main meal, and are great to scale up for a crowd. We’ve elevated this recipe by adding an elegant (and flavorful) Red Wine BBQ Sauce at the end for a lovely “wow” factor!

    Smoked Meatballs with Red Wine BBQ Sauce in a serving pan with a bottle of Vindulge BBQ Sauce

    You can never have too many meatball recipes. They come in handy as a quick appetizer for a crowd or can be scaled up as a main meal, or turned into an indulgent meatball sandwich. This seven ingredient BBQ meatball recipe keeps it simple and uses added smoke flavor for one of the juiciest ground beef BBQ meatballs you will ever have. It was also a featured recipe on AM Northwest, our local ABC TV affiliate as well.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Preparation Tips
    • How to Make BBQ Meatballs On A Smoker
    • When are Meatballs Done?
    • Other Great Meatball Recipes
    • BBQ Meatballs with Red Wine BBQ Sauce

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for BBQ Meatballs with a red wine BBQ sauce on a counter

    The meatballs flavor comes from a combination of red wine and seasonings. As a binder we use egg and panko. The fat ratio of the meat combined with the liquids give the incredible moisture, making them super tender and full-flavored.

    • Ground Beef – We recommend 80/20 lean to fat ratio. If you use a leaner ground beef be sure it’s not overly wet from the ratios below.
    • Egg – Beaten. This helps bind the beef with the other ingredients and balanced by the panko.
    • Panko – You can sub with gluten-free as well.
    • Red Wine – We recommend a dry red wine like Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Zinfandel.
    • Worcestershire sauce – For savory flavor.
    • SPG Rub – Or sub with your favorite beef seasoning.
    • Pinot Noir BBQ Sauce – It’s the secret ingredient that gives it an extra wow factor!

    Preparation Tips

    • Don’t over mix the beef. We recommend using your hands and just combining the ingredients enough so you don’t overwork the protein in the beef. This will lead to tougher meatballs.
    • If you choose to use a leaner beef or even ground turkey – you need to adjust the ratio of wet ingredients offsetting how lean the beef is.

    How to Make BBQ Meatballs On A Smoker

    Smoking BBQ Meatballs on a smoker
    Glazing BBQ meatballs with a silicone brush on a pellet grill.
    Finished bbq meatballs.
    1. Preparation: Prepare smoker for low heat targeting 250 degrees Fahrenheit using oak, cherry, or apple wood. In a large bowl combine beef, egg, panko, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and SPG rub, with your hands taking care not to over mix. Use an ice cream scooper to form even sized meatballs and place on a wired drying tray.
    2. Smoke: Place meatballs on the smoker until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F (this should take about 45 minutes). Once they hit the internal temperature, glaze once with the BBQ sauce. Continue smoking until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Remove from smoker.
    3. Glaze: As you remove the meatballs, glaze them with the sauce one last time and place on your desired serving plate. Serve warm.

    If modifying for a gas grill you can follow our directions in our article on how to smoke on a gas grill.

    BBQ Meatballs glazed with a Red Wine BBQ Sauce in a cast iron serving dish

    When are Meatballs Done?

    Always cook to temperature and not time. The meatballs are done and safe to eat when the internal temperature reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit using a good instant read thermometer.

    This is why we glaze the BBQ sauce when the internal temp reads 155 degrees and remove them when they are 160.

    We use the Thermoworks Thermapen One which is the best instant read thermometer on the market.

    Other Great Meatball Recipes

    • Smoked Stuffed Meatballs – These delicious meatballs are smoked in a cast iron pan and stuffed with mozzarella cheese then dipped in a Kansas City BBQ sauce.
    • Smoked Turkey Meatballs – These tender meatballs use bacon paste as a binder for amazing flavor and moisture.
    • Lamb Meatballs – These lamb meatballs are slowly smoked and used in a pita sandwich.

    Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.

    Fire and Wine Cookbook

    Tried this recipe? Give us a star rating and we would love to see! Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge on all the social media handles. And consider subscribing to our newsletter where we drop all our favorite ideas and inspirations every week.

    This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link, we may receive a small commission if you purchase through the link. We partner with brands we know and love and use and it helps keep the blog going!

    BBQ Meatballs with a Red Wine BBQ Sauce in a cast iron serving dish

    BBQ Meatballs with Red Wine BBQ Sauce

    Delicious BBQ Meatballs slowly smoked and then finished with a Red Wine BBQ Sauce glaze. The perfect appetizer or main dish. Easy to scale up for a crowd.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Servings: 20 meatballs
    Calories: 175kcal
    Author: Mary Cressler | Vindulge
    Cost: $12.00

    Equipment

    • 1 Instant Read Thermometer
    • 1 ice cream scooper
    • 1 Silicone Brush for Glaze

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds ground beef (We recommend 80/20 lean to fat ratio)
    • 1 egg, beaten
    • ¼ cup panko bread crumbs (You can sub with gluten-free as well)
    • ¼ cup dry red wine
    • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 tablespoon SPG Rub (Or your favorite beef seasoning)
    • 2 cups Pinot Noir BBQ Sauce
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Preparation: Prepare smoker for low heat targeting 250 degrees Fahrenheit using oak, cherry, or apple wood. In a large bowl combine beef, egg, panko, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and SPG rub, using your hands taking care not to over mix. Use an ice cream scoop to form even sized meatballs and place on a wired drying tray.
    • Smoke: Place the tray with the meatballs on the smoker until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F (this should take about 45 minutes). Once they hit the internal temperature, glaze with the BBQ sauce. Continue smoking until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Remove from smoker.
    • Glaze: As you remove the meatballs, glaze them with the sauce one last time and place on your desired serving plate. Serve warm.

    Notes

    Preparation Note: Don’t overmix the ground beef. This will cause the protein cells to break down and make tougher meatballs. Mix with hands and just enough until the ingredients are incorporated.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2meatballs | Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 356mg | Potassium: 212mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 83IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe? We would love to see!Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Carrie McKay says

      June 20, 2023 at 1:23 pm

      Where can we buy the bottled sauce??

      Thank you.

      Reply
      • Sean Martin says

        June 20, 2023 at 6:16 pm

        Carrie the sauce is coming soon both direct to consumer as well as in the Pacific Northwest. More to come!

        Reply

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    Mary-Cressler-Sept-2015-smI'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, and founder of Vindulge and author of Fire + Wine cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by!

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    A cast iron pan full of smoked BBQ Meatballs with a red wine BBQ sauce