Appetizer Meatballs ~ easy cranberry sweet & sour recipe
These bite sized, sweet and sour, meatballs are so incredibly tasty you will not be able to stop eating them once you’ve tried one. Appetizer meatballs go well with any party menu, ranging from tailgating to rehearsal dinner hors d’oeuvres!
Why I love these meatballs so much
This past Friday night we had a group of good friends over for an appetizer buffet. We each made two or three appetizers and had ourselves a feast. This is my favorite way to eat. Grazing. All night long eating a little bit of this a little bit of that. I thought I would share with you, some of my tried and true appetizers. Starting with these meatballs they are fabulous, festive and always a hit. This easy meatball recipe is a holiday tradition, but honestly you can make these anytime of the year. I also love that if you are pressed for time you can forgo making homemade meatballs and use store-bought meatballs / pre-cooked meatballs. I’m a bit of a stickler about making my own meatballs, however one thing I will do is make a double batch, (As long as your getting your hands dirty might as well go all in!) and then I will freeze half. They are the perfect hearty appetizer for a family gathering, New Years Eve, or Super Bowl Parties.
Gather these ingredients
How to make appetizer meatballs
In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients.
Mix all the ingredients together, using your hands, until completely combined. Make sure there are no clumps of bread crumbs. If touching meat is not your favorite thing to do, you can use a fork, but honestly nothing works better than your hands for mixing ingredients into ground meat. Be sure to wash your hands well with warm water and soap, before and after.
This is what your meat mixture should look like just before forming your meatballs. You will want to make small meatballs / bite sized. I use a cookie scoop that is 1 tablespoon. When I scoop the meat mixture I make sure to level it off, so only the scoop is full nothing is over the edge. Then I roll the meat mixture in the palm of my hand to ensure a nice round, bite sized appetizer meatball.
Line the meatballs up in a baking dish. You will get between 45-50 meatballs. Set aside and make your sauce. Now is a good time to turn your oven on to 350 degrees f.
Making the sauce
Strain juice off sauerkraut. Add sauce ingredients; sauerkraut, the whole can of cranberry sauce, brown sugar, and a jar of chili sauce to a medium sized saucepan. Over medium heat bring to a low boil while stirring. Continue to cook and stir, after sauce begins to boil turn down to low heat and cook for another 5 minutes.
Oh my goodness this tangy sauce smells so good!
Spoon sweet and sour sauce evenly over the wee little meatballs. How many times have written meatballs in this post? I’ll count and tell you at the end! Now pop this delicious recipe in your preheated oven for 30 minutes, turn up your oven temperature to 400 and bake and additional 15 minutes.
It’s not easy photographing certain foods. I hope you make these cranberry meatballs because then you will be able to look past the bumpy red stuff and see the the deliciousness.
Come to mamma you sassy little meatball! After baking you can serve them straight out of the baking dish with cocktail toothpicks poked into each one for ease of snacking. Or you can spoon these sweet and sour meatballs into a crockpot and turn on the warm setting.
Tips, Variations & FAQs
- Can I make these meatballs with ground chicken or turkey? Ground chicken and turkey both work in this recipe. However, because of the added water content that seems to be in ground poultry you will want to only use one egg and add extra bread crumbs. You want them to hold their shape when you form them so think about this when adding more bread crumbs, also refrigerating the meat mixture for a little while will also help firm up it up for forming the meatballs. Do everything else exactly as the recipe card says.
- Make Ahead Directions: This recipe is the perfect make ahead recipe. Make as directed in the recipe card below, then allow meatballs to cool completely, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days before serving. Place in crockpot add 1/2 cup water and reheat.
- Freezer Directions: Prepare meatballs as directed in recipe card. Allow meatballs to cool completely, place in a freezer safe zip-loc bag or airtight container, place in freezer. Meatballs can be frozen for up to 2 months before reheating. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator, add 1/2 cup of water, then place in crock pot for reheating. You can also reheat in a large skillet, add 1/2 cup of water, serve from the skillet or place them in warming dish.
- Size of meatballs. If you have the patients you can make these meat balls even smaller, giving you up to 80 tiny bite sized sweet and sour cocktail meatballs.
If you guessed twenty-eight, then you win the prize! Your prize is this recipe and knowing you were right! I would be so grateful if you make these meatballs if you would rate them, share them on your socials, pin them. You can do all that right from the side bar! Thanks so much, Sheila
Appetizer Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 9×13 baking dish
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 1 package 2 ounce dry onion mix
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper add more to your taste
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 1 pound canned whole berry cranberries
- 1 pound canned sauerkraut drained
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 12 ounce jar chili sauce
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Meatballs
- Add all the meatball ingredients together in a both and mix thoroughly. The best way to do this is by using your hands.
- Using a tablespoon scoop roll meat mixture into 45 bite sized meat balls, place them in a 9×13 baking dish. It is OK to pack them in tightly. If you use a teaspoon you will get up to 80 meatballs.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Drain can of sauerkraut in a strainer or colander pressing juices out with the back of a spoon.
- In a 3 quart sauce pan add together sauerkraut and the remaining sauce ingredients. Place pan on burner and turn heat up to medium high, stir until sugar seems to have dissolved and mixture starts to boil. Turn heat down to low, but keeping sauce at a simmer cook for an additional 5 minutes. Continue to stir, making sure the sauce doesn't burn in the bottom of the pan.
- Using a spatula to get every last bit of sauce, pour sauce over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn heat up to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and serve immediately, or move meatballs and sauce to a crock pot place temperature setting on warm and serve.
Making ahead:
- If you are making in advance for a party. Do all the steps above. Allow to cool, then place meatballs and sauce into zip loc storage bags or some sort of airtight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 2 month. When ready to use. Remove from freezer, allow to thaw, place in crock pot or baking dish add 1/2 cup water or broth to meat balls and reheat. Serve. Enjoy!
Kristen, I actually had that in the post initially, but then took it out. Maybe I should rename these meatballs Kristens Award Winning meat-a-balz!
Too funny, I have won many "appetizer cook offs" with this here recipe!!!
Kristen Vanlaecke
I love recipes like this…. can be made ahead and are perfect for holiday entertaining. I'm bookmarking this one now. Thanks for sharing! have a great day.