These Raspberry Balsamic Crockpot Meatballs are made easily with frozen meatballs and cooked low and slow in a mouthwatering sweet and savory sauce made from just 5 ingredients! Perfect as a party appetizer, game day treat, or fun dinner!
This is one of my Appetizer recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
We’re past a lot of the game day parties (at least around here – go Bengals!), but I’m not ready to give up the best part about those parties.
Party foods are some of my all-time favorites! There’s something so tantalizing about a spicy buffalo chicken dip, a big platter of nachos, or a perfectly pop-able bite sized meatball.
I love this recipe because it’s different that the super popular and common bbq meatballs, but still every bit as delicious, and just as easy!
They’re great to have for a party, but also a fun dinner. Sometimes we serve these alongside some rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, or some roasted brussels sprouts and it’s quick, easy, and yummy!
How to make raspberry balsamic meatballs?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Add meatballs. Add the frozen meatballs to the slow cooker.
- Add sauce ingredients. You can mix this up in a separate bowl, or add them right to the meatballs and stir.
- Slow cook. That’s it… so easy, and so delicious
Helpful Tip!
Personally, I don’t advise using an Italian seasoned meatball variety for this recipe. I generally pick up a bag of my grocery store’s brand meatballs, in the homestyle variety. Cooked Perfect brand and Trader Joes are some other frozen meatball alternatives as well.
Variations of this recipe
- Meatballs – to save on some time, this recipe uses pre-cooked frozen meatballs, but you can use homemade meatballs if you want. Just sear or partially bake them first, so they hold up well in the slow cooker.
- Thawed – if you have thawed meatballs, you can use those, just cook on LOW for 1-2 hours, or HIGH for 45 min. – 1 hour (I would stir a couple of times if cooking on high, just to make sure the sauce doesn’t burn).
- Garlic – for some fun extra flavor, try adding some minced fresh garlic to the sauce. Add a little and just taste the sauce as you go, adding more if needed, to make sure you have the flavor you want.
- Fruit preserves – I haven’t tested this recipe with other flavors of fruit preserves, but I think using other flavors would work well.
- Honey alternatives – if you’d prefer not to use honey, agave nectar is a good substitute.
FAQ’s
Because of the strong sweet and savory flavor of the sauce, I don’t recommend a flavored meatball (such as an Italian variety). But this recipe works really well with beef, turkey, and chicken meatballs. We love to use our local grocery store’s brand, and Cooked Perfect brand.
Nope, to make things easier and for the sake of quick party prep, this recipe calls for frozen meatballs… no need to thaw. Just toss the meatballs in frozen, add the sauce ingredients, stir, and cook!
Making meatballs ahead of time
Since these meatballs cook in the slow cooker, and there’s no rushing around cooking, I don’t find that I need to make this recipe ahead of time.
If you want to do it, you can make it 1-2 days ahead, and reheat in the slow cooker until hot and bubbly.
Freezing
Meatballs can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat.
Storage
Leftover meatballs should be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
More Slow Cooker Appetizer Recipes:
My Favorite Slow Cooker!
I had this crockpot for a while now, and I really love how it cooks. The locking lid feature is amazing for taking food to potlucks or other gatherings!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 32 oz package frozen pre-cooked meatballs homestyle, beef, turkey, or chicken
- 1 cup raspberry preserves I use the seedless variety
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp dried minced onion
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
Prepare
- Add frozen meatballs to the insert of your slow cooker.
Add sauce
- Add the raspberry preserves, balsamic vinegar, honey, dried minced onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir well to coat.
Cook
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3 – 4 hours, or on HIGH for about 1 – 2 hours. I do recommend cooking on low whenever possible. While meatballs are cooking, I like to stir them every so often to make sure the sauce isn't burning.
Serve
- Serve hot, garnished with minced fresh parsley if desired.
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Chef Tips
- I’ve estimated this recipe will serve approximately 8 people, with each person getting about 4 oz of meatballs. However, please feel free to divide this recipe up into as many servings as you’d like.
- For larger gatherings, I definitely recommend doubling this recipe.
- Please note that all slow cookers cook a little differently, with some running hotter than others, so all cook times are approximate.
- This recipe was cooked and tested in a standard 6 quart slow cooker, and has not been tested in an electric pressure cooker.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Erin says
Always a hit on our table! I’m definitely making this again!
Sandra says
This recipe is my new favorite way to serve meatballs! The sauce is just perfect plus it’s very easy to make!
Beth says
Sweet and tangy meatballs have always been my favorite kind so I couldn’t wait to try these. They are so good! I love the combo of the sweet raspberry and the tangy balsamic vinegar.
Gina says
These were so good – I just camped out next to the cooker to keep refilling my plate.