Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs
on Oct 14, 2020, Updated Jan 29, 2024
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Cranberry Meatballs are sweet, spicy, and easy to make in your slow cooker. These are the perfect party appetizer for the holiday season!
Snacks and appetizers for parties and guests are easy to make in your favorite slow cooker! If you’re a big fan of party or cocktail meatballs, you need to try this holiday spin on the classic party appetizer.
Cranberry Meatballs
Our Slow Cooker Party Meatballs recipe is one of the standbys for whenever we’re hosting a party or have guests over. It’s always been a big hit with anyone who had a chance to try them! They’re really easy too- just toss everything into the slow cooker and let it deal with the rest! With such a popular recipe, we wanted to update it for the holiday season, so we came up with this delicious recipe for Cranberry Meatballs!
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One of the obvious flavors that sprang to mind when making a holiday version of our meatballs was cranberry. The most natural place to bring it in was in place of the grape jelly- we think our substitute worked great! The cranberry sauce brought plenty of new flavors to the dish- so much so that we felt we could shorten the ingredients list! This ends up keeping the recipe very simple: just the meatballs and our 3 sauces are all you need to give your guests a delicious holiday appetizer!
Your guests are going to love these holiday meatballs! We recommend serving them up at any holiday parties your hosting this season- Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. No matter the occasion, they’re going to be a big hit- don’t expect any leftovers! Folks will eat these up!
Other Delicious Cranberry Recipes
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While you can’t use it for our meatballs, you still need to try our Homemade Cranberry Sauce with Apples this holiday season! Fresh cranberries and apples come together to make this deliciously sweet sauce that’s way better than the canned stuff. Perfect served warm with Thanksgiving dinner!
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Old-Fashioned Cranberry Salad is another big favorite of ours. This traditional salad is amazing as either a side dish or a dessert. Loaded up with pineapple and nuts- you’ll love it!
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If you’re bringing some dinner rolls to the table this Thanksgiving, you’ll love pairing them with our Cranberry Butter! A few orange flavors give this delicious homemade butter plenty of depth. Use it as a spread for bagels, toast, and rolls- super tasty!
Ingredients for Thanksgiving Cocktail Meatballs
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Meatballs, frozen – Use some that are more on the smaller side. These are cocktail meatballs, so you want something you can stick with a toothpick! Feel free to use our Homemade Meatball Recipe.
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Hot Sauce – Nothing wrong with a classic Frank’s Red Hot here.
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Chili Sauce
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Cranberry Sauce – It’s best to use the jellied version, not the one with whole berries.
How to make Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs
These meatballs couldn’t be simpler! First, drop your meatballs into the slow cooker along with all your sauces.
After that, you’ll give your meatballs a quick mix. Some things won’t melt just yet, but don’t worry- they’ll have plenty of time to melt while everything cooks! Set your slow cooker to cook on low.
While your meatballs are cooking, crack open the slow cooker to mix things up every now and then, just to make sure that sauce is coating everything well. It should take around 4 hours for everything to melt and our meatballs to warm through.
Once that 4 hours is through, you’re done! Optionally garnish with some parsley leaves before serving to your waiting guests. Enjoy!
Cranberry Meatballs
Ingredients
- 32 oz frozen Meatballs
- 12 oz Chili Sauce
- 14 oz Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- 2 tbsp Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Add meatballs to slow cooker.
- Place cranberry sauce in slow cooker.
- Add chili sauce and hot sauce.
- Stir things up to mix it in.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Nutrition
Could you also use mini sausages instead of meatballs?
YOu sure can Debbie! We make the sausages and lil weiners with the same sauce. I hope you enjoy.