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These mini honey lime meatballs, made with a combo of lean ground beef and spicy turkey sausage are browned in a skillet (or you can bake them) then finish in the slow cooker.

Honey-Lime Meatballs
These Honey-Lime Meatballs make a great appetizer or serve them over noodles to make them a main dish. They are topped with a delicious honey-lime sauce! I love meatballs and I have so many different types of meatball recipes. From the more classic Italian Turkey Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs to Chicken Romano Meatballs, and Turkey Meatballs Stroganoff, to name a few.
This makes about 60 mini meatballs.
Honey Lime Meatballs
These mini honey lime meatballs, made with a combo of lean ground beef and spicy turkey sausage are browned in a skillet (or you can bake them) then finish in the slow cooker.
Yield: 15 servings
Serving Size: 4 mini meatballs
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 ½ pounds extra-lean ground beef
- 8 ounces uncooked hot Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
- 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed, or 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup finely chopped green onions, from about 8
- 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 6 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- Coat a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with oil; set aside. In a large bowl combine ground beef, sausage, oats, egg product, green onions, Worcestershire sauce, and crushed red pepper.
- Shape mixture into 60 approximately 2-inch meatballs.
- Coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook meatballs, one-fourth at at time, over medium heat until brown, turning once.
- Transfer to the prepared slow cooker cooker.
- Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
- In a small bowl whisk together honey, soy sauce, and lime juice. Pour over meatballs. Toss gently to coat.
- Serve immediately or keep warm, covered, on warm or low-heat setting for up to 1 hour.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Nutrition
Serving: 4 mini meatballs, Calories: 140 kcal, Carbohydrates: 12 g, Protein: 14 g, Fat: 4 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Cholesterol: 34 mg, Sodium: 350 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 5 g
Made it! They were fabulous! Made them for a party and received raving reviews for the taste, loved the sauce!
Thank you!!!
For gluten free, can I substitute low sodium tamari (a little less, due to the stronger flavor), and GF bread crumbs for the oats? We’re avoiding obvious forms of gluten, not worrying about a small amount in condiments like Worcestershire sauce.
Yes that should work. Let me know how they come out if you try them!
Can’t wait to make these! I have all the ingredients on hand except for the rolled oats? Can I blend my quick cooking oats into a fine texture and use those instead? Thanks!
Sure
I want to make these and freeze some. At what point would I need to freeze them? Uncooked and before initially going in the skillet? Cooked and after they've come out of the slow cooker??
Do you happen to have the Smart Points for this recipe?
Would these still taste good with 2lbs beef instead of beef + sausage?
I made these on Monday and they were so good! That sauce is delicious. I made half a batch and served them with zucchini noodles, with extra sauce over the zoodles (I built the sauce in the recipe builder to accurately track these extra points – not bad points-wise). We added a small amount of sriracha for a little extra spicy kick. Fiance loved them, as did I. Thank you for sharing this!
I'm so excited to try this recipe. So delicious! So inspirational!
www.trangscorner.com
If you wanted to bake rather than cook in the skillet, what temperature would you recommend and for how long?
Probably 350F 15 to 20 minutes since they are small.
I would LOVE to see the directions but they appear to be MIA on both this site and the linked site.
Gina, I would love to serve these over some kind of a rice noodle dish. Any ideas?
Ooh, these sound good. Ever since I maple syrup/soy sauce glazed meatballs, I've been looking for different flavors for meatballs other than traditional marinara sauce, and honey lime sounds awesome.
These came out amazing – sauce is excellent
Your recipe says 2 eggs lightly beaten and 2 egg white
The original says 4 eggs lightly beaten
Why the difference
It just lightens the calorie count of the recipe without sacrificing taste or stick-together-ness.
These look yummy! will have to try them soon!
These meatballs are a perfect mix of sweet and savory! Can't wait to try it
Hello,
Where is the recipe for these meatballs? The BHG site does not have them. Please re-post on your site.
Thanks!
Here's the original recipe with directions: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/molasses-lime-meatballs/
I am confused by the directions. It says to put the browned meatballs in the slow cooker for 2 – 5 hours (depending on setting). Doesn't the slow cooker need liquid? It appears you add the sauce after they cook.
PS I found the directions after following 2 links, not very convenient.
Sorry Heidi! No liquid needed : )
this looks perfect for the big game!
I'm very confused. When I click on the link to see the complete recipe, that site does not seem to have the directions? what am I missing?
Here's the original with directions. http://www.bhg.com/recipe/molasses-lime-meatballs/
What's the purpose of the slow cooker? Couldn't you just cook the meatballs and pour the sauce over them?
Absolutely, you can bake them or finish them in the skillet. It will all give you the same results.
Can you use all beef? And if you'd like to make it as a main dish, what do you suggest you serve with it?
These look great, however I can't find the full recipe on BHG (?)
I would love to make these, they look delish! Unfortunately the link does not give recipe directions, help!
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/molasses-lime-meatballs/
Mini meatballs are so cute. I think of breakfast when I think that you used some sausage and honey. They sound delicious.
So where is your full recipe? All the links take you the BHG recipe. Are we supposed to use your ingredient list and their cooking instructions? .
Mmm that sauce sounds delicious! So simple and full of flavour 🙂 Might just make it for the Quorn-balls I have in the freezer, waiting to be served 😀 Thanks for the heads up and have a lovely day 🙂 x
Very nice, like the way you serve it 🙂
Something fresh and different than old, good bolognese!
I'm from Sweden and meatballs is kind of our thing I guess, but they are often kept very traditional in flavourings. Sad but true. I think it's easy to forget to experiment with classic and traditional foods. This honey-lime sauce looks awesome and I would love to try it!
That honey-lime sauce sounds amazing! I love that these finish cooking in the crock pot! That makes it so convenient to serve these at a party!
Ironically gotta say I love meat ball recipes since they're so easy to veganize!
a healthy take on meatballs? YES please! These made me so hungry! I think I'll try making them today, I have some ground beef 🙂
www.littleblackshell.com
I grew up having meatballs only with tomato sauces…I'm so glad there are more (absolutely delicious looking) ways of having meatballs!!
These sound and look soooo good!