Just 3 ingredients are all you need for these instant pot BBQ chicken meatballs! Made with ground chicken, BBQ sauce, and coconut flour for a super easy, healthy, and delicious protein option great for dinner, an appetizer, parties, or game day. Paleo, Whole30, and gluten-free.
Last updated on October 31, 2019.
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Where my Instant Pot lovers at?!? I’ll admit I didn’t love mine at first, but I am slowly starting to use it more and more. I made this instant pot buffalo chicken last month which blew my mind so I figured let’s keep going. And here we are with some BBQ chicken meatballs!
I don’t know about you, but meatballs are one of the easiest things to whip up. Simply combine the meat and some spices or seasoning, cook them, and use them however you want. Our life is crazy busy right now with travel and I need all the easy meals I can get!
These Whole30 chicken meatballs make an easy protein for dinner or meal prep. We’ve been eating them paired with some greens, roasted veggies, and some kind of carb, but they would be awesome with zucchini or sweet potato noodles.
It’s also October and prime football season! Enter all the finger food please. You can’t go wrong with meatballs and BBQ sauce for anything football related, so why not combine the two. They make a great dish to search as an appetizer or game day party.
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Meatballs (Paleo/Whole30)
The beauty of these Whole30 chicken meatballs is all you need is 3 ingredients. Yep, that’s right. Plus some salt and pepper, but I’m not really counting that. They come together quickly and the Instant Pot does all the cooking for you!
Here is what you need:
- ground chicken
- BBQ sauce – I love Tessamae’s
- coconut flour
- salt and pepper
To make the meatballs, first combine the ground chicken, some of the BBQ sauce, coconut flour, and salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Form into equal size balls. Then cover the bottom of your Instant Pot with the rest of your BBQ sauce – about 1/2 cup.
Next add the meatballs to the Instant Pot and cook on the poultry setting on high pressure for 10 minutes. Put Instant Pot on saute mode for 5 minutes to thicken up the BBQ sauce. Once it reduces a little, toss the meatballs in the sauce!
And that is about how easy as it gets!
Additions or Substitutions for BBQ Chicken Meatballs
With this recipe only being 3 ingredients, there really isn’t much to substitute, but I’ll give you few choices to change up or add to the recipe.
To make substitutions:
- ground turkey – if you can’t find ground chicken, ground turkey will work the same. Just make it isn’t too lean as you need some fat to hold the meatballs together
- flour – I like coconut flour for this recipe as it’s super absorbent and helps hold them together. You can try another flour substitute (like almond), but you would probably need more as it doesn’t act the same way as coconut
To make additions:
- spices – add in some spices to help pump up the flavors
- veggies – you could totally add some finely chopped veggies into these. I would just cook them first before mixing with the meat
If you don’t have an Instant Pot
I know not everyone has an Instant Pot. But good news is you can just make them a few other ways as well. Simply follow the direction and form into balls.
To make on the stove:
First, add some oil to a large saute pan and let it get hot. Next add the meatballs and cook for 10-12 minutes, moving around every so often, until browned and cooked through.
To make in the oven:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes until cooked through.
To make in a slow cooker:
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Since you won’t be cooking them in a sauce, I would suggest making your own sauce. The sauce from the Instant Pot is thinner than your typical store bought BBQ sauce so I would take your BBQ sauce and heat it up with a little bit of broth on the stove to thin it out some. That way it can easily coat the meatballs when they are done.
What to serve with Whole30 Chicken Meatballs
The options are endless on what to serve with these! And the beauty is the Instant Pot does all the cooking so it frees you up to make a few side dishes! Here are some things that would go great with BBQ chicken meatballs:
- cauliflower rice – always a good go to. Cheesy bacon or avocado cauliflower rice would be great options
- sesame garlic green beens
- stuffed in a sweet potato – when in doubt, stuff in a sweet potato!
- chipotle Mexican coleslaw
- on top of a salad – bacon, avocado, tomatoes, and cucumbers would be delicious with them. And maybe even some ranch dressing too!
- with any kind of veggie and a side of crispy roasted potatoes
- with zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, or spaghetti squash
More Whole30 Meatballs
Slow Cooker Chicken Zucchini Meatballs
Turkey, Kale, & Apple Meatballs with Apple Tahini Sauce
Spinach & Artichoke Meatballs with Lemon Garlic Sauce
Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Meatballs
ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken (I used 93/7)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, divided
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- salt and pepper, to taste
instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, add chicken, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, coconut flour, and salt and pepper. Mix together until well combined. Using a tablespoon as a scoop, take out a heaping scoop roll into balls. Should make about 30.
- Take the remaing 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and spread it out on the bottom of your Instant Pot. Add meatballs, spreading out evenly. You will probably need to to layer them on top of each other. Close lid, make sure vent is set to sealed, and set to poultry mode on high pressure for 10 minutes. Manually or naturally release pressure when done.
- Set Instant Pot to sauté mode and sauté for 5 minutes until sauce thickens and coats the meatballs. Toss meatballs in sauce and serve as you like. Enjoy!
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It’s a great recipe but it just doesn’t work for the instant pot that I have. 🙁 I don’t have the poultry setting and the high pressure doesn’t build for me.
Sorry to hear that, Deni! I wish all Instant Pots had the same settings.
I thought that this recipe would be great simple and yummy… I want to add that not all pressure cookers have a poultry icon. So I used high pressure for 10. Stacking the meatballs wasn’t a great idea, as the chicken all ended up blended together… after waiting the 10min.. thw meatballs weren’t cooked all the way and the bottom of the pot was burning the BBQ sauce… I pressure cooked it again for another 5min still didn’t cook all the way. I even scooped what I could from the bottom so the meatballs wouldn’t fall apart… still burnt the bottom. And the meatballs didn’t cook all the way.. I ended up having to transfer everything that was intact to my airfryer pan to bake for 20min.. also the meatballs that fell apart was about 50% of the entire recipe.
I will try with beef next time since the ground chicken is very sticky and mushy to hold together as a meatball. And I will try to oil the bottom of the pot first before hand or put a little brother so it doesn’t burn…
I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you, J. The coconut flour will help bind them together, but the fat percentage of the meat you are using will also make an impact. They will stick together a little, but just where they are touching. If you are getting the burn notice, I would add some broth to the bottom of your Instant Pot and mix it with the BBQ sauce. A 1/2 cup should work. I hope that helps!
If I wanted to freeze these, would I freeze them raw or cooked? Thank you!
You can do either! If you freeze them raw, I believe you should be able to cook them right from frozen too. I haven’t tried it, but we have cooked frozen raw chicken breasts in the IP and it works great. Hope that helps!