This sauce is sweet, a little spicy, and works beautifully with meatballs or little smokies for “small bites” at a holiday get-together. The cranberry flavor adds a nice seasonal touch to cocktail hour.
If you’re searching for an “easy entertaining” appetizer, this recipe is a winner. It was a hit for our Thanksgiving celebration this year! I paired the sauce with little smokies in the crockpot and it was a hit. We also tried a bit over cream cheese with crackers and that was tasty too! This year, we are spending Christmas in Colorado with my side of the family, so we are celebrating early with my husband’s parents before we leave. I’m bringing these little treats for us to snack on as an appetizer before dinner. Whether tossing frozen meatballs in the crockpot and adding the sauce over the top, or heating them through with the oven or microwave, then adding them to the heated sauce, this is an incredibly easy app to make. There’s no shame in using frozen meatballs and taking short-cuts, especially when a tasty, easy-to make sauce dresses them up and saves you time and effort!
To class up the presentation a bit, place the meatballs on a platter, drizzle with a little extra sauce and insert a toothpick in each for tasty little “small bites.” Then add a few cranberries with a sprig of rosemary on the platter corners for the appearance of holly branches. If you want to keep it simple and are short on time, just leave them heating in a crockpot for people to snack on throughout the party. These also work great for game day food after the holidays, using up those extra cans of cranberry sauce. It makes for a versatile, tasty, and protein-filled app. Happy eating!
Ingredients:
-2/3 c. Sweet Baby Ray’s original BBQ sauce
-2/3 sweet chili sauce
-1 cup cranberry sauce (jellied)
-2 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard
-1 tbsp soy sauce
-1/4 c. water
-splash lime juice
-fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs (optional)
*Note: I used 1 lb, 4 oz of cocktail meatballs it was the perfect ratio to go with the sauce.
Stove-top Instructions:
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and heat over the stove on medium.
- Pour over about 1 lb 4 oz of cooked meatballs, mix, then arrange on platter with toothpicks and garnishes with fresh cranberries and a sprig of rosemary (see image below). I prefer using turkey meatballs as they are often lower in fat than regular ones, but still delicious.
Crockpot Instructions:
- Add the sauce ingredients together and mix well.
- Pour over frozen meatballs and set crockpot on high. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time for them to come up to temperature before your gathering!