These honey sriracha meatballs are sweet, spicy, and sticky, with juicy ground beef tossed in a 5-ingredient glaze including honey, sriracha, and butter. Bake them in the oven or in the slow cooker for an easy weeknight dinner, meal prep, or game-day appetizer!

Overhead shot of a white round dish with a pile of meatballs topped with sliced green onions.

5 star review

“Oh my gosh, these were so delicious! I made them for a holiday party we had at the New Year, and people were raving about them. So easy, too!”

– Stephanie
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My Favorite Way to Make Honey Sriracha Glazed Meatballs

Okay, so I feel like honey sriracha meatball recipes lean too far in either cloying with too much honey or punishing with too much sriracha, and I’ve found that the trick to a balanced glazed meatball is the ratio. After several rounds of testing, I found that equal parts honey and butter with a quarter cup of sriracha, plus a splash of tamari and lime, hit the sweet-spicy sweet spot without any one flavor taking over.

For the meatballs themselves, you have two options: bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes for a faster weeknight dinner, or finish them in the slow cooker on low for set-it-and-forget-it ease. The slow cooker version develops a slightly stickier glaze since the sauce reduces longer, while the oven version is faster and easier to clean up, so its really up to you which way to go. Either way, reserve a quarter cup of sauce before cooking and stir it in at the very end so the final dish stays glossy and the heat from the sriracha shines through.

Serve these honey sriracha glazed meatballs over rice or alongside a sesame noodle salad for an easy weeknight dinner, or pile them on a platter with toothpicks for a game-day appetizer. If you love this sweet-spicy meatball formula, my pineapple teriyaki meatballs use the same approach with a tropical, soy-glazed twist. So good!

Welcome to My Kitchen, Let’s Make Honey Sriracha Meatballs

Jump to Recipe Instructions
Overhead shot of the following ingredients: raw ground beef, butter, salt, lime juice, sriracha, honey, tamari, garlic cloves, egg, bread crumbs, and onion.
Gather ingredients.
Overhead image of a sriracha based sauce being whisked in a small glass bowl.
Make the honey sriracha sauce.
Overhead shot of a yellow-ish breadcrumb paste.
Grate an onion and combine it with the egg.
Overhead shot of a glass bowl with egg and grated onion mixture to which breadcrumbs and salt have been added.
Add the garlic, breadcrumbs, and salt.
Overhead shot of a glass bowl with raw ground beef on top of a bread crumb mixture.
Add the beef and mix until just combined.
Overhead shot of meatballs being scooped by a cookie scoop and placed on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Gently form 24 meatballs.
Overhead shot of a parchment lined baking sheet with raw meatballs in a 3 by 4 grid.
Oven Baked: Bake the meatballs.
Overhead image of cooked meatballs in a slow cooker.
Slow Cooker: Add the cooked meatballs to a slow cooker.
Overhead image of meatballs with sauce in a slow cooker.
Add 3/4 of the sauce and cook.
Overhead shot of a white round dish with a pile of meatballs topped with sliced green onions.
Add the remaining sauce and serve.
Super zoomed in shot of a pile of meatballs topped with sliced green onions.

Testing Notes for Honey Sriracha Meatballs

  • Don’t overmix the meatball mixture! Once the panko, onion, egg, and garlic are evenly distributed in the ground beef, stop. Overmixing develops the proteins and turns meatballs tough and rubbery, so the gentlest possible mix gives you the most tender bite.
  • Use a 1.5-ounce cookie scoop for evenly sized meatballs if you can. A 1.5-ounce (about 3 tablespoon) scoop gives you uniform meatballs that cook in the same amount of time.
  • I definitely recommend using fresh lime juice, not bottled. One tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice (from about half a lime) brings the brightness this glaze needs to keep the sweetness in check!
  • Garnish with sliced green onion and sesame seeds. A handful of thinly sliced green onions and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds turns these meatballs from “weeknight dinner” to “I would order this at a restaurant.”
Overhead shot of two meatballs on a silver spoon being taken out of a slow cooker.
Overhead shot of a white round dish with a pile of meatballs topped with sliced green onions.
5 stars (4 ratings)

Honey Sriracha Meatballs

Developed and tested by A woman with long blonde hair, smiling, holds and pours a bottle of oil in a modern kitchen setting.Robyn Conley Downs
Servings: 6 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Sweet, spicy, sticky honey sriracha meatballs made with juicy ground beef and a 5-ingredient glaze. Oven-baked or slow cooker option for easy dinners!
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Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 1 small yellow onion, peeled and ends removed
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup plain panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 pounds lean ground beef

Honey Sriracha Sauce

  • ⅓ cup melted butter
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • ¼ cup sriracha
  • 2 tablespoons tamari
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Equipment

Instructions 

Make the Honey Sriracha Sauce

  • Add melted butter, honey, sriracha, tamari, and lime juice to a medium bowl. Whisk until well combined.

Oven Baked

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • Place a box grater into a large bowl. Using the smallest holes, grate the entire onion into the bowl. You should have about ½ cup grated onion and accumulated liquid. Add the egg and whisk until combined. Add the garlic, breadcrumbs, and salt, and whisk to combine.
  • Add the ground beef and gently mix until the breadcrumb-onion mixture is well incorporated, being careful not to over-mix. Gently form 24 meatballs (about a golf ball size or 1 ½ ounces each). 
  • Space the meatballs evenly on two prepared baking pans. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just beginning to brown.
  • Set aside ¼ cup of Honey Sriracha Sauce, then pour the remaining sauce into a large pot or Dutch oven. Heat over medium heat, then add the cooked meatballs and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
  • Turn off the heat and add the remaining ¼ cup Honey Sriracha Sauce, tossing to coat. Serve sprinkled with green onion if desired.

Slow Cooker

  • Prepare the sauce and meatballs through step four, above.
  • Place the prepared meatballs in an even layer in a 6-quart slow cooker. Set aside ¼ cup of Honey Sriracha Sauce, then pour the remaining sauce over the meatballs, tossing to coat evenly.
  • Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5, or until the meatballs tender.
  • Uncover and pour over the remaining ¼ cup Honey Sriracha Sauce, tossing to coat. Serve immediately, sprinkled with green onion, or hold on warm until ready to serve.
Course: Appetizer, dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Asian

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 (of 6, about 4 meatballs with sauce)), Calories: 452kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 156mg, Sodium: 721mg, Potassium: 554mg, Fiber: 0.4g, Sugar: 16g, Vitamin A: 378IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 41mg, Iron: 4mg
Nutrition disclaimer
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