Honey Garlic slow-cooker meatballs are easy and versatile with options for beef, chicken, or plant-based varieties of meatballs. Great as a main dish or appetizer!

For the easiest party appetizer, Honey Garlic Glazed Meatballs are the perfect choice! Serve them with toothpicks on a platter for everyone to enjoy.
They’re also great for an easy takeout-style meal—just add rice, veggies like broccoli, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds for a quick weeknight dinner.
For more meatball recipes, try my Grape Jelly Meatballs or Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs—both are crowd-pleasers!
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Honey Garlic Meatballs Ingredients
- Meatballs: Can use any kind of meatballs frozen or homemade. Cooking times will vary.
- Ketchup: Any brand of basic ketchup will work for this recipe.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar works best but you can use dark brown sugar if that is all you have on hand. The flavor will be slightly different.
- Honey: Any kind of honey will do; local, raw, etc.
- Soy sauce: You can use regular or reduced sodium soy sauce.
- Minced garlic: Either fresh minced garlic or minced garlic in oil will work.
How to Make Honey Garlic Meatballs
- Add the meatballs to a large slow cooker.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, and minced garlic.
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs and stir to coat evenly.
- Cover and cook on low for 3–4 hours or on high for 2 hours, until heated through.
- Serve with toothpicks for an appetizer or over a bed of rice for a meal.
Helpful Tips and Variations
- If serving as an appetizer, these cute toothpicks are fun to serve them with.
- You can use frozen or homemade meatballs. Just note that homemade meatballs will take longer to cook.
- Make them spicy by adding some red pepper flakes.
- If sauce is too thin, thicken it by mixing 2 tablespoons of cold water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Add a little bit at a time and mix in till thickens.
- If you’re serving a crowd, double or triple the recipe.
- Make it on the stovetop by combining meatballs and sauce in a pot, cover, and heat over medium, stirring often.
Storing Leftovers
Place remaining leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat to desired temperature in microwave.
Recipe
Honey Garlic Meatballs
Ingredients
- 28-32 ounce bag homestyle fully-cooked frozen meatballs
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
Instructions
- Add the meatballs to a large slow cooker.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, and minced garlic.
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs and stir to coat evenly.
- Cover and cook on low for 3–4 hours or on high for 2 hours, until heated through.
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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