Crockpot grape jelly meatballs are three ingredients: a bag of frozen meatballs, grape jelly and chili sauce. Everything goes into the slow cooker at once, with no browning or thawing. It serves ten and takes five minutes of actual work.
Use chili sauce rather than ketchup, because the tang is what stops this tasting like jam on meat. Ketchup is sweeter and thinner, so you end up with sugar on sugar. Chili sauce carries vinegar and spice that cuts straight through the jelly.
Whisk the jelly and chili sauce in a separate bowl first, even though it looks curdled and refuses to combine. Cold jelly blends with nothing, and it only goes smooth once it warms through in the cooker. Pour it over unmixed and some meatballs sit in neat jelly.
Crockpot Grape Jelly Meatballs
Course: AppetizerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalYou can load the insert the night before and refrigerate it, then add half an hour to the cook time because everything starts cold. Plan four to six meatballs a head as an appetizer, eight to ten as a dinner.
Ingredients
1 (26 to 32 oz) package frozen meatballs, cocktail size
2 (12 oz) bottles chili sauce
1 (18 oz) jar grape jelly
Directions
- Load: Put the frozen meatballs straight into the slow cooker, with no thawing.
- Whisk: Whisk the grape jelly and chili sauce together in a bowl until mostly combined.
- Pour: Pour the sauce over the meatballs and stir gently to coat them.
- Cook: Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours, or on HIGH for about 2 hours, until heated through.
- Serve: Switch to the warm setting and serve straight from the cooker with toothpicks.
Worth knowing what is actually in the sauce before you put it out for ten people.
FAQs
How sweet is this really?
Sweeter than most appetizers, at about thirty-four grams of sugar a serving, which is close to a can of cola. The jelly is doing that, since an eighteen-ounce jar is mostly sugar. Cut the jelly to twelve ounces if you want it sharper.
Low setting or high?
Low for three to four hours gives the better sauce, even though the recipe card times the two-hour high method. Longer and slower lets the jelly reduce and cling rather than sit loose around the meatballs. High works when you are short of time.
Can I use homemade meatballs?
Yes, but cook and cool them first, because raw meatballs release fat and water that thins the sauce badly. Frozen ones are already cooked, which is why this works as a dump-and-go. If you do make your own, keep them small.
What if I only have a small slow cooker?
Anything from a 26-ounce bag plus the sauce needs at least a four-quart cooker, and six quarts is more comfortable. Packed too tightly the meatballs on top never reach temperature while the bottom ones catch. Halve the recipe rather than cram it in.
What else can I put in the slow cooker for a party?
Anything that holds on the warm setting and needs no attention from you. Putting on a pot of burgundy mushrooms alongside gives the table something savory against all this sweetness. Two cookers side by side covers most of a spread.
What do people drink with these?
Something with acid, because the sauce is sweet and coats your mouth. A glass of spiced winter sangria cuts through it better than beer does, and it can be mixed hours ahead. Avoid anything else sugary on the same table.
The source recipe card gives a total time of 2 hours 5 minutes, which times the HIGH setting only, while its written method and its own step heading both point to the LOW setting at 3 to 4 hours. Nutrition is as published by the source, is automatically calculated, and should be treated as an approximation.
