These Crock Pot Cranberry Meatballs take only a few minutes of prep and have a delicious sweet and tangy taste with a little bit of spice.

Crock Pot Cranberry Meatballs topped with sliced green onion in a bowl.

Great Holiday Appetizer

Just about every southern Holiday Party I’ve gone to has had a crock pot full of party meatballs. And there’s always a swarm of people huddled around them. Cocktail Meatballs are an absolute crowd pleaser.

The typical party meatball is made with a jar of grape jelly and those are plenty delicious, but I sometimes like to change things up. I’ve added cranberry sauce and pepper jelly to give the meatballs a holiday flair. The flavor is predominantly sweet, but they are also a little spicy and tangy.

You see so many cocktail meatballs around the holidays for a reason. Not only are they amazingly delicious, they are super easy to make and economical for feeding a huge crowd. I use a bag of Farm Rich frozen meatballs for this Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs recipe.

Equipment Needed

You will need a 6-quart or larger slow cooker for this recipe.

Cranberry Meatballs in a bowl.

The best way to get the most out of the holidays is to take a few short cuts here and there so that you spend less time in the kitchen and more time making family memories. Each year I try and get a little more efficient during the holidays and I’ve been researching all kinds of Holiday Hacks.

Some of them are pretty creative – others down right crazy!

Did you know that you can boil your potatoes whole with the skins on, shock them in ice water, and the skins will slip right off? I’m going to be trying that one for sure!

Save your empty boxes of plastic wrap and aluminum foil, paint them, and use them as holiday cookie gift boxes. Just be sure to cut off the serrated edge!

If you’re cooking corn for a large crowd, steam it in a cooler. Place the corn in the bottom of the cooler, add boiling water, close the cooler for 30 minutes. Pretty cool.

One of the most off the wall ones I’ve read is to run your potatoes through the dishwasher with no detergent in lieu of scrubbing them. Really???

Do you have any tips or shortcuts for the holiday season? Have you ever tried making Crock Pot Meatballs?

More Holiday Appetizers

Cranberry Meatballs in a bowl.


Crock Pot Cranberry Meatballs

5 from 9 votes

By Christin Mahrlig

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 6 hours
Total: 6 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 12
These Crock Pot Cranberry Meatballs take only a few minutes of prep and have a delicious sweet and tangy taste with a little bit of spice.
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Ingredients

  • 1 (12-ounce) jar chili sauce
  • 1 (12 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
  • 1 (10.5-ounce) jar Red Pepper Jelly,, I use Braswell’s
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • few shakes hot sauce
  • 1 (32-ounce) bag Frozen Meatballs

Instructions 

  • Mix all ingredients except for meatballs in crock pot.
  • Add meatballs and stir to coat them well. Put in crock pot on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 2-2 1/2 hours.

Notes

Note: If you have a newer crock pot, you can probably reduce the cooking time some.

Nutrition

Calories: 339kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag us @spicysouthernkitchen on social media!

Note: If you have a newer crock pot, you can probably reduce the cooking time some.

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Originally published December 1, 2014.

Sharing with The Country Cook at The Weekend Potluck.

More Crock Pot Appetizers

Crock Pot Little Smokies- the easiest appetizer ever. Great for a holiday party!

Crock Pot Little Smokies

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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Recipe Rating




77 Comments

  1. cindy Lynn Exley says:

    I was able to 3xโ€s the recipe in my crock pot and itโ€™s a normal size if not a little smaller.. taste great and I still have 5 more hours of cooking time left

  2. Midge says:

    Great recipe, we have loads of jalapeรฑo peppers every summer so make my own red pepper jelly, family loves these. Great way to use jelly.

  3. Midge says:

    Great recipe, we have loads of jalapeรฑo peppers every summer so make my own red pepper jelly, family loves these.

    1. Bensy Samuel says:

      Could you please let us know your pepper jelly preparation?

  4. Marsha says:

    I’ve never been crazy about meatballs. I made these and they are fabulous!! Now I take them to all the food frenzies. Everyone loves them!!

  5. Becky says:

    The meatballs listed are not gluten free.

  6. Carole Scofield says:

    Hey there Christin – so glad to see you’re using the cranberry version of this classsic go-to recipe for cocktail meatballs. Here in the South we like it spicy. I’ve been using red pepper flakes & a few dashes of Roasted Garlic powder (Badia in the Latin foods section). It’s awesome but this weekend I’ll try the red pepper jelly. Thanks for tip!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      I’m going to have to look for that roasted garlic powder Carole. That sounds fabulous!

  7. JoAnn says:

    I’d rather make fresh meatballs. Should I bake them first?

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      I would brown them briefly in a nonstick pan for more flavor and then let them finish cooking in the crock pot.

    2. Kathy Hancock says:

      I only use my own homemade meatballs for this recipe and bake them in the oven first on a cookie sheet. Add them to the sauce.

    3. Dena says:

      Ditto, I always make homemade. So much better plus you know what is in them! I bake mine in a mini muffin pan, they come out perfect, crispy edges and all!

  8. Paula D says:

    I know this is coming in late, but regarding the red pepper jelly ~ Howard’s makes a red pepper relish that is very similar to pepper jelly. It’s available in most supermarkets (I’m in the Northeast) in the aisle where you find mustard and ketchup. I’ve used this every time I’ve made these meatballs and it works great. They’re delicious!

  9. Chad Carroll says:

    Do you mean the cranberry sauce that is in the can and comes out shaped like the can it was in ???? Or something else? recipe sounds delicious by the way.

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Yes! That’s the one!

  10. Julie says:

    I just made homemade cranberry sauce with orange zest… can I use it instead of jellied cranberry sauce.

    Can’t wait to try this recipe… I bet you can get the pepper jelly through Amazon? If you have a Trader Joe’s near you they sell it there. It’s great on a slab of cream cheese. Yum!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Love pepper jelly on cream cheese! Easiest appetizer ever.
      I haven’t made this recipe with homemade cranberry sauce but I think it should work well Julie.