Barbecue Meatballs

Memorial Day. Ribs for the family. The prayer for Daddy. The gathering that honors service and sacrifice and the men who came home different and the ones who didn't come home at all. I smoked two racks of spare ribs, dry-rubbed, five hours, and served them in the backyard with baked beans and coleslaw and cornbread, the standard Memorial Day spread that doesn't change because some things shouldn't change.

Raymond couldn't come. Ruth is worse — end-stage renal disease, dialysis three times a week, and Raymond sounds smaller on the phone every time I call, as if the caregiving is compressing him, reducing him, taking the big brother who held me down in the yard at age seven and making him into a man who can't leave Jackson because his wife can't leave the dialysis chair. I ache for him. I ache the way Johnson men ache: silently, deeply, with the understanding that aching doesn't help and the aching happens anyway.

Before we ate, I stood and said my words: "To Walter Johnson Sr., Korean War veteran, Firestone worker, husband, father. You were a good man who had a hard life. We eat in your memory." Amen. I sat down and ate my ribs and watched DeAndre eat his ribs and thought about the chain: Daddy to me, me to Walter Jr., Walter Jr. to DeAndre. Four generations of Johnson men who carry things they don't talk about and eat ribs on Memorial Day and hope that the carrying and the eating are enough. They are. They have to be.

The ribs were the centerpiece, but the gathering was the point — and in our family, a backyard spread on Memorial Day means more food than any one dish can carry. These Barbecue Meatballs have earned a place on that table because they hold the same spirit the ribs do: smoky, slow, sweet with a little heat, the kind of thing you pass around without ceremony while somebody’s still saying grace. I make them for Raymond when he can come, and I make them even when he can’t, because Daddy deserves a full table either way.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 small onion, finely grated
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups your favorite barbecue sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Preheat. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly grease it.
Mix the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, beaten egg, grated onion, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix gently with your hands just until combined — don’t overwork it or the meatballs will be tough.
Form and bake. Roll mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls (about 32–36 meatballs) and arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through.
Make the barbecue sauce. While the meatballs bake, whisk together the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for 5 minutes.
Combine and finish. Add the baked meatballs to the saucepan and stir gently to coat. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 25–30 minutes, until the sauce thickens and clings to each meatball.
Serve. Transfer to a serving dish or keep warm in a slow cooker set to low. Serve alongside toothpicks for a cookout spread, or over white rice for a full plate.

Nutrition (per serving)

Barbecue Meatballs — When the Table Holds More Than Food