I found this easy and delicious recipe for crockpot meatballs while I dreamed of hosting a Kentucky Derby Party! This year is the 150th anniversary of the race, which was first held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1875.
The Derby, a relatively short horse race, is one of America's longest continuously running sporting events. It's also known as the "Run For The Roses" and "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports." It's famous for mint juleps, lots of tasty food, formal dress, and an endless parade of elaborate hats—fun stuff!
It's called the Run For The Roses because the winning horse is draped in an elaborate blanket made entirely of red roses. The race is only ten furlongs, about 1 1/4 miles, so a racehorse can run it in about two minutes. Secretariat still holds the record he set in 1973 at 1:59.4 minutes. But the parties? They can go on for hours!
Ah, but I digress! You should have a Kentucky Derby party, even if it's just you and your kids or you and your husband of almost 54 years, like us. These yummy meatballs are a great start!
It's fun to make an event of something like the Kentucky Derby, even if you never leave home. If you've got kids, hosting a little family party like this will create warm memories and could even become an annual tradition! I can picture fancy hats and stick horses in the yard! 💖
These kid-friendly meatballs are easy and fast because you start with frozen meatballs. They require just a few minutes of hands-on time and can be cooked in the crockpot for two hours on high or four hours on low while you get everything else ready!
You can even make the sauce ahead and stick the crockpot in the fridge until you add the frozen meatballs! If you want to make your own meatballs, you go, girl; my hat's off to you! I ran into a simple-looking recipe I'm dying to try, and when I figure it out, you can be sure I'll share it right here! I promise!
Combining your favorite barbecue sauce (ours is Sweet Baby Ray's) with apricot preserves, chili sauce, bourbon, Worcestershire sauce (what would I do without it?), and a little of this and a little of that to make the amazing sauce.
Don't worry; all the alcohol in the bourbon cooks out, leaving the subtle flavor of bourbon in the tangy, sweet sauce.
I had homemade apricot preserves on the shelf, but I'm sure you could play around with orange marmalade, peach jam, or pineapple jam and make yummy, craveable crockpot meatballs!
Combine all the sauce ingredients in the crockpot and whisk everything together thoroughly. Then open a bag of your favorite frozen meatballs, either traditional or Italian-style, and dump them into the sauce.
Stir the meatballs and sauce together well to coat them in the tasty mixture. Then cover and cook! I suggest stirring them a few times as they cook so the sauce coats every tasty meatball evenly. I used a rubber spatula so I could really get in there and stir things well.
I always have to garnish things, even if it's just for Papa and me. I didn't have green onions, which I think would have been awesome, so I settled for some parsley. I call it "green magic" because it makes everything taste better! (or at least it seems to! 😉)
You can serve these awesome little meatballs as an appetizer with fancy, frilly party toothpicks, pile them on a plate with noodles or rice, or tuck them in a hoagie bun for a delicious sandwich!
A quick and easy meatball recipe you make in a slow cooker. Serve the tasty meatballs as an appetizer, an entree, or in a sandwich.
* You can also use peach jam, pineapple jam, or orange marmalade, but each will create a unique flavor profile.
Frozen meatballs are a huge time saver and you can use them in so many tasty ways! We love this recipe, too! Crock Pot Cranberry Meatballs! You might also enjoy my tasty Benedictine Spread, and for adults attending your Derby party, my Festive Frozen Cranberry Bourbon Slush.
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