Cheeseburger Meatballs with Copycat "Special Sauce" Recipe

By á-25138

Yield: 24 meatballs

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

A twist on a tailgating favorite: cheeseburgers. A savory meatball recipe with cheese, pickles, ketchup and onions and a "special" dipping sauce on the side.

Ingredients

• for the meatballs:
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 2 Tbs. chopped dill pickles
• 1 Tbs. ketchup
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 egg
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• for the copycat “Special Sauce”:
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tbs. ketchup
• 2 Tbs. sweet pickle relish
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. distilled vinegar
• 3/4 tsp. onion powder
• Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

In a large bowl, mix the beef, onion soup mix, chopped pickles, ketchup, garlic powder, egg, salt and pepper together until combined. Add the breadcrumbs and cheese and mix well. At this point the mixture should hold together very well. If it doesn't, add another 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs and mix, repeating until the mixture holds together, as if you were making a meatloaf.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 cookie sheet with non-stick spray. (I use a Misto sprayer.) Roll the meatballs into approximately 1-inch balls and place, evenly spaced, onto the baking sheet.

Bake in the 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through.

While the meatballs bake, mix the ingredients for the sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cassie’s Notes:
Baking the meatballs helps to cut down on added fat of frying. I also used very lean ground beef for these as well. To cut down on fat even more, use ground turkey in place of ground beef. Note that if you use ground turkey, you will need more bread crumbs for the mixture to hold together.