Cranberry Chipotle Meatballs

  4.6 – 29 reviews  

This meatball is sweet and spicy and is excellent as an appetizer.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 4 hrs
Total Time: 4 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 16
Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 (16 ounce) package frozen cooked meatballs, thawed
  2. 1 (16 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
  3. 1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
  4. ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  5. 1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped – or more to taste

Instructions

  1. Place the meatballs into a slow cooker. In a bowl, mash the cranberry sauce roughly, and mix with the pineapple chunks, brown sugar, and chipotle chile. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, and stir to combine. Cover the cooker, set to Low setting, and cook until the sauce is thickened and the meatballs have absorbed the sauce flavors, 4 to 5 hours. Serve with toothpicks.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 132 kcal
Carbohydrate 20 g
Cholesterol 24 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 5 g
Saturated Fat 1 g
Sodium 48 mg
Sugars 18 g
Fat 4 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Marco Evans
Fantastic as is. I didn’t change a thing. I will definitely will be making this again.
Craig Price
I will say that I think most of the reviewers read the recipe as 1 can of chipotle chili peppers. I think it reads 1 canned chipotle chili pepper. quite a difference.
Sean Lane
I used the whole can of chipotle peppers, and it had the right amount of heat. I also doubled the recipe, as we were serving more than 2. They were devoured, and the sauce left over was spread on fresh bread!! Great recipe, will make again!
Richard Burton
I used the whole can of chipotle peppers, and it had the right amount of heat. I also doubled the recipe, as we were serving more than 2. They were devoured, and the sauce left over was spread on fresh bread!! Great recipe, will make again!
Marissa Cantrell
I’ve made this several times. I use an entire can of the adobo chilis and sauce. I love spicy food though. This has become my go to potluck dish and is usually a hit.
Kimberly Miller
I followed a couple of recommendations and everyone loved these! I left the juice on the pineapple and used 1 chipotle pepper and 2 T. adobo sauce. They are super-easy to make and I will definitely make them again. However, I’m thinking I may just use pineapple juice (because no one eats the pineapple) and add 2-3 peppers next time to add more zing.
Amanda Haley
How funny. I didn’t realize that the recipe called for one chile instead of a whole can until I read the reviews. I used the whole can and everyone liked them. They are definitely spicy but we love spicy food so it worked for us. Whole cranberry sauce works great as well.
Mary Richards
Followed the recipe with the exception of adding a couple extra chipotle peppers.. Outstanding..
Steven Wong
This was good, though I would add a second chile next time. One chile didn’t have enough spice for my taste. Too sweet.
Alan Potts
This recipe was great, however I did find it a tiny bit bland. I suggest adding more of the chipotle sauce the peppers come in, as the recipe only calls for one pepper (not one can).
Teresa Reed
I made this recipe for a Christmas gathering. I was a little concerned with how much to use of the chili peppers in adobe sauce. I ended up using 1-2 peppers minced finely and a bunch of the juice from the can in a double batch. They were a huge hit! Everyone raved about them and this was a typically quite picky crowd! Definitely worth a try!
Holly Underwood
Family loved this recipe. I added some ketchup and extra brown sugar to make additional sauce.
Diane Sullivan
Excellent! I followed the recipe and the only change was not draining the pineapple pieces and I made my own meatballs. I used about 1 tbsp. of adobe pepper and the sauce was a tasty combination of sweet and spicy. As it was cooking in a saucepan on the stove, I kept sampling the sauce-it was addictive. My husband couldn’t wait to eat. We loved it on rice. I will be making this for my dinner party this weekend. Thank-you for a great recipe.
Michael Waller
I made it for a party and everyone loves it. I got meatballs from Sam’s. If you are doing it for a potluck party, you are likely going to double the recipe. I pretty much followed the recipe. I did not drain the juice from the pineapple can. There are 2 types of pineapple chunks…one in heavy syrup and the other one in 100% juice (I used the latter). I doubled the recipe and only used 3 chilies and some of its sauce. It gave a hint of heat but not too overpowering. Will do it again for sure. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Joshua Strong DDS
Love spicy sweet, great hit at party. For those saying it is way to spicy, the recipe calls for one chopped chipotle pepper, not the whole can! I used one plus added a little extra sauce. Perfect.
Joseph Parker
Ok, but think I’ll go to a sweet and sour sauce next time. Won’t make this again.
Kaitlyn Short
Very tasty but very spicy if recipe is followed. Only 1 can of Chipotle chili’s would be enough. Huge hit at parties.
Russell Martinez
This is great!! I was glad to have a “tweaked” version of meatballs other than the usual BBQ or cranberry sauce meatballs. When I make it again, I will use less brown sugar and a whole can of the chipotles. It was a little too sweet for my liking, and could have used more kick. Great Recipe!!
Jack Nichols
they were ok i rater making my own meat balls and have of the chipotle sauce .
Paula Love
This sauce has a wonderful and unique flavor. I expected it to be more “holiday” tasting because of the cranberry sauce, but it’s definitely a year-round dish. (Not that cranberry sauce isn’t wonderful any time of year.) I used homemade meatballs I had frozen, two chipotles and two tsp. of the adobo sauce. I also neglected to drain the pineapple. It is -very- spicy. My boyfriend, who generally isn’t a spicy food kind of guy, has declared it his new favorite dish. Oddly enough, I think I’d prefer it as written–one chili–next time. Having read the reviews, it seemed as though some people were mistakenly adding the whole can, so I thought two peppers wouldn’t be pushing it. It is. Wonderful flavor all around, though, despite my error in judgment! Also, I served it over plain white rice, making it a main dish instead of an appetizer. I suspect the pineapple juice contributed, as it definitely gave the dish a liberal amount of “sauce.” It worked out really well. Definitely a keeper.
Manuel Berg
Fantastic! Added 2 chipotle chilies and 2 tblspns of adobo….perfect amount of spice and sweet. Great sauce….next time I will make my own meatballs. Perfect crockpot Super Bowl appy. Thanks!

 

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