Cranberry Sauce Cocktail Meatballs

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Discover the ultimate cranberry sauce cocktail meatballs recipe with a sweet and tangy twist, perfect for any Fall party or gathering.

These cranberry sauce cocktail meatballs are so delicious. If you’ve ever had grape jelly meatballs, these are essentially the same thing. These take about three ingredients and that’s it. These are a Thanksgiving choice on a traditional appetizer recipe. 

I love trying to scour my pantry to see if I can make anything. I feel like it’s a fun game. This recipe is just like that. It’s essentially the same concept of using the grape jelly. The cranberry sauce is going to sweeten and tone down the tanginess of the spicy barbecue. Also, I love making a recipe that only requires 2 to 3 ingredients. 

Questions You Might Have:

Can I use homemade meatballs?

You can use homemade meatballs. I would just be sure and brown them first. However, the whole point of this recipe is for it to be simple, quick and easy. 

What type of cranberry sauce should I use?

You can use either regular solid, jellied cranberry sauce or the cranberry sauce with whole cranberries. The flavor will be the same at the end. It’s just your preference whether you want cranberries in this recipe or not. 

What to serve with cocktail meatballs?

This is a great party food or appetizer. I feel like anything goes when serving these. They are perfect with any dips, sliders, sandwiches, you name it…

Can you make these ahead?

You can definitely make this recipe ahead. You can cook the meatballs and store them in the fridge for up to five days then just empty back into the crockpot and on low heated. 

Equipment You’ll Need:

You’re not going to need hardly any equipment for this recipe? You’re going to need a large crockpot. The one that I use is 7 quarts. You can buy one of these anywhere. I got mine at Walmart. You’ll also need a can opener for your cranberry sauce and then a spoon. I also serve with toothpicks. 

Ingredients You’ll Need:

Meatballs

You’ll need a 48-ounce bag of frozen meatballs. I just use the regular homestyle meatballs not the Italian kind.

Cranberry Sauce

You’ll need one can of cranberry sauce. I used jellied cranberry sauce not any with the whole cranberries inside. However, it really doesn’t matter if you use either one, but this is just my preference. 

Spicy Barbeque Sauce

I then used an 18-ounce bottle of spicy barbecue sauce. You can use whatever brand you prefer. It really doesn’t matter. You could also use homemade barbecue sauce if you have a great recipe for that, you can find one that I made in this recipe here. However, this particular time I used storebought. 

Water

I filled the BBQ sauce bottle up with water and added it to the pot as well. I feel like it needed water to thin up the sauce.

Contact Me

Did you make this fall cocktail meatballs recipe? What did you think? Have you ever made grape jelly meatballs? Please let me know here or in the comments below.