Get dinner done on 2 sheet pans in 30 minutes with BBQ meatballs the kids will love & an addictive fresh green goddess sauce!
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Give me all the sheet pan dinners this summer!
Because this image below? That is where I want to be! This Lake Michigan shoreline is our reward for getting through a few months of winter snow, and I’ll never take this beach for granted. We soak up every last minute of sun that we can while the kids are home from school in the summer, and dinner is going to be the fast and easy type!
BBQ meatballs and…green goddess sauce?!
You’ll just have to trust me on this one, because my goodness does the combination work! It just happened to be a night were we didn’t have extra BBQ sauce for drizzling after making the meatballs. But what I did have was some green goddess dressing leftover from salads earlier that week. My kids will literally pour that sauce on anything, so they actually are the ones that inspired this sheet pan dinner! The fresh herbs and the zingy BBQ meatballs work!
So let’s start with the veggies
If I’m going to have the oven on in the summer, we’ll be making the most of it. I love doing an easy and fast sheet pan meatball, so the veggies being done at the same time just makes sense. I just used simple sweet potatoes and broccoli here, but this can absolutely be changed up to your veggie preference. Toss the sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and get them roasting while you form the meatballs since they take longer to cook than the broccoli and meatballs.
Let’s make the BBQ Meatballs!
I’m talking super, super low fuss here in the summer, my friends. Grab your favorite BBQ sauce (or make my no cook 5 minute BBQ sauce!), and roll up these really flavorful meatballs onto a sheet tray. On this day, I didn’t have all of the ingredients to use my homemade BBQ sauce, but there are some decent store bought options (this is what I used) to use these days too, and I happened to have one in the pantry to save time.
Let’s finish roasting this BBQ meatball dinner!
Once the veggies roast for a good 15 minutes, give them a stir, add the broccoli, and pop the veggies as well as the meatballs back into the oven for another 15 minutes. If you have an air fry setting on your oven like I do (game changer!), then you can get away with less time by about 5-7 minutes.
Tell me about that green goddess drizzle sauce!
This 5 minute fresh green goddess sauce is irresistible! It’s a summer staple in our fridge, and my kids use it for everything from a sandwich sauce and salad dressing to rice bowls like this! Just pop the ingredients into a bullet blender or food processor, give it a whiz, and it’s ready!
How to serve the BBQ meatball dinner
To serve the BBQ meatball dinner, assemble bowls of the veggies with meatballs on top, a drizzle (or more!) of the Fresh Green Goddess Sauce, and chopped fresh herbs. If you have growing kids and athletes, making this a rice bowl is a smart idea to get more needed carbs in.
Don’t for get the leftovers!
Because this is truly the secret to easy weekday lunches and keeping super busy and active kiddos fueled well. There’s a reason we make 2 pounds of meatballs, and these days with 3 teenagers, sometimes I’ll make 3 pounds to ensure there is enough for the kids to take to school or have during summer for post-practice fueling.
Sheet Pan Dinner BBQ Meatballs & Fresh Green Goddess Sauce
Ingredients
For the Fresh Green Goddess Sauce:
- 1 avocado pitted
- 1/2 yogurt, Greek yogurt, or yogurt alternative
- Juice of 1 lime
- clove of garlic peeled
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 2-3 stalks of green onion
- 1/4-1/2 cup water to thin the sauce to your consistency preference
For the Sheet Pan BBQ Meatball Dinner Veggies:
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 lbs sweet potatoes 1/2 inch cube
- 1 red onion sliced into strips
- 1 large head of broccoli florets
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
For the Sheet Pan BBQ Meatballs:
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs of choice See Notes for ideas
- 1/2 cup bbq sauce of choice See Notes for ideas
- 2 lbs grassfed ground beef
Instructions
Make the Fresh Green Goddess Sauce:
- Put all of the sauce ingredients into a food processor or bullet blender, and blend to the consistency you like. You can puree all the way through until it is super smooth, or leave some bites and herb speckles.
Start the sheet pan sweet potatoes:
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. If you have an air fry setting on the oven (my favorite!) you can use that setting at 425 degrees and just cook dinner for less time!
- The sweet potatoes and onions will take longer to cook than the broccoli and meatballs. It is nice to get those into the oven, so that while they bake, you can make the meatballs to save prep time.
- Toss the sweet potatoes and onions with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper.
- Roast the sweet potatoes and onions for 15 minutes while you prepare the meatballs.
Make the BBQ meatballs:
- Gently mix all of the BBQ meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Roll up 1-2 inch meatballs, placing each meatball on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I like to use a small cookie scoop to get even meatballs.
Finish the BBQ Meatball Dinner:
- Once the sweet potatoes have roasted for 15 minutes, take them out of the oven, and stir the broccoli in with the sweet potatoes and onions.
- Return the veggie sheet tray to the oven, along with the sheet tray of meatballs. Roast everything at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. I like to place the meatballs under the broiler to get some color shortly before they are done cooking.
Serving the BBQ Meatball Dinner:
- To serve the BBQ meatball dinner, assemble bowls of the veggies with meatballs on top, a drizzle (or more!) of the Fresh Green Goddess Sauce, and chopped fresh herbs. If you have growing kids and athletes, making this a rice bowl is a smart idea to get more needed carbs in.
Notes
- I just used simple sweet potatoes and broccoli here, but this can absolutely be changed up to your veggie preference. Using regular potatoes is delicious too, and we change it up to squash in the fall and winter. You can also change the broccoli to use asparagus in the spring, zucchini in the summer, and even cabbage shreds are delicious.
More real food recipes you might like!
- Sheet Pan Mango Chicken Dinner
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