These Grape Jelly BBQ Meatballs are easy to make in the crock pot. This recipe only takes 3 ingredients and 5 minutes to prep! Doesn’t get better than that.
These meatballs are a tried and true appetizer recipe of mine. They literally couldn’t be easier to make and everyone always loves them. Other easy go-to’s are little smokies, meatball sliders and pigs in a blanket.
Table of Contents
The Perfect Appetizer
These crockpot BBQ grape jelly meatballs are one of my family’s favorite meatball recipes. They are seriously so good and the perfect appetizer for game day! They almost remind me of sweet and sour meatballs but taste better.
My Grandpa has been making these crockpot meatballs for years and we always loved them growing up. My sister even talked him into making them as an appetizer at her wedding. Everyone loved them! Now of course my family has their actual “homemade meatballs recipe,” which are just as amazing.
The best part about BBQ meatballs is that no one would ever know how simple they are to make. Turn them into a main dish and serve them over sticky rice like I do with honey garlic meatballs. YUM!
3 simple ingredients!
These slow cooker grape jelly meatballs are so easy to make. You just need the 3 ingredients below to get started:
- Meatballs: I love getting the frozen meatballs from Costco or Kroger. They taste the best in my opinion. Homemade meatballs taste great as well if you have the time.
- Grape jelly: I keep it simple and use Smucker’s grape jelly.
- BBQ Sauce: Sweet baby ray’s BBQ sauce is my personal favorite. :) You can also make a homemade BBQ sauce if preferred.
How to Make Crockpot BBQ Meatballs
- Add ingredients to crockpot. Pour grape jelly and BBQ sauce in the bottom of your crockpot. Add in the meatballs and stir until fully coated.
- Cook meatballs in crockpot. Cook frozen meatballs in crockpot for 2 to 3 hours on high, or until warm. Make sure to stir a few times throughout.
- Serve and enjoy! Garnish with sliced green onions if desired and serve as an appetizer or main dish.
Variations
There are plenty of ways to easily mix up the flavors in this recipe. Check out some other yummy variations below:
- Sub Heinz chili sauce for BBQ sauce for an extra kick, like I did with these chili sauce meatballs.
- Replace grape jelly with 16 ounces sliced or diced pineapple for Hawaiian meatballs.
- Use 1/4 cup honey instead of jelly for a a little healthier alternative (add more or less to to taste).
- Make cranberry meatballs with leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. Sub an equal amount of cranberry sauce for grape jelly.
- Use 2 packages of little smokies instead of meatballs.
FAQ
We love to serve them with coconut rice, green beans and fresh cut pineapple.
If you’d like to thicken your sauce, you can mix together a cornstarch slurry (about 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of water) and stir it into the sauce and allow it to simmer.
This is the base of the sauce (which helps thicken it) and brings the best flavor. I promise you won’t taste the grape flavor.
More Easy Appetizers:
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Ham and Cheese Sliders
- 4-Ingredient Cheese Ball
- Easy 7-Layer Dip
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
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Crockpot Bbq Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- 1 (18-ounce) jar jar grape jelly
- 1 (18-ounce) jar BBQ sauce
- 1 (32-ounce) bag frozen fully cooked meatballs (about 50)
Optional: Cooked rice, Sliced green onions
Instructions
- In a medium bowl or the base of a slow cooker, combine the grape jelly and BBQ sauce. Add meatballs and stir until coated in sauce.
- Cook on high 2 to 3 hours or low 3 to 4 hours. Turn the slow cooker to warm until ready to serve.
- Enjoy as an appetizer or serve over rice and top with green onions for a main dish.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Appetizers, Crockpot, Crockpot, Dairy-Free, Mini appetizers, Reader Favorites, Super Bowl
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Always a hit at parties! They taste kinda plain to me but people absolutely go crazy for them, so I leave the recipe alone since I only make them for a big crowd.
Thanks for the review, happy to hear that they are such a crowd pleaser!
I had it in my head that these would be amazing based on what I imagined it to taste like. I made them and took a nap. When I woke up two hours later the smell was the absolute worst smell of any type of food peieict I have ever been exposed to. I could eat them but my husband and daughter that they were horrible. What a disappointment
Sorry to hear this Deb, everyone always loves them around here! Everyone’s tastes run differently though.
Love this easy recipe! Love the flavor of the sauce! I’ve made these many times in my life. I use the frozen Italian meatballs instead of making my own. I made them recently for a get together and they were a hit. One thing I’ll do differently next time is buy a leaner meatball brand. Or if that’s not an option, I’ll precook in the oven to let some grease drain out. These really are delicious!
Thank you for the great feedback! So glad you love the meatballs.
Easy to make. Guest loved them.
So glad you and your guests loved the grape jelly & BBQ meatballs.
These are always a hit in my house. I made the for New Year’s Eve a long with a side of mashed potatoes and butter bread. The recipe is very easy and very good. Thank you. 🙂
Sounds like a fantastic meal to ring in the New Year!
I’m planning to make this with fresh ground beef – 3lbs at 93%. Recommendation please on how long to cook in crockpot with sauce and uncooked meatballs.
Hi Pat, unfortunately this has not been tested with raw meatballs. If you would like to use fresh meatballs, I advise to make then cook them before adding to the crockpot. Enjoy!
Made these for 2 different Christmas events and there wasn’t one left!
I got a similar recipe from a cousin years ago. Since we like it spicy in Texas we use Medium Salsa instead of barbeque sauce. Keeps it from being too sweet.
My mom always made these growing up for parties and I love them! She always made her meatballs too and did chili sauce instead of BBQ. I make them now for potlucks and parties we go to, and everyone loves them!
My grandma made them growing up too. Such a fun memory with your mom. Enjoy!
Thinking of combing this with your crockpot little smokies and serving a pot of smokies and meatballs. Would you use the brown sugar or the jelly then?
Since the smokies can also use grape jelly (instead of brown sugar) I would go with the jelly for a uniform taste. But really you could use jelly in the meatballs and brown sugar in the smokies and it would still be great. It really just depends on your preference! Enjoy!
Good base recipe but overall too sweet for us I used a basic BBQ sauce (not honey or anything too sweet) and reduced sugar jelly and it still turned out too sweet next time I will definitely be adjusting the jelly amount 🙂
Yes, everyone’s taste runs a bit differently, adjust as needed!
I’ve made this recipe as-is. Is it too late to add some drained pineapple or would that make them too sweet?
It may make it sweeter, but that is really up to your preference! Enjoy!