These smoked venison meatballs are the perfect appetizer or protein for a main dish meal. The sweet & spicy glaze is heavenly with the kiss of smoke.
Meatballs are something I like to have on hand always. They’re great for rounding out a throw together dinner, and these smoked venison meatballs even make a perfect party appetizer. Talk about a dish that really works for you!
Making a great meatball with venison isn’t hard, it just takes a few ingredients to really help let the flavors shine. My best ever venison meatballs (a traditional Italian style meatball) are so popular and for good reason. They result in tender, juicy, and flavorful meatballs. And they’re easy to make.
When I make these smoked venison meatballs with sweet and spicy glaze, I follow that original recipe pretty closely, but I add some sriracha and lime for flavor and leave out the Italian seasoning and vinegar.
I like almond meal or almond flour in my meatballs because I usually don’t have breadcrumbs on hand and some of my family members prefer gluten free recipes. But, you can totally sub breadcrumbs for the almond meal/flour in here and it’s delicious.
How do you smoke meatballs?
Smoking meatballs is actually really easy to do, and it’s great to do when you’ve got something on the smoker for a long smoke and you want to whip something up for an appetizer or snack to tide you over.
I use a wood pellet grill to smoke at my house, I have a Traeger Pro 575 and I’m obsessed. I love it because I can control the temperature. So, I actually smoke, bake, and grill on it. But, any smoker will do for this recipe.
I put the meatballs on a foil lined baking sheet and but the baking sheet directly on the smoker. No need to worry about smoked venison meatballs falling through the smoker grates.
I smoke the meatballs at 225F for about 25-30 minutes. If you’re using a Traeger and you’re not smoking anything else, you can bump the heat up to 350F and finish cooking them for about 15-20 minutes, or if you’re smoking something else, OR if you’re using a smoker where you can’t control the temperature, just finish them in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes. The initial smoke is plenty of time to get that kiss of smoke flavor.
Smoked venison meatballs are even better with sweet & spicy glaze
I think I could eat this sweet & spicy glaze on just about anything. Your heat source is a generous squirt of sriracha, so it’s not overpoweringly hot. You mix the sriracha with some raspberry preserves (get a good quality brand where you can see the seeds), lime and salt. It’s so fast and all you have to do is toss the cooked meatballs in the glaze!
Love venison recipes? Go check out my cookbook Venison Every Day! It’s available on Amazon and wherever books are sold!
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Smoked Venison Meatballs
These smoked venison meatballs are the perfect appetizer or protein for a main dish meal. The sweet & spicy glaze is heavenly with the kiss of smoke.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Main/Appetizer
- Method: Smoker/Pellet Grill
- Cuisine: Asian Fusion/American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb. ground venison
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 Tbsp. almond meal/flour (or breadcrumbs)
- 2 Tbsp. sriracha
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
For the sweet & spicy glaze:
- 2 Tbsp. raspberry preserves
- 1 Tbsp. sriracha
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- optional – sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker or pellet grill to 225F.
- Heat a small pan over medium heat on the stove and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and saute until lightly browned and soft, about 6-8 minutes.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sauteed onions and garlic, venison, egg, almond meal/flour, sriracha, lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together well with your hands or a fork so that the flavors are evenly distributed.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and scoop tablespoon-sized balls of meatball mixture onto the sheet and shape them into balls. I like to use a small cookie scoop.
- Place the baking sheet directly on your smoker and smoke for 30 minutes at 225F.
- Bump the heat to 350F* and finish cooking for about 15-20 minutes so that the meatballs are fully cooked.
- When the meatballs are cooked, whisk together the sweet & spicy glaze. Add the meatballs to a bowl and drizzle the glaze all over and toss them to coat. Top with sesame seeds if desired Serve as a protein for a meal or as an appetizer.
Notes
- If you’re using a smoker where you can’t control the temperature, just finish the meatballs in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes. The initial smoke is plenty of time to get that kiss of smoke flavor. Or, if you’re doing a long smoke on something and you’re just quickly popping these meatballs in the smoker for an appetizer to hold you over, remove them after the 25 minutes is up and finish them in the oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 3-4 meatballs
- Calories: 207
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 556 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 21 g
- Cholesterol: 105 mg
Keywords: venison, smoker, smoked food, meatball
These sound delicious! We love all things venison! I don’t have a smoker and would like to just bake them in the oven. What temperature and how long would you suggest?
You can bake at 400F for about 25-30 minutes or so!
These are AMAZING! I do not have a smoker so instead I cooked them in the over at 350 for 35 minutes and they were perfect!! The sauce adds the perfect touch!