Venison is one of our favorite lean, low-cost meats in our freezer! Low cost, as in sometimes free from a friend or the cost of a hunting license! (My favorite kind of low cost!) If you are ever offered by a friend some venison from their latest hunting trip. Please, do NOT turn them down! I promise I can supply you with several recipes for venison meat and your family will not be able to tell that it is venison at all! I especially love this BBQ Venison Meatballs recipe. It can be used as an appetizer or as a main dish for a meal. (You can adjust your meatball size as you wish.)
My most popular recipes on this blog still are my venison recipes. Venison Meatloaf, Venison Chili, and Venison Stew are downloaded most often. Keep coming back for more venison recipes to try, because I got more venison in the freezer!
These venison meatballs are saucy and delicious. You can finish the venison meatballs in a slow cooker if you prefer. This would be an especially good idea if you are planning on serving these as an appetizer for your next tailgate or picnic! Stick a toothpick in one of these little babies and pop them in your mouth for BBQ heaven. I love using my Cast Iron Dutch Oven
My boys love venison meatballs. I am pretty sure that the fact that the word ball is in the title of the dish and it looks like a ball is huge factor to the reasoning behind their love of meatballs. These boys just crack me up with their evaluations of dinner. They really are becoming quite the food critics. Let’s just say that I am not always amused by their direction of dinner. However, they are really good eaters. And I am very blessed with kids who are not that picky about their food. And they love venison. And yes, they do know that it is deer meat. And they do know what a deer looks like.
Venison BBQ Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground Venison
- 1 large Onion chopped
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 6-8 dashes Tabasco
- 3 tbsp Mustard
- 1/2 cup Ketchup
- 3 tbsp Chili Powder
- 2 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Seasoning Salt
- 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup Milk
- BBQ SAUCE INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup BBQ Sauce your favorite
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup Orange Marmalade
Instructions
- Measure venison, onion, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, tobasco, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, paprika, black pepper, liquid smoke, eggs, and panko into a large mixing bowl.
- Add 1/4 cup of milk to mixture and mix with large wooden spoon or by hand.
- Mixture should easily form into balls. Add more milk if needed.
- Form meat mixture into desired ball size 1-2 inch balls (If making for an appetizer, for bite-size balls)
- Place formed balls onto a greased sheet pan.
- Bake at 350˚ F for 30-40 minutes.
- Combine BBQ sauce, water, & marmalade in a large pot on medium heat.
- Gently place cooked meatballs into pot and stir to coat meatballs with sauce.
- Simmer on low with lid slighly off center for 20-30 minutes. Or in a slow cooker on low for 1-2 hours.
If you still have ground venison in your freezer… try our favorite Venison Queso Dip or the BEST Venison Chili!
Yummy BBQ Meatballs!!!
Happy Eating!
Keikilani
**This post may contain affiliate links. It is no cost to you.
Do you cook with Venison?
I haven’t had venison since I was a kid. These meatballs are a great way to introduce it to my kids.
Wow, these look delicious! The hubby is a big hunter and each year we look forward to our venison on the dinner table. We will have to add these to the meal planning because the homemade BBQ sauce sounds delicious and unique with the marmalade in it!
To this day, I’ve never had venison! You certainly make it look completely delicious.
Thank you! 🙂
I have never cooked or tasted venison to be honest. Your recipe sure does make me want to give it a try though!
I had not eaten much venison until this past winter. I found it to be really good and much better for you than cow meat. I was scratching my head, trying to come up with a new recipe for some venison. Thanks for thinking of one for me!
It really is a great meat! I hope you guys like it!
These seem like a great way to cook venison. I am not too into it, but my husband loves it. This seems like something we would both like.
I have never cooked with venison and have only tried it once or twice. Those meatballs look delicious, though!
I personally don’t eat venison but my husband and kids love it. I am sure they would enjoy this.
Living in a rural area, we always have version in our freezer. I’ve got to try this!
Yum! These sound absolutely delicious! I grew up on venison because my dad worked for a company that sold wild game to restaurants. I love it!
How much brown sugar? And what type of mustard?
1/4 cup brown sugar! I update the recipe to reflect the brown sugar. Thanks for catching it!
I use the regular classic mustard in this recipe. But feel free to use your favorite.
Do i have to use the liquid smoke?
You don’t. The liquid smoke just gives it that smokey BBQ undertone. It should be fine without it.
I think I would decrease the chili powder to 2 tbsp., but very good! Always looking for recipes using venison burger!
Tasty recipe but wonder if the chili and garlic powder are misprints and should be Teaspoons – not Tablespoons??? I only used 1 Tablespoon of chili powder and happened to be low on garlic powder so only added about 2 teaspoons. The meatballs were plenty spicy with less chili powder.