Mmmmmmeatballs! These homemade blackstrap barbeque meatball dog treats aren’t actually barbequed, although you could grill them or pop a meatball on the barbeque briefly to defrost while making human snacks. The mini meatball dog treat recipe is seasoned with a barbeque sauce inspired combination of blackstrap molasses and herbs to be extra doggone irresistible. Although let’s face it. My dogs would never turn down a meatball, no matter how plain or how fancy. Hehehe.
Blackstrap Barbecue Meatball Dog Treat Recipe
Homemade Meatball Dog Treats with Barbeque Inspired Seasonings
Meaty treats are doggone delicious in any dog-friendly flavour combination. But just like people, the dogs can have favourite scents and flavours, or different dietary requirements. The seasoning ingredients in the meatball recipe below are all optional, and can be adjusted up/down, omitted, or substituted to suit your preferences and your pet.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- Approximately 150-200g lean ground meat
- 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- Sprinkle of ground black pepper
- Sprinkle of ground ginger
- 2 tbsp ground flax or LSA
- 1/2 cup wholegrain oats, scotch oats, or equivalent substitute
- Wheatgerm, brown rice flour, or oat flour (optional) to adjust consistency for shaping.
When making meatballs, I often find adding adding a little wheatgerm or flour makes the mix easier to handle and shape. This is, of course, optional. How much depends on the wetness of the mix (varies with base ingredients) and the texture/absorbency of the add-in.
Making the Treats:
- Preheat your oven to 180C (or local equivalent) and gather together your baking ingredients and materials.
- Combine the egg, meat, optional seasonings, flax, and oats in a mixing bowl.
- Rest briefly (optional).
- If using an optional add-in like wheatgerm or flour for consistency/handling, knead it into the mixture to combine to the desired consistency for shaping.
- Roll into small mini meatballs and place on a lightly greased baking dish or lined baking pan.
- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (time will depend on size), until cooked through. If you like, you can broil briefly for additional browning (optional). My spotty sous-chefs always keep a close watch on the cooking status. So very helpful in the kitchen!
- Cool before serving and storage (refrigerate short term or freeze for longer storage). Cool meatballs are tasty, but pampered pooches might enjoy their treats warmed slightly for extra scent and flavour. Drool, furfriends!
Meatball Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- Meatball dog treats don’t have a separate post in our help section. They’re very similar to making meatloaf style cakes, and are grouped with our pet chef post on homemade dog cakes. You can check it out for additional information on ingredients, storage, and more.
- Treats can be made smaller for little dogs or broken up for serving. Cooking times will vary depending on your meatball size.
- We don’t intentionally give our dogs onion or garlic. We prefer to err on the side of caution, but opinion is divided about garlic and dogs. If you’re a garlic supporter, it would be a good scent and flavour match for the barbeque meatball treat recipe above.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
