Crock Pot cranberry meatballs are the ultimate easy appetizer—sweet, tangy, and made with just five simple ingredients. Toss everything in your slow cooker and let it bubble away while you get ready for guests. Perfect for holidays, tailgates, or weeknight dinners, these saucy meatballs disappear fast every time I serve them!
They are so simple to make with just a few ingredients! All you need for this recipe is a regular-size bag of frozen meatballs, a 14-ounce can of whole berry cranberry sauce, a 12-ounce bottle of chili sauce, plus some Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar!
Nothing could be simpler! Combine the sauce ingredients in the slow cooker and stir them well to ensure all the meatballs are evenly coated. Then, depending on when you want to serve them, cook them on high for about two hours or on low for about four hours.
Stir them a time or two while they are cooking. These cranberry meatballs are quite forgiving if they need to stay in the pot longer. When they're done, the sauce will cook down and become more like a glaze. As usual, I like to garnish with some parsley for color!
Now, what do you do with these yummy meatballs? I made a batch for our daughter's family this week. They're at that stage of life when everyone is on a different schedule. Mom is a teacher, Dad works late this time of year, and their son has basketball practice after school. Sound familiar?
That evening, they enjoyed the meatballs in shifts over rice, but they would also make a perfect meatball sub on a soft hoagie bun! Yum! These tasty bits also make a wonderful appetizer for team parties or those fifth-quarter parties after the games. So delicious!
You can use the jelly-style cranberry sauce instead of the whole berry type, and if you can't find chili sauce, use your favorite barbecue sauce! Not a cranberry fan? Try peach or apricot preserves instead of the cranberry sauce, keeping the quantity the same.
A quick and easy slow cooker recipe for meatballs in a tangy sauce. You can serve them over rice or noodles, in a sandwich, or as an appetizer.
I never bought frozen meatballs until this year. And then I tasted cranberry meatballs at our grandson's wedding reception, and that changed everything! Until then, I had the crazy idea that meatballs always needed to be homemade from scratch. (If you want to use homemade, from-scratch meatballs- do it! I love that about you!
Don't get me wrong! Good homemade meatballs are a thing of beauty! But today, I think everyone should keep a bag or two of meatballs in the freezer at all times because, you know, things can get a little hectic.
Frozen meatballs are amazing little nuggets that can be used in so many ways, I can't count that high. These convenient little gems have been waiting in the frozen food aisle literally all my life, inviting me to take some home and try them. They appeared about the same time I did, in the mid-20th century, and they are an extremely popular and versatile food option!
Grab some frozen meatballs next time you're at the store! Don't be Betty-late-to-the-party! You might also enjoy my garlic-honey slow-cooker meatball recipe!
It won't be long before fresh cranberries show up in the grocery store, but until then, use canned whole cranberry sauce for my delicious Cranberry Chicken or Cranberry Pork Chops!
If you still have some whole fresh cranberries stashed in the freezer from last year (I do), now's your chance to turn them into something delicious! There are so many wonderful things you can do with them! Here are some ideas! Christmas Jam, Cranberry Jam With Peppers, Jalapeno Cranberry Dip, and Cranberry Orange Loaf!
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Love, GB (Betty Streff)
Real food. Real kitchen. Real easy.
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