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These grape jelly meatballs are tossed in the crockpot 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, just like with our cold veggie pizza.
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!
We do grape jelly lil smokies too. Just the same, but with cocktail sausages instead of 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.
Ingredient Notes:
Frozen Meatballs: Grab a bag of homestyle frozen meatballs for this. Homemade meatballs also work, but we like to keep it simple with this 3 ingredient recipe.
Grape Jelly: Any brand will do, but we love Smucker’s. Preferably the kind without high fructose corn syrup!
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!
Grape Jelly Meatballs Serving Suggestions:
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, chili cheese dip, and Rotel dip!
For dinner, serve these over a pile of our Instant Pot mashed potatoes, a side of rice pilaf, or with some Amish egg noodles.
Recipe 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.
We don’t actually put the jelly inside of the meatballs, but we do use grape jelly to make a sweet, sticky, tangy sauce that coats the meatballs. Grape jelly and chili sauce combine together to make the perfect sauce that you just have to try to believe.
While the two may look and taste very similar, grape jam and grape jelly are actually two different things with just one small difference! Grape jelly is made with grape juice and grape jam is made with whole grapes.
More Party Favorites:
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.
Linda L says
My extended family made these 60 years ago for every gathering. The cousins used to drew lots to see who got to make them. One year, one of the cousins shocked us all by adding pineapple tidbits. Eureka! A new family favourite.
Karly Campbell says
Ooh, sounds amazing!!
Ashia Smith says
These meatballs were perfect! I only added bbq sauce because my husband wanted more sauce!
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Mary Gonzalez says
I Love this delicious recipe
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Mary!
Paul says
My late wife made this recipe over 60 years ago. I love it. When she died I lost a lot of her recipes. Thank you for reminding me.
Karly Campbell says
I’m sure these won’t be as good as your wife’s, but I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Katy Koch says
I have been looking for this meatball recipe.
Thank U Sooooooo Much!!
Judi says
Absolutely delish!!! I’ve made these for years and also used litle smokies!!!
Karly Campbell says
Delicious with Lil smokies!
Bobby says
Thank you.
Bobby says
I have a question. Have you tried making these with sugar free grape jelly? Can you forsee a reason this wouldn’t work? Thanks.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Bobby! I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work just fine! 🙂
Jean B says
I’ve made them with the sugar-free grape jelly, and they were delicious! Can’t tell the difference.
Chrissy says
I can’t wait to try this. My former boss used to make these for the New Years Eve party every year. She would mix it all together & put it in the Bun warmer to cook til time to serve. I thought she was nuts mixing meatballs, grape jelly & chili sauce together until I tasted it. WOW!!! SO GOOD! Thanks for the memory & a reminder yo make it again.
Shell says
I haven’t cooked your recipe but this is the same recipe my mom used. Not sure of the amounts but hers was 3 bottles of chilli sauce and about 12 ozs of grape jelly. All of our family still use it and we do the meatballs first and then add the lil Smokies at the end of the he cook time. We aren’t above putting in cut hot dogs too. Lol
Denise says
Love these meatballs. I know this recipe is for frozen store bought meatballs, but do you have a recipe for homemade meatballs?
Karly Campbell says
You could try the meatballs from this recipe: https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/crockpot-meatball-sub or this recipe: https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/teriyaki-meatballs/. Add them to the grape jelly mix after baking.
Jo-Ann hammond says
Are the frozen meatballs cooked we don’t have in uk…..but I have my own homemade uncooked in freezer will that be ok. Kind d regards…p s I even found suckers jelly here
Karly Campbell says
Hi Jo-Ann! The frozen ones are fully cooked and then frozen, so you’re really just reheating them. I’d probably cook your homemade meatballs first so that you’re able to drain off the excess grease and then add them to the crockpot with the sauce.
Linda says
Made this recipe many times for parties and everyone loves it. Easy to make ahead in my smaller crockpot.
Ubaidullah Rasheed says
Awesome recipe I loved it