Slow Cooker Grape Jelly Meatballs

Need an easy appetizer that the whole family will love for parties, game day, barbeques, potlucks, baby showers, and cocktail parties? Then look no further than these really easy to make juicy Slow Cooker Meatballs in a grape jelly sauce.

These crockpot meatballs require only 3 pantry staple ingredients and 2 minutes of effort to whip up. Yeap, you pretty much dump everything in the slow cooker, press start, and a few hours later you have the perfect meatball appetizer.

However, you can easily transform these smoky, sweet, and tangy party meatballs into a hearty comfort food dinner by serving them over some rice or mashed potatoes or in a meatball sandwich. #onerecipealltheways.

Why You’ll Love This

• Easy to make – just 3 ingredients and 2 minutes of prep are all that’s needed to whip up this tasty meatballs appetizer.
• Versatile – serve them as an appetizer or easily transform into a main dish.
• A Family Favorite – flavorful and fun to eat, kids and adults love ’em!

Tools Needed

• An awesome Slow Cooker.
• A saucepan if you prefer.
• Measuring cups and spoons.
• Meal prep glass jars for storing.

Ready to learn just how easy it is to make Crockpot Meatballs recipe? Gather up those ingredients and I will show you…..

Ingredients Needed

Just three simple ingredients make these easy slow cooker grape jelly meatballs;

• Meatballs – This recipe starts with frozen already cooked meatballs which you can get from Costco, Trader Joe’s, or your favorite store. But if you want to start with cooked frozen homemade meatballs, then you can totally do that too.
• BBQ sauce –  Feel free to get your favorite store-bought bbq sauce, or make your own homemade one.
• Grape jelly –  The addition of grape jelly is what makes this crockpot meatballs really awesome. I used Welch’s Grape Jelly.

How To Make Slow Cooker Meatballs

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Add frozen meatballs into the crockpot.
2. Then pour in grape jelly, bbq sauce, and onion powder (if using), stirring to mix.
3. Place the lid on the crockpot and cook for 2-3 hours on high (mine were ready in 2 hours and 15 minutes).
4. Transfer the meatballs to a plate or bowl and add cocktail sticks before serving.

Make Meatballs With Grape Jelly On The Stovetop

1. Add the frozen meatballs to a saucepan.
2. Pour in grape jelly, bbq sauce, and onion powder (if using) and mix.
3. Cover the saucepan and simmer over medium-low until the meatballs are defrosted and warmed through and the grape jelly sauce is nice and hot.

Recipe Tips

• You can easily double this for a crowd. Just make sure your crockpot is big enough to fit everything in.
• You can also cut the recipe in half to serve a smaller group.
• Choose a bbq sauce flavor profile that suits your taste, whether you prefer it smokier, sharper, sweeter, spicer, etc.
• You can replace a little bit of the grape jelly with some honey.
• Toasted sesame seeds make a great garnish for the meatballs.

Recipe Variations

This 3 ingredients meatballs is a super versatile recipe! Try some of these easy variations;

• Swap the jelly – try using leftover cranberry sauce, apple jelly, or strawberry jelly in this meatball sauce recipe.
• Vary the sauce – swap the bbq sauce for chili sauce, tomato sauce, or salsa.
• Vary the meatballs – feel free to use turkey meatballs or Italian meatballs instead.

Meal Prep and Prep Ahead

This easy crockpot meatballs recipe is really easy to make, but there are a few things you can do to prep ahead.

Prep Ahead Homemade Meatballs – Prepare your meatballs and fry or bake them. Let them cool down, then freeze on a baking tray before transferring to a Ziploc bag for freezing.

Store – Store any cooked leftover meatballs in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Reheat – Simply add them back into the slow cooker or in a saucepan on the stove top to reheat before serving.

FAQs

I Don’t Have a Slow Cooker. Can I Still Make This?

Yes, you can certainly make it on your stove. Just scroll a little further back up in the post to get my stovetop cooking instructions.

Do I Need to Thaw the Meatballs Before Cooking?

No, you don’t need to thaw the frozen meatballs. This really is the best crockpot meatballs recipe as it is super simple in that you add the frozen meatballs directly into the slow cooker. You can use meatballs that are freshly cooked or thawed, but you will need to cook them for less time.

More Slow Cooker Recipes

• Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken Pasta.
• Crockpot Chicken Fajitas.
• Slow Cooker Whole Chicken.
• Crockpot Spaghetti Casserole.
• Crockpot Breakfast Casserole.
• Crockpot Christmas Candy.

More Easy Appetizers

• Easy Air Fryer Meatballs.
• Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip 

Weight Watchers Points

There are 12 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.

Thank you for reading my crockpot meatballs and awesome meatball sauce recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice, and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes, and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

Get The Slow Cooker Grape Jelly Meatballs Recipe: