Easy Air Fryer BBQ Beef Meatballs (Fresh or Frozen) is a quick recipe prepared with homemade BBQ sauce. This post includes the cook time and instructions for how long to cook and what temperature to prepare meatballs using the Nuwave, Power Air Fryer or any brand. Substitute turkey if you wish.
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This post was originally published in December 2018. It has since been updated.
FOR THE FULL LIST OF INGREDIENTS AND COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST. BEFORE YOU SCROLL, THERE’S IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG POST.
How to Cook Meatballs in an Air Fryer
- Combine onions, garlic, shredded cheese, egg, almond meal, and seasonings in large bowl.
- Use clean hands and combine the ingredients and form one large ball.
- Use a spoon to form about 10 smaller meatballs.
- Place the meatballs in the air fryer. Air Fry.
- Remove the meatballs from the air fryer and drizzle them in BBQ sauce.
How Long to Cook the Meatballs
I let my meatballs cook for about 13-15 minutes. The key is to use a [easyazon_link identifier=”B01IHHLB3W” locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”staysnatched-20″ cart=”n”]Meat Thermometer [/easyazon_link]. The meatballs are ready when the internal temperature reachs 165 degrees F. Check out this post for a great Meat Temperature Guide.
Air Fryer Temperature
Load the meatballs into the air fryer and cook on 360 degrees.
Frozen Meatballs
Frozen meatballs will need 15-16 minutes of cook time. Always use a meat thermometer to test doneness.
Can You Substitute Breadcrumbs in This Recipe?
Yes, if you prefer to use breadcrumbs go for it. Substitute for the amount of almond flour used in the recipe.
Can You Make Meatballs Without Breadcrumbs?
Yes! I used [easyazon_link identifier=”B0082GV1Z2″ locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”staysnatched-20″ cart=”n”]Almond Meal [/easyazon_link] in this recipe to ditch the carbs in breadcrumbs.
What’s the Difference Between Almond Flour and Almond Meal?
Almond flour is made from blanched almonds and typically have the skins removed and is ground more finely than almond meal. It’s commonly used in baked goods and bread recipes.
Almond meal typically still contains the skins and is more coarse. Almond meal works better for recipes that require breading. You can use almond flour in this recipe, but the results will differ. You can read more about The Differences Between Almond Flour and Almond Meal here.
How Many Calories Are in 2 Homemade Meatballs?
2 meatballs have 336 calories
You may also enjoy my Air Fryer Marinated Steak and Air Fryer Cheeseburgers.
Popular Air Fryer Recipes
Air Fryer French Fries
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets
Air Fryer Fried Pickles
Air Fryer Ribs
Air Fryer Hot Dogs
Air Fryer Meatloaf
Looking for more keto recipes? Check out my listing of The Best Air Fryer Keto Dinner Recipes.
Super Easy Air Fryer BBQ Beef Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chuck beef You can also use standard ground beef
- ½ cup almond meal You can substitute for breadcrumbs if you wish.
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon McCormick’s Grill Mates Steak Seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup sugar-free BBQ Sauce
Instructions
Homemade Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce
- Get the recipe for Homemade Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce here.
Meatballs
- Add the ground chuck beef, almond meal, onions, garlic, cheddar, egg, worcestershire sauce, and seasonings to a large bowl.
- Using clean hands, combine the ingredients and form one large ball.
- Use a spoon and form 10 smaller meatballs. You can sit them on parchment paper to avoid contamination.
- Load the meatballs into the air fryer. It’s ok to stack them. I chose to cook them in batches instead. Optional: Line the air fryer with air fryer liners to prevent sticking. You can also spray the air fryer basket with cooking oil.
- Cook the meatballs for 8 minutes on 365 degrees.
- Open the air fryer and flip the meatballs.
- Cook for an additional 5-8 minutes until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Remove the meatballs from the air fryer and drizzle in BBQ sauce.
Erin Lewis
Tuesday 29th of December 2020
SO GOOD. My fiancé RAVED about these! They were so easy and so delicious! I cooked some in a pan on the stovetop as well (we were impatient because we also used the air fryer for Brandi’s tater tots with this) and they turned out awesome, so if anyone does not have an air fryer and wants to pan fry, they still worked that way! Would be great for holidays, parties, or just enjoying for a weeknight meal. Recommend to pair with the homemade air fryer tater tots too!
staysnatched
Tuesday 29th of December 2020
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Nikki
Monday 2nd of November 2020
First off, these are so easy to make. They take no time at all. Second, they taste great, the seasoning is on point! I used these to make spaghetti and meatballs for my kids, and I had them plain with sugar free BBQ sauce. Either way they were delicious! Will be making them more!
staysnatched
Tuesday 3rd of November 2020
Wonderful! I'm glad you enjoyed them!
Yoshiko
Tuesday 28th of July 2020
Omg! These were so good and had such good flavor! It was hard to just eat 2 ?! The recipe was very easy and delicious paired with mashed cauliflower!
staysnatched
Tuesday 28th of July 2020
I love that pairing! Glad you enjoyed them!
ARD
Wednesday 3rd of June 2020
I made these tonight for dinner and they were delicious. They were kid approved which is always a bonus. They are super easy to throw together with simple ingredients. I only needed to cook mine for 12 minutes in the air fryer. You should definitely give these a try. We paired our meatballs with cauliflower rice and roasted veggies.
staysnatched
Thursday 4th of June 2020
So easy to make. Glad you enjoyed them!
Elizabeth Gregory
Friday 4th of October 2019
Just wanted to point out there is NO link for the homemade BBQ sauce. Can you correct this? I would like to make this recipe.
staysnatched
Saturday 5th of October 2019
Thanks for catching! Here is the link https://www.staysnatched.com/keto-bbq-sauce/