Grape Jelly Meatballs

Make Grape Jelly Meatballs for your next party and watch them disappear. Guests love them!

Classic Party Appetizer

If you haven’t heard of Grape Jelly Meatballs before, today’s your lucky day. This party app is so popular and easy and you know how we love easy recipes. It’s a classic party favorite but we’re updating it with a flavorful twist.

Like we said, they’re so easy to throw together and with only 4 ingredients (including the meatballs, which you can buy frozen or make your own meatballs or Gluten-free Meatballs), it doesn’t get much easier. Traditionally, the only ingredients you need to add are grape jelly and chili sauce, but I changed it up and added in a little smoked paprika to give the dish a smoky flavor. The amount listed in the recipe is just enough to give a hint, so if you’re a big fan of smoky flavor, feel free to add a bit more!

Making Grape Jelly Meatballs

The great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to just stick it in a crock pot, set and forget. (If you don’t have a slow cooker, we love this one.) I find it’s better to mix the sauce first to ensure that the grape jelly melts evenly and mixes together with the chili sauce and paprika, but if you’re short on time, you can absolutely dump everything in the slow cooker to let it mingle on its own!

Mix everything together and set on high for 2-3 hours. I recommend stirring it a couple times during the cook time just so everything has an even coating, but it’s so handy not having to watch it on the stove.

Grape Jelly Meatballs

Contributor: Sam Ellis

Make Grape Jelly Meatballs for your next party and watch them disappear. Guests love them!

• Author: Sam Ellis
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 64 meatballs 1x

Print Recipe

Ingredients

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• 1 jar (12 oz.) grape jelly
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) chili sauce
• 1/8 tsp. smoked paprika
• 64 (1/2 oz.) meatballs (32 oz. bag of frozen)

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Instructions

1. In a sauce pan, mix together the grape jelly, chili sauce, and smoked paprika over low heat. Allow the mixture to melt together and stir occasionally.
2. Place meatballs into slow cooker and pour the sauce over them. Turn slow cooker on high until meatballs are heated through and temp at 165°F inside the meatballs. Depending on the size of your slow cooker this will take 1-2 hours. Turn slow cooker down to warm setting to serve.

This post originally appeared in January 2018 and was revised and republished in January 2021.