Instant Pot Dr Pepper barbecue meatballs are the perfect appetizer! This is how to cook Instant Pot frozen meatballs with a sweet and tangy sauce as well as other quick snacks you can serve!
Do you love getting together with friends and/or watching the big game with tasty appetizers you can snack on all day long?? Who doesn’t right??!! Well when you have kids sometimes it is easier to let’s say homegate rather than tailgage. These Instant Pot Dr Pepper barbecue meatballs are the perfect snack!! Sponsored by FarmRich (originally published 11/17) It’s one of our favorite side dish Instant Pot recipes.
- Let’s say it’s football season and you need the best Super Bowl appetizer ever. Starting off with Instant Pot frozen meatballs and adding a fabulous sauce is where it’s at y’all.
Now let’s make it an Instant Pot appetizer on top of that so you can spend less time in the kitchen and enjoy your football party too!
Ninja Foodi Meatballs
You can make these in any brand of pot you have. Mealthy, Crockpot Express or make as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe too. They all work the same really.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have and use for all recipe creations.
Instant Pot Appetizer Meatballs
- Meatballs – frozen, we used Italian style
- Frozen mozzarella Sticks
- As an added appetizer on the table
- Toothpicks
- Football field tablecloth to jazz things up for your football party
- Ingredients to make this homemade Dr Pepper barbecue sauce + 1 can to drink!
- Or you could make air fryer frozen meatballs and just toss with spaghetti sauce for a quick one
Of course you could use prepackaged barbeque sauce but you may not realize just how easy it is to make homemade Dr Pepper barbecue sauce right at home!
Instant Pot Meatball
It’s sweet with a bit of spice to it and pairs with meatballs perfectly! There is something totally unique about Dr Pepper as it is a blend of 23 flavors and makes every sip and recipe you make with it truly unique!
- Since we are focusing on quick and easy (totally my style) we are going to use Farm Rich Italian style Meatballs and mozzarella sticks found in the frozen food section, and we’re not even bother to defrost them first!!
The ooey gooey Mozzarella sticks come out perfectly crispy in the oven after only about 8 minutes, and putting these meatballs into our pressure cooker makes this yummy appetizer even quicker to make!
Another great benefit is that the flavor is really locked in while they bubble and simmer for their 5 minute trip inside our pot. 😉
Meatballs in Instant Pot
If you’re like us your family is BUSY, so anything that makes my life easier I’m all about….that’s why Farm Rich snacks are perfect for busy weekdays and get togethers!
Ready made and just waiting for you to warm them up in the oven (or the Instant Pot in our case), it’s no wonder they’re America’s favorite snacks and appetizers brand.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker….
…..you can still make these Dr Pepper barbecue meatballs on your stovetop!
- Just add your frozen meatballs into a pot
- Whisk your sauce together and pour in it
- Stir so meatballs are covered
- Set to low/medium heat
- Allow to boil until meatballs are as tender as you’d like them
- Serve
** Here’s how you make pressure cooker frozen meatballs with just spaghetti sauce or meatballs with grape jelly and chili sauce Instant Pot style.
Of course if you’re sitting down to watch the game, and/or having people over you need more than one thing to snack on. So frozen Mozzarella sticks are a great duo. Just pop them in the oven and they are perfectly crispy on the outside and ooey gooey on the inside after only about 8 minutes!
Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs
I preheat the oven once I set the time on my pressure cooker which makes everything done around the same time. Eat as is or serve with a side of marinara sauce or ranch dressing. O h they are so good!
- Add your can of Dr Pepper or dark soda into a large bowl with all other ingredients (except your frozen meatballs) Whisk together until well combined.
- or use store bought barbecue sauce
- pasta sauce works too
- Pour your sauce into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Dump frozen meatballs on top and gently stir so all meatballs are coated with sauce.
- Set pressure cooker to manual cook on high pressure for 5 minutes cooking time or low for about 8. Times vary according to how tender you like and how large your meatballs are, them but this works for us.
- Do a quick release.
- Allow to cool so sauce thickens a bit, serve!
If you wanted to make our basic meatball recipe with ground beef, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese etc… in a bowl mix together and saute with a bit of oil first, then follow the rest of these instructions. To save leftovers wait until they are cooled and then transfer to a sealed container. Store in fridge and reheat in microwave within 3 days.
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Instant Pot Dr Pepper Barbecue Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 bag Farm Rich Meatballs
- 1 can Dr Pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 c tomato puree can use crushed tomatoes too if you prefer a bit chunkier
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 1/4 c brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp Sriracha optional
- 1 tbsp spicy mustard optional
- 1/2 c onion minced, optional
Instructions
- Add your can of Dr Pepper to a large bowl.
- Add all other ingredients into your bowl (except your frozen meatballs) and whisk together until well combined (can double recipe if you are making a large batch of meatballs).
- Pour your Dr Pepper barbecue sauce into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Pour your frozen Farm Rich meatballs on top and gently stir so all meatballs are coated with sauce.
- Set Instant Pot – pressure cooker to manual, pressure, high, for 5 minutes or low for about 8 (times vary according to how tender you like and how large your meatballs are, them but this works for us).
- Do a quick release.
- Check meatballs and make sure they are cooked thru (if very large may need to put on saute just until done but 5 min should be adequate to cook most frozen meatballs in a pressure cooker).
- Allow to cool so sauce thickens a bit, serve!** Link to 2 other sauces you can use to make other pressure cooker meatballs above this recipe card.
