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Crock Pot Party Meatballs

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Homemade Crock Pot Party Meatballs are easily made from scratch with the most delicious sauce and made right in your slow cooker!

A DELICIOUS HOMEMADE PARTY MEATBALL RECIPE

If there is any food I love the most, it is party food. I am a total sucker for little bites of goodness. I guess it's because I am more of a grazer. I mean, I love my 3 square meals a day, but if I have the choice, I love to eat a little bit all throughout the day. That's why I get excited for tailgating or holiday parties. Lots of bite-sized goodness! I can just keep going back and eating here and there as the mood strikes.

Homemade Appetizer Party Meatballs on a white platter sprinkled with sliced green onion

TIPS FOR MAKING CROCK POT PARTY MEATBALLS:

  • For this recipe, I am making a homemade meatball. You can make these meatballs in advance and freeze them. Just put the meatballs on a tray in a single layer. Then put the tray in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can pack them up in a freezer safe bag and then when ready, put them in the crock pot with the sauce and cook for about 4-6 hours (it takes a little longer for them to cook from frozen.)
  • It's important to use lean ground beef (90/10) for this dish. You don't want the meat to release a lot of fat while cooking. We don't want greasy meatballs here. Pork is naturally lean so it works well in this along with ground turkey or ground chicken.
  • If you don't have one of these casserole crock pots, just put down a single layer of meatballs at a time. Add a sheet of aluminum foil on top of each layer, followed by a single layer of meatballs. Once meatballs are fully cooked, remove the foil layers and give the meatballs a stir to cover them all in the sauce and allow the meatballs to simmer in the sauce for an additional hour.
  • For this particular recipe, I chose to make a larger meatball. Most cocktail meatballs are half this size. However, I'll be totally honest, I have no patience for rolling out meatballs. So I figured I would make these larger ones and each one would be perfect for two or three bites. You can certainly use a smaller scoop and you would be able to double the amount of meatballs.
Homemade Crock Pot Ultimate Party Meatballs recipe from The Country Cook

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

  • lean ground beef (90/10)
  • ground pork
  • eggs
  • bread crumbs
  • salt & pepper
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder
  • Worcestershire Sauce
  • chili sauce
  • hot pepper jelly (or red pepper jelly)
lean ground beef, ground pork, eggs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire Sauce, chili sauce, hot pepper jelly

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CROCK POT PARTY MEATBALLS:

I find this easiest to use a stand mixer. I just pop all the ingredients into the bowl and turn it on low until combined. However, using your clean hands works just as good.

meatball ingredients added into the bowl of a electric stand mixer

Stir until fully combined.

ground beef and pork mixture combined in a glass bowl

Before rolling the meatballs, pour the chili sauce and jelly into a 6 quart (or larger slow cooker.) Note: I am using a 3.5 quart casserole slow cooker. I like it because it has a lot of surface area to work with and is perfect for meatballs.

hot pepper jelly and chili sauce combined and poured into the bottom of a slow cooker

Using a spring-loaded cookie scooper, scoop out the meat mixture and roll between your hands to make them round. Using one of these will help you keep the meatballs an even size. This particular scooper is a medium one. It holds just about 3 tablespoons of meatball mix.

a spring loaded cookie scooper used to make round meatballs

Add meatballs on top of the sauce mixture. Continue until you've made all the meatballs.

homemade meatball (uncooked) placed on top of jelly sauce mixture

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Internal temperature of the meat should be 160f degrees.

covered homemade meatballs in a slow cooker sauce with lid on

Flip the meatballs over about halfway through cooking.

cooked meatballs in sauce

Once cooked, stir the meatballs so they are covered in sauce.

fully cooked homemade meatballs covered in sauce in a casserole slow cooker

Place on a plate with toothpicks or serve directly from the crock pot. You can place some plates and forks right next to the slow cooker so guests can help themselves. Just keep your slow cooker on the warm setting.

Homemade Slow Cooker Meatballs for a party

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Ultimate Crock Pot Party Meatballs recipe

Crock Pot Party Meatballs

Homemade Crock Pot Party Meatballs are easily made from scratch with the most delicious sauce and is made right in your slow cooker!
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Crock Pot Homemade Meatballs, Crock Pot Party Meatballs, Party Meatballs
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 26
Calories: 101kcal
Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

  • 1 pound lean ground beef, 90/10
  • 1 pound lean ground pork
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups bread crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

For the sauce:

  • 12 ounce jar chili sauce
  • 10.5 ounce jar hot pepper jelly (or red pepper jelly)

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Stir until full combined.
  • Before rolling the meatballs, pour the chili sauce and jelly into a 6 quart slow cooker.
  • Using a spring-loaded cookie scooper, scoop out the meat mixture and roll between your hands to make them round. Continue until you've made all the meatballs.
  • Add meatballs on top of the sauce mixture.
  • Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours (or have reached an internal temperature of 160f degrees.) Turn the meatballs over once about halfway through cooking.
  • Once cooked, stir the meatballs so they are covered in sauce.
  • Place on a plate and serve or serve directly from the crock pot (keeping it on the warm setting.)

Notes

  • It's important to use lean ground beef (90/10) for this dish. You don't want the meat to release a lot of fat while cooking.
  • If you don't have one of these casserole crock pots, just put down a single layer of meatballs at a time. Add a sheet of aluminum foil on top of each layer, followed by a single layer of meatballs. Once meatballs are fully cooked, remove the foil layers and give the meatballs a stir to cover them all in the sauce and allow the meatballs to simmer in the sauce for an additional hour.

Nutrition

Calories: 101kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 18IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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About Brandie @ The Country Cook

I’m a regular home cook, like most of you, doing my best to get a good meal on the table for my family. I like to say the recipes on here are recipes for the busy cook (you know who you are). You can still get a good meal on the table, with a few shortcuts to help you along the way. I hope you’ll find lots of recipes here that you’ll love and hopefully will become family favorites. Read more...

Reader Interactions

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Dotty

    I'm using frozen meatballs. How long would you suggest I leave them on?

    Reply

  2. Melanie

    Can you use frozen meatballs instead?

    Reply

  3. Lauren

    HI, do you still turn the meatballs halfway if doing them in layers in the crockpot? Mine is an oval crockpot and I have one layer on the bottom in the sauce and one layer above on foil.

    Reply

  4. Pete Young

    5 stars
    Love meatballs. Your site is very good and the print out of recipes is excellent. Keep up the good work (recipes)

    Reply

  5. Susan Holstein

    5 stars
    Can I just bake those meatball then put them in a Crockpot with the sauce? The adding of pork to the hamburger would cause a lot of grease in the Crock pot if not baked first.

    Reply

    • Brandie @ The Country Cook

      Hi Susan, that is why I suggest very lean meat so you do not get a lot of grease. If you must use a fattier meat, then you could certainly do that. Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

  6. Caroline R Bain

    If you want them less spicy, do all the above except substitute a bottle of Chili Sauce for the Pepper Jellly.

    Reply

  7. Mandi

    Are these spicy since using pepper jelly??

    Reply

  8. Ronnie Carter

    My husband can't eat beef. Can ground turkey be used along with the ground pork instead? If so, would I need to alter the other ingredients? Thanks

    Reply

  9. Leslie

    These meatballs are making my mouth water!! They would be perfect for an appetizer or a crazy good and easy dinner around the holidays!
    Happy Thanksgiving Brandi!
    Leslie

    Reply

  10. Brandie @ The Country Cook

    Thanks so much Leslie!! Ronnie, you could certainly use turkey in this. Or you could just use all pork. Or even venison or chicken!

    Reply

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