Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Meatballs (Printable)

Frozen meatballs in tangy-sweet peach preserve sauce. Effortless slow cooker appetizer or main dish ready in 3 hours.

# Required Ingredients:

→ Meatballs

01 - 2 lbs frozen fully-cooked meatballs

→ Sweet and Sour Sauce

02 - 1 cup peach or apricot preserves
03 - 1/2 cup ketchup
04 - 1/4 cup rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
05 - 2 tbsp soy sauce
06 - 1/4 cup light brown sugar
07 - 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, optional
08 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
09 - 1/2 tsp ground ginger
10 - 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional

# Directions:

01 - Transfer frozen meatballs into a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker
02 - In a mixing bowl, whisk together peach or apricot preserves, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard if using, garlic powder, ginger, and red pepper flakes until smooth
03 - Pour sauce mixture over meatballs and stir gently to coat all meatballs evenly
04 - Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours until meatballs are heated through and sauce is bubbling, stirring once or twice during cooking if possible
05 - Transfer to serving dish and serve hot as an appetizer with toothpicks or over steamed rice as a main dish

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • You can start it in the morning and forget about it until guests arrive.
  • The sauce clings to every meatball with a shiny, sweet tang that tastes like you worked much harder than you did.
  • It works as an appetizer with toothpicks or a full dinner over rice without changing a single thing.
  • There's no chopping, no browning, and almost no cleanup beyond the slow cooker insert.
02 -
  • Don't cook these on HIGH thinking it'll speed things up, the sauce can scorch around the edges and the meatballs sometimes get rubbery.
  • If your preserves have big chunks of fruit, mash them a bit with a fork before whisking so the sauce stays smooth and clings better.
  • Stir gently, not vigorously, or the meatballs can break apart and turn the sauce cloudy.
03 -
  • Line your slow cooker with a liner bag if you want zero cleanup, just lift it out and toss it when you're done.
  • Double the sauce recipe and freeze half for next time, it thaws faster than you think and turns this into a ten-minute meal.
  • If you like extra sauce for dipping or drizzling, increase the preserves and ketchup by half and don't worry about it being too thin, it'll thicken on its own.
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