Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Meatballs (Printer-Friendly)

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

# What You'll Need:

→ 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
08 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
09 - 1/2 tsp ground ginger
10 - 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

# How To Make:

01 - Place frozen meatballs into the slow cooker bowl
02 - In a mixing bowl, whisk together peach or apricot preserves, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes until smooth
03 - Pour sauce over meatballs and stir gently to coat all pieces evenly
04 - Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours until meatballs are heated through and sauce is bubbling. Stir 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 course

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • Five minutes of hands-on work means you can start this and disappear until guests arrive.
  • The preserves create a glossy, restaurant-style glaze that tastes way fancier than the effort involved.
  • It works just as well as a quick weeknight dinner over rice or a party appetizer with toothpicks.
  • Leftovers reheat beautifully and somehow taste even better the next day.
02 -
  • Don't use HIGH heat thinking it'll be faster, the sauce can get too thick and sticky before the meatballs heat evenly.
  • If your sauce looks thin after a few hours, leave the lid cracked for the last 30 minutes to let it reduce and thicken up beautifully.
  • Stirring halfway through prevents the bottom meatballs from sitting in all the sauce while the top ones stay dry.
03 -
  • Use a slow cooker liner for the easiest cleanup you've ever experienced with a sticky sauce.
  • Taste the sauce before pouring it over, if your preserves are super sweet, cut back on the brown sugar a bit.
  • Keep a batch of this sauce mixed and stored in a jar in the fridge, then you can make these anytime in under a minute of prep.
Go Back