These grape jelly meatballs are tossed in the slow cooker for a few hours and then make a perfect snack or appetizer for game day! Meatballs with grape jelly and chili sauce might sound a little crazy, but the sauce transforms into something amazing while it cooks!
Raise your hand if you grew up eating Grape Jelly Meatballs at every family function, church potluck, or holiday dinner!!
Yep. These are a total vintage recipe that both mom and grandma used to make and I’m for sure continuing the tradition.
The name sounds weird – Grape Jelly Meatballs. I mean…no, thank you. Sounds ick. But ooh, you just have to trust the process!
Chili sauce and grape jelly combine to make the perfect sauce…it’s a lot like barbecue sauce in that it’s sweet with a little kick to it. So good and seriously irresistible with meatballs!
You might think meatballs with grape jelly sounds weird, and your’e not wrong, but if you’ve never tried these I implore you to give them a shot.
Grape Jelly Meatballs are the perfect appetizer or snack for your next party!
We love to serve these right from the crockpot with a pile of toothpicks at parties, football games, etc. People grab a plateful of meatballs, pop in some toothpicks, and munch away!
A few other party favorites include our homemade pizza rolls, veggie pizza, and Rotel dip!
Ingredients:
Frozen Meatballs: Grab a bag of homestyle frozen meatballs for this. Couldn’t be simpler.
Grape Jelly: Any brand will do, but we love Smucker’s.
Chili Sauce: This is in a glass bottle near the ketchup. We prefer Heinz brand. It’s similar to ketchup but has a little kick to it. We use it in our chili mac, too.
How To Make Meatballs with Grape Jelly:
Add the grape jelly and chili sauce to a slow cooker and stir to combine. Add the meatballs and stir to coat.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
Serve with toothpicks as a snack/appetizer or over rice or mashed potatoes for a simple dinner!
FAQs:
These are perfect as an appetizer , with toothpicks stuck in them for easy serving. They also make a great main course, served over rice or mashed potatoes.
Any variety of frozen meatballs will work in this recipe, though we do prefer homestyle meatballs. Italian meatballs work great in a pinch, though!
The two sauces are quite similar, but chili sauce has a bit of spice to it with a more bold flavor. They’re both tomato based sweet sauces and both make a great dip for fries or topping for burgers.
Grape Jelly Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds frozen meatballs
- 12 ounces chili sauce
- 1 1/2 cups grape jelly
Instructions
- Add the chili sauce and grape jelly to a slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Add the meatballs and stir to coat.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve as an appetizer or over rice as a main dish.
DL says
My first time making and I’m so impressed!! Delicious! I mixed in a pinch of ground Cayenne Red Pepper
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed them! I bet they were great with the cayenne!
Laura says
I add a tablespoon of sriracha to this recipe, so good!
Karly says
Delicious!
Moñica says
Sooo good
Karly says
They really are the best! 🙂
Jeanette Lee says
I use this recipe a lot. Everyone loves it!
Karly says
So happy to hear that!
JezMyOpinion says
I lightly brown my meatballs before adding them to the pot; really cuts back on the grease.
Tammy says
I used to have a similar recipe from scratch…lost it along the way.
So you have a scratch recipe for this?
Karly says
Hi Tammy! No, I don’t, we’ve always made these as is.
Cat says
Do other flavor jellies work?!
Brandi says
We have a lot of crabapple trees here so I make crabapple jelly. It works great with chili sauce in this recipe!
Karly says
Sounds delicious!
Mickster says
I’ve made before with grape jelly and ketchup. The chile sauce is a twist I never thought of trying. But I will now!
Karly says
It helps balance out the sweetness of the grape jelly. 🙂
Paulina says
Very tasty! However, the sauce came out very thin/runny, not like a thicker glaze as pictured. I used all the correct measurements. Any tips?
Karly says
Hi Paulina! The sauce will be quite runny in the crockpot. It may just look a bit thicker because we removed the meatballs to a bowl so it had cooled a bit. You can see the video here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=165238921556111
Hope that helps!