These honey bourbon glazed salmon meatballs are so easy to make, you can make both the baked salmon meatballs AND the honey bourbon sauce in 30 minutes or less! It's a unique flavor-packed dinner that's perfect for your next weeknight meal.
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📋 About the Recipe
- These honey bourbon glazed salmon meatballs are a quick and easy dinner idea perfect for busy weeknights.
- Salmon meatballs are an elevated approach to your average meatballs, yet still great for a family, as they're a hit with both kids and adults alike!
- It's a healthy way to eat salmon, as the meatballs are baked in the oven then coated with a flavorful homemade honey bourbon glaze.
- It's a delicious dinner that can easily be turned into a complete meal with the addition of fresh vegetables and a simple grain.
- Pair these salmon meatballs with an easy-to-make fig old fashioned cocktail!
- For a more traditional recipe, try this slow roasted pistachio crusted salmon!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Salmon - salmon is a very versatile fish. It is flakey, fatty, and not overly fishy tasting. It pairs well with lots of different flavors, especially the dill, bourbon, and brown sugar.
- Breadcrumbs, Egg - these are the binders. They help in preventing the salmon meatballs from falling apart.
- Onion powder, Dill, Ginger, Salt, Pepper - each of these seasonings adds flavor to the salmon. You can adjust them according to your own taste.
- Bourbon - bourbon is a sweeter alcohol with an oaky, vanilla-caramel flavor. The alcohol gets cooked out as it creates a rich, sticky sauce.
- Honey, Brown sugar - the honey and brown sugar slightly sweeten the sauce without making this dish too sweet.
- Rice vinegar - vinegar balances out the sweetness by providing acidity to the sauce.
- Soy sauce - soy sauce provides an earthy, salty flavor. Use low sodium soy sauce so you can remain in control of the saltiness.
- Corn starch, Water - corn starch and water mix together to create a slurry. This helps to thicken the sauce, creating more of a glaze consistency.
📓 Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan by covering it with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick spray.
2. Roughly cut the salmon into 1 to 2 inch cubes.
3. In a food processor, pulse the ginger until it is finely minced.
4. Add the cubed salmon and pulse until it is the consistency of ground meat.
5. Scoop the ground salmon into a mixing bowl. Combine with the breadcrumbs, egg, onion powder, dill, salt, and pepper.
6. Roll the ground salmon mixture into about 18 to 20 meatballs. Place them on the prepared sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
7. While the meatballs bake, combine the sauce ingredients, besides the water and corn starch, in a large skillet or pot. To reduce the liquid in half, simmer over medium high heat for about 7 minutes.
8. While the sauce is simmering, combine the water and corn starch in a small bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
9. After the 7 minutes are up, pour the corn starch mixture into the sauce. Allow to simmer, whisking constantly for about 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce becomes thick enough to coat the meatballs (about the consistency of maple syrup).
10. Remove the meatballs from the oven and place them in the thickened sauce. Carefully stir to coat them fully in sauce.
11. Serve meatballs warm with fresh vegetables, rice, or beans.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
Instead of salmon: you can use ground turkey or ground chicken.
Instead of breadcrumbs: you can use crushed plain crackers or unsweetened cereal.
Instead of honey: you can use real maple syrup.
Instead of rice vinegar: you can use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar.
❄️ How to Store
To store: allow honey bourbon glazed salmon meatballs to cool completely before scooping them, along with any extra sauce, into an airtight container. Store them in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
To freeze: allow meatballs to cool completely before placing them, and any extra sauce, in an airtight freezer-safe container. Freeze up to 6 months.
To reheat: place frozen meatballs in the refrigerator and allow them to defrost overnight. To reheat, add them, along with the sauce, to a skillet over medium heat. Heat a few minutes until warmed through in the middle.
🔍 FAQs
These meatballs pair well with lots of different side dishes. Pair them with steamed or roasted vegetables, baked beans, mashed potatoes, white or brown rice, or garlic bread.
The meatballs are most likely dried out because they're over-baked. To prevent over-baking, make sure your oven is set to 350 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes, or until they're just cooked through in the middle.
Also, make sure you've measured out the other ingredients correctly so you have the right fat to egg to breadcrumbs ratios.
I have not tried this recipe with canned salmon, so I highly recommend using fresh salmon instead.
💭 One More Tip
Don't over-bake the salmon meatballs. Over-baking will result in dried out, crumbly meatballs.
Instead, bake them until they're just cooked through in the middle, about 15 minutes. You can also use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature reaches, but doesn't exceed, 145 degrees F.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Easy Honey Bourbon Glazed Salmon Meatballs
Equipment
- large skillet or pot
Ingredients
- 1 inch fresh ginger peeled
- 1 pound skinless salmon
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup bourbon
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅔ cup water
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan by covering it with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Roughly cut the salmon into 1 to 2 inch cubes.
- In a food processor, pulse the ginger until it is finely minced.
- Add the cubed salmon and pulse until it is the consistency of ground meat.
- Scoop the ground salmon into a mixing bowl. Combine with the breadcrumbs, egg, onion powder, dill, salt, and pepper.
- Roll the ground salmon mixture into about 18 to 20 meatballs. Place them on the prepared sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs bake, combine the sauce ingredients, besides the water and cornstarch, in a large skillet or pot. To reduce the liquid in half, simmer over medium high heat for about 7 minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
- After the 7 minutes are up, pour the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Allow to simmer, whisking constantly for about 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce becomes thick enough to coat the meatballs (about the consistency of maple syrup).
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and place them in the thickened sauce. Carefully stir to coat them fully in sauce.
- Serve meatballs warm with fresh vegetables, rice, or beans.
Storage
- To store: allow meatballs to cool completely before scooping them, along with any extra sauce, into an airtight container. Store them in the refrigerator up to 4 days.To freeze: allow meatballs to cool completely before placing them, and any extra sauce, in an airtight freezer-safe container. Freeze up to 6 months.To reheat: place frozen meatballs in the refrigerator and allow them to defrost overnight. To reheat, add them, along with the sauce, to a skillet over medium heat. Heat a few minutes until warmed through in the middle.
Notes
- To prevent the meatballs from drying out, do not over-bake them.
- You can also make this recipe with ground chicken or ground turkey instead of salmon. Using canned salmon is not recommended.
Nutrition
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Beth says
Made this tonight for my family. Quick and easy, with standard ingredients I already had in the house. This was DELICIOUS!!! I used ground turkey instead of salmon. I just noticed this recipe had lots of options posted, definitely going to make it again but I’ll change it up because the substitutions sound delicious too. 😋
Alana Lieberman says
Sounds great! I'm happy the ground turkey was a good substitute for you.
Anna says
Such an easy recipe to throw together after work! Loved it.
Alana Lieberman says
Happy to hear this was a success! Thank you!