These flavor-packed Spicy and Sweet Meatballs are made with both beef and pork and are tossed in a buffalo, sriracha, brown sugar, and honey sauce that brings the heat right along with the sweet. They make an easy weeknight dinner or can be served as a crowd-pleasing party appetizer.
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When I first developed this recipe, I called these firecracker meatballs. I had the firecracker meatball name stuck in my head and I knew these perfectly fit the bill.
It wasn't until after I tested the recipe multiple times, photographed it, and started posting that I realized firecracker meatballs are actually a very specific thing. And while, yes, they are sweet and spicy meatballs; they're also typically made in a mayo and sriracha based sauce.
So, I quickly changed the name of this dish to spicy and sweet meatballs. We have to lead with "spicy" since it's the spice of these meatballs that really shines... But there's also a nice sweet hit of honey that takes the edge off the heat.
This is a fantastic weeknight dinner as it's super easy to make and can be served with so many different sides. It's easy to control the heat, so your whole family will enjoy it.
The meatballs also make a great party appetizer!
❤️ Why this recipe works
Perfect level of sweet and spice: The sauce in these meatballs consists of buffalo sauce, sriracha, brown sugar, and honey... A combo that provides the perfect level of heat and delicious layer of sweet.
Super tender meatballs: By making the meatballs with a combination of beef and pork (though you can certainly just use one or the other if you prefer), they're incredibly rich and tender.
So many side options: I especially recommend serving these spicy and sweet meatballs over coconut rice, but there are so many options for what you can serve them with.
Easy weeknight dinner: These meatballs are easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner. You can even prep them ahead of time, so when dinnertime comes, you just pop them in the oven!
Fun party appetizer: They also make a great option to serve at a party. You can make them smaller if you want and serve them with cocktail picks for easy eating.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need for my spicy and sweet meatballs (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Ground beef
- Ground pork: feel free to use all ground beef or all ground pork if you prefer
- Large egg
- Sliced scallions
- Grated fresh ginger
- Grated garlic
- Soy sauce
- Salt & pepper
- Buffalo sauce: I like Frank's Red Hot best
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Rice vinegar: can substitute with apple cider vinegar if preferred
- Sriracha
- Red pepper flakes
And if you want to make the accompanying coconut rice (highly recommended!), here's what you need:
- Jasmine rice: rinsed
- Full-fat unsweetened coconut milk: the kind in the can
- Water
- Salt
- Olive oil or butter
🧆 Recipe tips
- You can use one or the other, but I recommend using the ground beef and pork mixture. The pork adds moisture and richness, while the beef gives the meatballs structure. If you use all one type, stick with something around 80-85% lean.
- Take care not to over-mix your meatball mixture to prevent them from being tough rather than tender. Mix until everything is just combined.
- Try to form uniform-sized balls so that they all cook evenly. Sometimes using a cookie scoop helps.
- I recommend baking the meatballs on a rack set over a parchment paper or foil-lined cookie sheet. This allows the heat to circulate around the meatballs and lets the fat drip off them. This also means you don't need to flip the meatballs while they're baking.
- Golf ball-sized meatballs should take about 15-18 minutes to bake, but use a thermometer to determine when they're ready. They should register at about 160 degrees internally.
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- Cook sauce until it's just thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon. You don't want it to be runny, but if you thicken it too much, it can get too sticky.
- If you like a spicier sauce, add more sriracha. Or you can leave the sriracha out completely if you're making these for your family and want to keep them milder. You can also use different heat levels of buffalo sauce depending on what your family likes.
- Toss finished meatballs in a large bowl with the sauce to evenly coat before serving.
- Rinsing your rice before cooking it will help remove excess starch, which will help the coconut rice stay fluffy instead of gummy.
- Full-fat coconut milk is best for this rice. And make sure you use the kind in the can and not the carton. If you really prefer low-fat coconut milk, you can use it, but your rice won't be as rich or flavorful.
- I recommend keeping the lid on the saucepan for 10 minutes after the rice is done cooking as the trapped steam will gently finish cooking the rice and make it more tender.
- Serve spicy and sweet meatballs over the coconut rice and sprinkle on scallions and additional red pepper flakes, if desired.
And dig into these deliciously flavorful meatballs! I think these have the perfect level of spice... It's a nice little kick that is instantly subdued by the sweetness of the honey.
And they're so incredibly tender, too.
🍚 What to serve with
In addition to serving these meatballs over coconut rice, here are some other serving ideas:
- Broccolini
- Roasted Broccoli
- Asian slaw
- Blistered green beans
- Mango and pineapple salsa
- Kale salad
- Pickled cucumbers
- Caramelized mushrooms
- Naan
Feel free to put your own twist on these meatballs by making them with the protein of your choice. You can even use ground turkey or chicken or a meatless ground meat.
You can change the flavor of the sauce by swapping the buffalo sauce out with soy sauce, gochujang, or even maple syrup and chili powder.
And if you're looking for an actual firecracker meatball recipe, I recommend making a sauce with sriracha mayo, soy sauce, honey or brown sugar, and rice vinegar.
🧆 More meatball recipes
I love making meatballs for dinner and for party appetizers because there are endless ways to make them! Here are some of my favorite meatballs recipes:
You can serve them in so many ways or just plate them pretty for a party.
These meatballs have entered the regular meal rotation at my house and I hope they will at yours, too!
📖 Recipe
Spicy and Sweet Meatballs
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Ingredients
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup panko
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoon sliced scallion (about 2 scallions), plus more for serving
- 1 ½ teaspoon grated ginger (from about a 1" piece)
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic (from about 2 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Spicy and Sweet Sauce
- ½ cup buffalo sauce (I like Frank's Red Hot)
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar (can substitute with apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon srircha
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes plus more for serving
Coconut Rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice rinsed
- 1 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk (the kind in the can)
- ¾ cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray or brush a baking rack with cooking oil. Set it over a parchment paper or foil-covered baking sheet.
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and use your clean hands to mix together until just combined.
- Form golf ball-sized balls with the mixture- you should get about 20-24 meatballs. Place on prepared baking rack.
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until cooked through (they should register about 160 degrees on a thermometer).
- While the meatballs are baking, add all the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together.
- Bring to a simmer for about 3-4 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Put cooked meatballs in a bowl and pour sauce over the top. Toss together to coat meatballs.
- Serve meatballs over coconut rice with the vegetable sides of your choice. Top with additional sliced scallions and red pepper flakes, if desired.
Coconut Rice
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine rinsed rice, coconut milk, water, salt, and oil or butter.
- Bring mixture to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover saucepan, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove saucepan from heat, keep covered, and let sit for 10 minutes to finish steaming.
- Gently fluff with a fork before serving.
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