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These Grape Jelly Meatballs are a slam dunk every time! Sweet, tangy, and made with only 3 ingredients in your Crock Pot, these are the easiest, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
When I need an easy appetizer, these grape jelly meatballs are my go-to. It’s as simple as pulling meatballs out of your freezer, adding barbecue sauce and grape jelly, and slow cooking until they are heated through! The taste is addicting- sweet and tangy, and delicious (bet you can’t eat just one)! They are the perfect for parties and potlucks!
Ingredients for Grape Jelly Meatballs
These easy meatballs only have 3 simple ingredients:
- Frozen meatballs – using frozen meatballs makes this recipe so easy. You can use homemade meatballs if you want, as well! A combination of ground beef and pork, or even turkey meatballs would work.
- Barbecue sauce – I find the best flavor comes from Sweet Baby Ray’s or Bull’s Eye, I have used other sauces but these two are my favorite.
- Grape jelly – it’s got to be grape! The combination of barbecue sauce and grape is so good!
Sauce Variations and Additions
I like to keep the grape jelly a constant, no matter what other ingredient I add to them. I have tried other fruit jellies and they just don’t taste right. The only exception to this is our jalapeño pepper jelly which I used when we didn’t have grape on hand and it was actually fantastic.
These are ingredients you can use instead of BBQ sauce: Ketchup , chili sauce, and Mr. Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce.
These are ingredients you can use in addition to the original recipe: Sriracha (for a spicy kick), soy sauce (to make it more savory), a splash of cider vinegar (for tang), Franks hot sauce (for spice with a different flavor), and dijon mustard (for a little kick of flavor).
How Long to Cook Grape Jelly Meatballs in the Crock Pot
Once in the Crock Pot, you can either slow cook on high heat for 2 hours or on low heat for 3-4 hours.
Homemade Frozen Meatballs
I like making meatballs and freezing them for later. Frozen meatballs come in handy for so many occasions! Because they are precooked, you can just pop them in the Crock Pot and they heat up quickly without falling apart. That makes this recipe even easier and with better ingredients.
Fresh Meatballs
Of course you can use fresh meatballs, but I like to fully cook them first before adding them to the Crock Pot or they will fall apart. Our air fryer meatball recipe is perfect for this.
Other cooking methods
No Crock Pot? No problem! Here are some other easy ways to make these meatballs:
Stove top: add your ingredients to a Dutch oven or deep walled skillet and simmer on low in the sauce for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
Oven: Combine meatballs and sauce and place in a greased baking dish. Cover with aluminum and bake at 375-degrees F for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through to redistribute the sauce. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or until the edges of the meatballs caramelize.
Instant Pot: add your ingredients plus ½ cup of water to an Instant Pot. Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure/Manual for 5 minutes. Allow the pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before removing the lid. Stir before serving.
Tips for Storing and Reheating
Store any leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can heat up leftovers in the microwave by heating at 30 second intervals until they are warmed up, or by warming them on the stovetop.
Grape jelly gives the perfect, sweet flavor that balances out the meatball’s savoriness. It also thickens the barbecue sauce and adds a beautiful, glossy shine
The grape jelly/barbecue sauce itself isn’t extremely thick. If it has become runny, you can thicken it up by mixing a little cornstarch and water and adding it to the Crock Pot in the final hour of cooking.
I have used our pepper jelly with great success in this recipe. It gives the meatballs and amazing flavor. You can also use jellied cranberries (cranberry sauce), or apple jelly.
You can, but you won’t get as glossy of a coating. They will still taste great but their appearance won’t be as shiny.
More Meatball Recipes
Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Crock Pot Appetizer Meatballs
Air Fryer Meatballs
Crock Pot Swedish Meatballs
How to Freeze Meatballs
Instant Pot Meatballs
Frikadeller (Danish Meatballs)
Easy Crock Pot Meatballs
Grape Jelly Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 Crock Pot or Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds frozen meatballs (or homemade meatballs)
- 2 cups barbecue Sauce (I like using Sweet Baby Ray's or Bull's Eye)
- 1 cup grape Jelly
Instructions
- Place meatballs in a Crock Pot or slow cooker.
- Pour barbecue sauce over meatballs.
- Spoon grape jelly over meatballs. Stir to combine.
- Cover and slow cook on high heat for 2 hours or on low heat for 3-4 hours. Stir well before serving.
