Bacon Honey Bourbon Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 6 strips of bacon
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, washed and dried
• 16 ounces ground chicken
• 1 hot Italian sausage link, casing removed
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped*
• ½ cup breadcrumbs

Honey Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

• ½ cup water
• 1 cup barbecue sauce, I used a Carolina-style sauce
• 3 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• fresh chopped parsley, to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Meatballs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum and spray with non-stick cooking spray or grease a large skillet. Set aside.
2. Pulse together the bacon and button mushrooms until blended.
   
3. Place the mushroom and bacon mixture, ground chicken, and hot Italian sausage, salt, pepper, chili powder, and garlic, and breadcrumbs into a medium mixing bowl and mix until combined.
   
4. Scoop the meat mixture using a medium cookie scoop and place onto the baking sheet or in the skillet. Repeat until all of the meat has been used.
   
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
   

Honey Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

1. Whisk together the water, barbecue sauce, bourbon, and honey in a large skillet. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, add the cooked meatballs to the sauce, coat each meatball, and simmer over low-to-medium heat for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
   
2. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.