The potatoes at the potluck are excellent! I experimented with a lot of different hash brown casserole recipes before coming up with the ideal combination. For any potluck, I usually bring this. It’s always the first dish to be eaten at gatherings, including dinner parties and football games!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 10 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
Ingredients
- 1 (32 ounce) jar grape jelly
- 2 (12 ounce) bottles tomato-based chili sauce (such as Heinz®)
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper (Optional)
- 1 (6 pound) bag frozen cocktail-sized meatballs
Instructions
- Combine grape jelly, chili sauce, and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Place meatballs in a slow cooker and top with grape jelly mixture.
- Cook on Low for 3 to 4 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 340 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 94 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 176 mg |
| Sugars | 23 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I am not allowed at our 4th of July neighborhood block party without bringing these! Such a simple yet delicious recipe!
I got confused and used cocktail sauce instead of chili sauce and they turned out so good!!!! GFS has the best bag of meatballs – 5 pounds instead of 6 1/2 but it works!!! Yum!!!
I have made this recipe three times and each time my sauce has been watery! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I’ve been told to lower the heat, etc. but I still get sauce that is a little watery and doesn’t quite stick to the meatballs as much as it should. The meatballs are still delicious, but I would love for the sauce to be a little thicker.
I cut this recipe in half and made as written (including the cayenne). 6lbs of meatballs is a ton and I didn’t need that many. I have heard about grape jelly and chili sauce meatballs (or lil smokies) for years but I never tried them when I had the chance. It is a simple recipe to make and the meatballs were well received. My only criticism is I would have liked the sauce to be thicker and coat the meatballs. Mine turned out pretty watery, maybe from the meatballs (I used premade grassfed beef meatballs that were also gluten free).
Soooo… my meatballs are amazing. I like to do my thing sometimes so I added minced garlic, a bit of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, Cholula Hot Sauce as another person mentioned, Pepper, and I forget the name of the Trader Joe’s spice but it tastes good. We will see how the crowd enjoys them tomorrow.
I’ve used this recipe for years and it’s always a hit. I like to brown the meatballs before putting them in the slow cooker. I also add some cocktail wieners in the pot for an assortment.
Great recipe! We’ve made it several times. It’s always a crowd favorite.
put in cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, hot sauce, worscestershire to taste
Meatballs were a BIG HIT at game night. Guests ate every last bite. I will probably make a double batch next time to save some for hubby & me, especially during football season. Thanks for the recipe. Delicious.
I don’t do the pepper, and I add a splash of lemon juice.
We call these baby shower meatballs in my house! Delicious! Now my problem is I have to dazzle everything up. I add a tablespoon or so of hot sauce, a teaspoon or so of liquid smoke, garlic powder, minced garlic, a little brown sugar and salt/pepper. Just the chili and grape jelly makes it too sweet and kind of flat! But that’s just me! As written they’re still really good!
Love it. Making it for years
This recipe is so easy and tasty! I always make too much, just so I can serve the leftovers with bell peppers, onions and rice.
I make it in a sauce pan at a low simmer and stir it every twenty minutes. The sauce at the bottom of the pan darkens as it caramelizes and gives a richer flavor to the darkening sauce. Of course folks can use remade meatballs, I buy 2 pounds of ground beef, season it up with salt, pepper, garlic powder and make the meatballs and toss them into the boiling/simmering sauce, covered for 1 hour then uncovered for 2 hours. Spoon off the fat that comes to the top. Make them a day ahead if you have the time and to take off congealed fat and do a slow reheat so as not to burn the sauce the next day.
Our son-in-law can’t get enough of them !
Made for a birthday party and was a huge hit! When asked for the recipe, I was told this is almost the same as THEIR recipe except instead of grape jelly, they use Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. Huh! Might try that too! Either way! This was sinfully easy and made for a delicious app that everyone loved! Will make again! Thank you!!
I make this every year for New Year’s Eve. I use equal amounts of grape jelly & chili sauce (the Heinz Chili Sauce is in most supermarkets near the ketchup) I also add some horseradish, sriracha, thai chili garlic paste, or cayenne for a little kick, depending on whet I have on hand that year. They are always a hit.
Absolutely perfect! My party guests loved them! No left overs ??
Awesome!
DELISH! Two variations: I used the Instapot for 30 min instead of the slow cooker for three hours. Worked WONDERFULLY! And I did not have grape jelly this time (pandemic pantry, gotta use what you got!) so I substituted a can of cranberry jelly and a 1/4 cup of brown sugar. WOOHOO! It’s great! I recommend trying it, a very sublet taste difference but lovely!
Delish!