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With only 3 ingredients these sweet & tangy balls make a quick and easy party appetizer. Your guests will love them!
I asked everyone on Twitter & Facebook last night what I should post today. I was torn between posting a savory or a sweet and needed some votes. Of course they ended up with the same amount of sweet votes and savory votes so luckily I have both in one dish for y’all today :)
I’m bringing a post back from the past today. These sweet & tangy balls were first on the blog last year and they definitely needed to be in the spotlight again cause first, I doubt you guys even went back that far in my archives to find them, and secondly, I doubt my pictures back then could’ve whet your appetite ;)
Whenever I throw a party, this is my NUMBER ONE go to dish, and for extremely good reason. These meatballs are like crack. They fly out of the crockpot. Everyone’s plate is always full of these and I don’t blame them. Honestly, if you make a double batch of these and have chip, guac, salsa (and some booze, duh) and nothing else; your guests would be more than satisfied. I could’ve sworn, at the rate the meatballs were being consumed at our housewarming a couple weekends ago, there could’ve been a rock-paper-scissor championship for the last couple meatballs.
One of the BEST parts of this appetizer is: it’s three ingredients, you don’t do anything except throw everything in the crockpot, stir every few hours, and serve. So easy. Who needs a complicated dish when they’re hosting?
I guarantee you that if you make these for your next party, everyone will go ape-sh!t over them. No exaggeration. These are 200% guaranteed to be a hit. My mom made these for us when were younger and we ate them over white rice for dinner. Yeah, we were healthy kids.
Man, now I’m craving some (meat)balls.
Oh, bee-tee-dubs, officially 8 months today ’til the big day…who’s counting? Certainly not me ;)
Sweet & Tangy Balls
Equipment
Ingredients
- Large pack of frozen meatballs, mine had about 64 in them
- 16 ounce (453 g) jar grape jelly
- 12 ounce (340 g) jar of chili sauce, (I used a Wegman's brand but Heinz sells them too; it's usually located near the ketchup & hot sauce)
Instructions
- In a small pot on medium high heat, combine jelly and chili sauce until they’re combined and jelly is not chunky.
- Put the entire bag of meatballs in the slow cooker insert and pour the jelly chili sauce on top, stir the meatballs around until they’re all coated.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Toss every couple hours or so to re-coat the meatballs in the sauce.
- Serve hot.
Hey! Can’t wait to try these! Just wondering if they need to be defrosted and precooked/browned before going Into the slow cooker?
Nope! They go in frozen.
Can you use thai sweet chili sauce with this? Or will it be too sweet with the grape jelly?
Might be too sweet but you could maybe cut the jelly in half?
Are the meatballs frozen when you put them in the crock? If so, I dont see how this recipe could get any easier. Super excited to try it.
Yes, they’re frozen! :) Enjoy!
Can these be made and simmered on the stove?
I received answer from another lady who posted the same question.
Yes, definitely!
I’ll be cooking these while at work… would they be ruined if I can’t get home quicker than 6 hrs? I’ll be fine for aprox…. 10 hrs
They should be okay..might be a bit softer and might fall apart a bit.
Try substituting the grape jelly with a can of cranberry sauce (not whole berry); add a tbsp of brown sugar and a splash of lemon juice. :)
* and be sure NOT to use Italian seasoned meatballs.
(Haven’t read through all the comments so not sure if this was suggested before)
I put lil smokies in too
Great recipe. We like spicy, so i diced up to jalapeños and added them. So tasty.
Really don’t need the foul mouth !
Not quite sure what you find so foul in this post…
Oh good lord, get a life.
Seriously, what a pathetic comment to leave. A simple I don’t think I’d like this or hey, this was a great recipe would suffice.
Omg! I put these in a fresh pita bread with provolone cheese!!! YUM!