Honey Sriracha Meatballs

Sweet and spicy Honey Sriracha Meatballs are here to shake up your dinnertime routine! With the perfect balance of sweetness, heat, and savory flavor, this easy meal idea is sure to please. Serve it over rice or transform it into a crowd-pleasing appetizer for a party—any way you serve these tender, saucy meatballs, they’re going to be a hit!

this Recipe

 

Honey Sriracha Meatballs – The EASY Way!

You know those Crock Pot Party Meatballs everyone flocks to at family get-togethers? These Honey Sriracha Meatballs are a little bit like that, but with an Asian-inspired twist—similar to my Pineapple Teriyaki Meatballs but this time that Asian twist comes with a kick!

Don’t worry, though—the kick is not enough to make these pork meatballs fiery hot. Instead, you get just the right amount of sweet heat in the sticky honey sauce. (If you’re still worried, you can always use less sriracha in the sauce and let the more adventurous eaters in your household add extra to their servings.)

While I love serving this Honey Sriracha Meatball recipe over rice or with stir-fried vegetables for an easy weeknight dinner, it’s also perfect party food. Spear them onto toothpicks (maybe with a piece of pineapple like my Hawaiian Meatballs!), set them on a platter, and watch them disappear!

Why I LOVE this recipe!

• Simple to make – Although this might look like a recipe that would take some time, it actually comes together with just 15 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking. Easy!
• Perfect balance of flavors – These sriracha meatballs are sweet, savory, and spicy—the sticky sauce that goes with them is lick-the-spoon delicious.
• Versatile – Make them as a quick dinner or a freezer meal; serve them as an appetizer for a party or over rice for a weeknight. You have lots of options here!
• Easy to adjust for picky eaters – Dial back the sriracha and even kids who balk at the tiniest speck of black pepper in a recipe will devour these easy honey sriracha meatballs.

What to Serve with Honey Sriracha Meatballs

Since this dish has the classic flavors of Asian cuisine, it will pair well with many of your favorite Asian-inspired side dishes. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.

Side Dish Ideas

• Asian Cucumber Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing
• 15 Minute Chicken Fried Rice
• Spicy Sriracha Asian Coleslaw
• Sautéed Green Beans
• Vegetable Fried Rice

You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner. 

Recipe Notes

This Honey Sriracha Meatball recipe is as simple as promised! Just 30 minutes for a family friendly meal.

In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.

Ingredients + Substitutions

For the meatballs

• Ground pork – I think the flavor of pork works well with the sticky-sweet sauce in these honey-glazed sriracha meatballs. You can substitute ground chicken, ground turkey, or a combination if you prefer.
• Onion – Yellow, white, or a sweet onion will all work well
• Panko bread crumbs – To help bind your meatballs together; use gluten-free panko if needed.
• Egg
• Garlic
• Ginger – Fresh ginger is much more pungent than dried, adding lots of flavor and moisture to sweet and spicy sriracha meatballs.
• Salt
• Sesame oil – If you don’t have sesame oil, any neutral-flavored cooking oil will work.

For the sauce

• Butter
• Honey – Use a runny honey, not the creamed kind that comes solid in a jar.
• Sriracha – Feel free to add more or less, according to your family’s preferences on spice level.
• Soy sauce – Use tamari for a gluten-free option.
• Fresh lime juice

Garnish (optional)

• Green onion

Recipe Tips

1. Dice the onion finely – First, you don’t want big onion chunks in your meatballs, as they’re kind of unpleasant to bite into! More importantly, finely diced or grated onions will add more moisture to these sriracha meatballs, making them extra tender. I use my mini food chopper to get them really tiny!
2. Have your ingredients ready to go – This is a recipe that moves quickly, so prepare all of your ingredients before you start cooking. You won’t have time to stop and chop or measure once you begin!
3. Whisk the sauce well – The butter won’t mix into the rest of the sauce ingredients at first, but keep whisking! It will eventually come together, forming a thick, sticky coating for your sweet and spicy meatballs.
4. Heat the pan before adding the meatballs – You want the pan and oil to be sizzling hot so you get a nice sear on the exterior of the meatballs. Then, you’ll simmer them in the sauce until the meatballs reach 160ºF.

Recipe Short Cuts

If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!

• Use store bought pre-minced garlic and ginger – There’s no shame in keeping these on hand in the fridge to get dinner on the table a little faster!
• Buy a pouch of ready-rice – Plan on serving your honey sriracha meatballs over rice? A pouch of microwaveable rice—the kind that’s ready in 90 seconds—will shave some more time off of your meal prep.
• Use a food processor or chopper to quickly mince the onion – Again, you need a very fine dice or even grated onion, so a food processor or chopper will make quick work of it.
• Skip making the meatballs – If you’ve frozen a batch of Homestyle Meatballs or want to buy a package of meatballs from the grocery store, you can use those instead of making your own.

Recipe Variations

If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!

• Honey Sriracha Turkey Meatballs – Use ground turkey instead of pork to make the meatballs for this recipe.
• Honey Sriracha Chicken Meatballs – Same idea as above! Swap ground chicken in for the ground pork.
• BBQ Sriracha Meatballs – Instead of making the sauce for this recipe, use your favorite barbecue sauce. Then, add sriracha to taste.
• Sriracha Teriyaki Meatballs – Again, skip the sauce for this recipe and substitute a bottle of teriyaki sauce. Add sriracha to taste.

Freezer Meal Instructions

Making this Honey Sriracha Meatball recipe into a freezer meal is simple! Follow the steps below and you can store this recipe in the freezer for up to 6 months.

1. Form the meatballs and make the sauce as directed in the recipe.
2. Freeze the uncooked meatballs in one zip-top bag and the sauce in another.
3. Let both the sauce and meatballs thaw in the refrigerator, then cook them according to the original recipe instructions.

Honey Sriracha Meatball Leftovers

If you have leftovers after making Honey Sriracha Meatballs, then it is your lucky day! They save and reheat well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.

To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:

• in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
• in the freezer up to a month

Leftover Recipes

Here are a few ways to repurpose those leftovers and give them a delicious makeover!

• Fried Rice With Honey Sriracha Meatballs – Add the reheated sriracha meatballs to your favorite fried rice recipe.
• Honey-Glazed Sriracha Meatball Tacos – Serve the honey sriracha meatballs in a warm tortilla with other toppings of choice; you can cut them in half if needed.
• Sriracha Meatball Hoagie – Use leftover sriracha meatballs to make a banh mi inspired sandwich with quick-pickled matchstick carrots, cucumber, and a generous smear of mayo.
• Sriracha Meatball Noodle Bowls – Add the meatballs and your favorite stir-fried veggies to a bowl of noodles to repurpose your leftovers as a workday lunch.

More Pork Recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!

You can check out all of my pork recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.

• Pork Fajitas (in 15 minutes!)
• Crock Pot Pork Carnitas
• Baked Creamy Garlic Pork Chops
• Garlic Pork Bites