Juicy and insanely flavorful, these air fryer pork meatballs are a hit! Serve them as an appetizer, snack, party-food, or add a side dish and have a full meal with them in under half an hour.
I just discovered another favorite recipe to make in my beloved air fryer – pork meatballs. With the COVID-19 quarantine in full effect, I am exploring new dishes and flavors with just the ingredients I have on hand. For this recipe, all I used was a pound of defrosted ground pork shoulder, a small onion, and a few spices I had in my pantry. I did not expect much from these pork meatballs. It was a quick lunch idea, but they disappeared in an instant, and the family members begged for more. So I quickly whipped up another batch and took some pictures. I must share the recipe for these tasty morsels on Craving Tasty!
So, what’s in these bomb diggity meatballs? Other than the ground pork and sauteed chopped onion, I threw in some garlic powder, onion powder, allspice, mustard powder and sage. I wanted to include ground caraway seeds for a touch of licorice flavor that they add, but, sadly, I was all out. Instead, I added a mix of smoked sweet and hot Spanish paprika. Oh my! What a combination of flavors! Smoked paprika gave the meatballs a huge flavor boost. Prepare to salivate while your meatballs are cooking as the smell is overwhelmingly good.
Cooking pork meatballs
As my air fryer jalapeno poppers, I cooked the pork meatballs at 375F, which I find works best for any type of ground meat. It took the meatballs to thoroughly cook through and reach 165F internal temperature about 15 minutes. As usual, I suggest you start checking for doneness earlier as different air fryers may cook differently.
This recipe makes 12 meatballs that fit nicely in my Chefman 6.8 Quart Air Fryer. If you have a smaller, 3.5 Quart air fryer, you will need to cook in two batches.
When the meatballs are done, serve them immediately. I think they taste best hot fresh from the cooker, exploding with flavors and juices.
Air Fryer Pork Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork pork butt recommended
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika or regular sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika pr regular hot paprika
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt plus more if needed
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp sage
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a small pan. Add the chopped onion and sate until lightly browned.
- In a medium bowl, mix the ground pork with the sauteed onion and the rest of the ingredients.
- Divide the mix into 12 roughly equal portions and shape into balls.
- Transfer the meatballs to the air fryer's cooking rack, spacing out evenly.
- Cook at 375F for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165F. When making these the first time around, start checking for doneness earlier just in case, around the 12 minute mark.
- Remove the meatballs from the air fryer and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Charles
tried this awesome recipe! Works perfectly! Didn’t have smoked paprika so used regular and it worked just fine.
James
New to the whole air frying thing and just trying out new recipes. I have to say, these meatballs are crazy good and very easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
victor
You are very welcome. Happy cooking!