A Little Desert Apartment

I hope you like spicy food because these meatballs are on FIRE.  Whoooo.   The sauce is a mix of El Yucateco habanero sauce, honey, garlic and a few other ingredients.  It's literally a sauce made in sweet and spicy heaven.  




Before I go into the recipe, funny story about habaneros.  Over 20 years ago, my mother was shopping at the grocery store and saw these beautiful orange peppers.  She didn't realize that they were habaneros, a super hot pepper, and bought them thinking they were sweet peppers.  She came home, threw about 10 of them into a pot of chili and let's just say... it was FIRE chili.  Haha.  It's a memory of my mom that makes me smile.  My brothers and dad were in heaven with the chili.  


Okay, back to these meatballs.  The magic is the sauce.  You can make homemade meatballs (beef, chicken, pork, turkey or mix it all together) or buy premade frozen.  It doesn't matter because the Honey Garlic Habanero sauce is where it's at.   

They're also made in the slow cooker.  EASYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. 

I found El Yucateco hot sauce when I was at Walmart recently.  



I bought all three- Green, Red and Black Label because I had to try them all.  I haven't tried the red or green yet but I will... SOON.  I used the Black Label Reserve because it's a deep, smokey flavor that I thought would work perfectly as a balance with the sweetness in the recipe.  





You will need:

1/4 Cup of El Yucateco Black Label Reserve Chile Habanero hot sauce
1/4 cup of honey
3 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup peach preserves
2 tablespoons soy sauce.
Meatballs - homemade or premade (I will share my recipe for my chicken cilantro meatballs that I make ahead and freeze below)

Instructions

Mix together all the ingredients except the meatballs in a bowl.  Mix until well blended.



Place meatballs in slow cooker and pour sauce over meatballs.  Stirring to make sure they're all evenly covered with the sauce.




Cook on high for approximately two hours or until thoroughly heated.  

Serve immediately.  



They're awesome over rice. 

They also make for a GREAT appetizer.  ESPECIALLY with the BIG FOOTBALL GAME coming up soon.  They will go great with a cold beer and lots of football.  


Cilantro Chicken Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 green onions, sliced
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste.

1.  Mix all the ingredients together
2.  Roll into 1/2 inch balls.
3. Bake at 425F in preheated oven for 20 minutes or you can cook them on the stove top.  Alternatively, you can brown them in the skillet and then finish them in the slow cooker. 

Have you tried any of the El Yucateco hot sauces before? Do you like habaneros?