BBQ Smoked Turkey Meatballs
These BBQ Turkey Meatballs are small but pack a ton of flavor. Easily made in one bowl then smoked on a wood pellet grill or smoker, they're perfect as part of a weeknight dinner or great as party food. Plus they're gluten free, dairy free, paleo, and Whole30 compatible.
Servings 16
Calories 86kcal
Equipment
- Wood pellet grill or smoker
- A food processor
- A large mixing bowl
- A basting brush
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2.5 oz bacon frozen
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- ¼ c almond flour
- 2 tbsp BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Set your Traeger (or other wood pellet grill or smoker) to 250 degrees F. Use a large sharp knife and cutting board to cut the bacon into roughly half inch pieces. Place them in a food processor and pulse until they're chopped into small bits. Pour them into a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the ground turkey, spices, coconut aminos, and almond flour. Mix everything together with your hands until just combined, making sure to not overmix.
- Separate the mixture into 4 equal portions, then take one portion and divide it into fourths. Roll each fourth into a ball and set on a plate or cutting board. Repeat with the other four sections until you have 16 meatballs.
- Place the meatballs on the smoker with tongs, the shut the lid and cook for 15 minutes. Put the BBQ sauce in a small bowl & use a pastry brush to spread the sauce over the meatballs, cooking another 15 minutes when done. Increase the heat to 350 degrees F and cook the meatballs until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (another 5-7 minutes). Remove from the grill and serve!
Video
Notes
- It's best to use frozen bacon as it's easier to chop into smaller bits and less likely to get stuck in a food processor. Even quickly putting it in the freezer while your grill or smoker heats is better than trying to chop up sticky bacon as is.
- You can substitute any other dark ground meat for the ground turkey in these meatballs. Ground beef, pork, or dark meat chicken would all work just fine.
- You can easily double, or even triple, this recipe. The cooking time will be the same, you just have to make sure you have enough room on your grill for all the meatballs.
- If you don't have coconut aminos and aren't paleo or Whole30, you can sub a gluten free worcestershire sauce for them.
- This recipe works with different types of meat like ground beef or ground pork. If you want to try ground chicken, use dark meat (chicken thighs) not white meat (chicken breast).
- You can cook these meatballs in the oven, though they won't have as much smokey flavor. Place them on a foil-lined sheet pan and cook in a 350 degree F oven for 15 minutes. Take them out, brush the BBQ sauce on them, then return to the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
Nutrition
Calories: 86kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 27IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg