Crockpot Grape Jelly Meatballs are homemade beef and pork meatballs smothered in grape jelly and chili sauce. Just 3 ingredients if you buy store-bought meatballs! Try my Honey BBQ Meatballs for another flavorful bite-sized appetizer.

Grape Jelly Meatballs on White Plate
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Crockpot Grape Jelly Meatballs

I started with homemade fully cooked, basic beef and pork meatballs for this recipe. Then I sauced them up with some grape jelly and chili sauce. It’s nice to have an appetizer you can have in the slow cooker, ready to be served when guests arrive. Plus, with the optional warm setting on a slow cooker, the meatballs can be ready to eat for quite a few hours with no fuss! I also have a Slow Cooker Bourbon Glazed Kielbasa you may want to add to your list of easy appetizers.

You can absolutely buy premade meatballs to use in this recipe to make it 1000% times easier. 

Plate of Grape Jelly Meatballs

Ingredients & Substitutions

Meatballs: This recipe is for fully cooked homemade meatballs. If you are using pre-cooked, frozen meatballs, you can put them right in the crockpot to cook. You can also let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight before adding them to your slow cooker.

Sauce: The sauce is simple, but so flavorful, made with grape jelly and chili sauce.

Ingredients Being Added to Grape Jelly Meatballs on Crockpot

Can I Make the Meatballs Ahead of Time?

Yes! You can choose to freeze the cooked meatballs until you are ready to make the crockpot grape jelly meatballs. Or, you can add them to the slow cooker after cooking them. To freeze the cooked meatballs, let them cool down completely. Put them into freezer bags and freeze them for up to 3 months. Remember to date the bags so you know how long they have been in the freezer!

Friendly reminder, you can use store-bought meatballs if you don’t want to make them from scratch. 

Grape Jelly Meatballs in Slow Cooker

How to Store Grape Jelly Meatballs

Leftovers? No problem! These grape jelly meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will last 3-4 days.

Bit Into Grape Jelly Meatball

More Meatball Recipes

5 from 6 votes

Crockpot Grape Jelly Meatballs

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 25 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 40 minutes
Crockpot Grape Jelly Meatballs are homemade beef and pork meatballs smothered in grape jelly and chili sauce.

Ingredients

MEATBALLS***

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup (100 g) grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup (122.5 g) milk
  • ½ cup (54 g) fine dry breadcrumbs
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about ½ cup)

SAUCE

  • 1 ¼ cups (12 ounces) grape jelly
  • 1 ¼ cups (12 ounces) chili sauce

Instructions

MEATBALLS

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, beaten egg, cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix together until just combined.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the milk, breadcrumbs, garlic, and onion.
  • Add milk mixture to the meat mixture being careful not to overwork ingredients.
  • Form into desired size meatballs, greasing hands before starting to keep the meat from sticking, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Place in preheated oven and roast until the outsides are browned and they read 165°F on a meat thermometer (about 25 minutes).

SAUCE

  • Place the cooked meatballs, grape jelly, and chili sauce in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 3 hours. Serve warm.

Video

Notes

*** You can use store-bought meatballs to make this a 3 ingredient dish.

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Reader Comments

  1. I Make Sticks and Stones 🥰
    In a 5-6 Qt Oval Crockpot Coated with Non-Stick Cooking Spray (I Use a Liner)
    INGREDIENTS:
    *1 to 2-14oz Pkgs Lil’ Smokies
    *1-32 oz Pkg Frozen Homestyle Meatballs
    *2-12 oz Jars Grape Jelly
    *2-12 oz Chili Sauce
    DIRECTIONS:
    1) Cook on LOW for 3 Hours.

    VARIATIONS:
    **Heinz 57 Sauce and Orange Marmalade OR
    **A1 Sauce and Blackberry Jam OR
    **Sweet & Sour: 1-20 oz Can Crushed Pineapple and 1-21 oz Can Cherry Pie Filling

  2. Some people have a difficult time with reading a whole sentence. What’s so hard to understand, 3 ingredients if you use store bought frozen meatballs?

    1. Delicious recipe. Only used beef and cooked stovetop instead of crockpot. Simple recipe but delicious. Would alsobe good over rice.

  3. I’m 62 been making these for years…My youngest son (36) calls them ‘Jelly Balls’ 😂 and my oldest son (42) calls rotel dip ‘That damn dip’😂 gotta love your kids no matter their age❤

  4. When I make from scratch meatballs for whatever use, I use my cookie scoop and place them on a foil lined baking sheet and bake on 350 until brown. They brown on all sides and I don’t have to spend time turning them. Sometimes I will buy a family size pack of hamburger and make a lot to freeze. Makes a quick and easy meal when I am too lazy to cook.

    1. Chili Sauce is used to dip your shrimp in. Heinz makes a chili sauce, but it wouldn’t let me copy their photo. It’s like a ketchup and horseradish sauce- tasty!! It’s great in this recipe.

      1. No, you are describing cocktail sauce for shrimp. You will find chili sauce in same area as cocktail sauce.

    1. Because I MADE MY OWN MEATBALLS. If you are not making your own meatballs then it’s not added. Please please please read.

    1. There is a difference between grape jelly and grape jam. Jelly is made with the juices…jam has some smashed fruit in it as well. Use grape jelly for this. It will say on the container. Welch’s and Smucker’s both make a grape jelly.

  5. 5 stars
    Thanks this was really good. My husband wasn’t sure about the grape jelly but I used some homemade and he was loving it.

5 from 6 votes (1 rating without comment)

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