3 ingredient cranberry meatballs with frozen meatballs or homemade with ground beef will be a hit this Thanksgiving as a fun appetizer. Baked in the oven you can cook it with all your other dishes with this sweet and tangy Ocean Spray sauce.
Looking for a great party appetizer? Try cranberry meatballs this holiday season! Weโll show you how to make easy homemade meatballs and whip together this 3 ingredient sauce too. (affiliate links present)
Nothing says Christmas like all things cranberry. BUT of course you can make these year roundโฆ.. Youโre going to start with this basic meatball recipe here. It is super versatile!!
We smothered them with cranberry barbecue sauce of sorts but use your imagination and make a ton of different varieties. This is one of our favorite cranberry recipes though. Let us know what you think in the comments below when you make them!
Ingredient Notes
- Can of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, jellied or you could I suppose you could use leftover Instant Pot cranberry sauce
- Brown sugar for sweetness, you can add a dash of soy sauce if it is a bit too sweet for you
- Chili Sauce is found where the ketchup is at the store and is kindaโ a cross between bbq, ketchup and cocktail sauce I guess.
- Meatballs either made fresh or frozen right out of the freezer.
Beyond pouring this on top of your meatballs you could use this for a lot of other things. Want a festive turkey glaze? Try this! Make it in a big pot with little smokies and make those as a party appetizer too. The options are endless really when you find a great sauce.
in the Oven
No matter which way you decide to bake them you will want to combine sauce ingredients together over medium heat until smooth. In the oven you can cook right in it which means that the flavors are more intense. You can add a bit of hot sauce too if you want heat. Instructions are below but total bake time will be about 30 minutes.
in air fryer
You could brown air fryer frozen meatballs first or make from scratch with ground sausage and beef together first and air fry at 400 until done. Once golden brown then combine the two together for an appetizer.
in slow cooker
Many times I will set our Crockpot frozen meatballs in the morning though to get nice and tender and then instead of baking with the sauce I will just fold everything together and serve right in this same pot. That decision is totally up to you. One is obviously quicker than the other.
in pressure cooker
You can also defrost and cook Instant Pot frozen meatballs in a jiffy this way. I will typically use whichever method I am going to use from beginning to end. So if I use this to thaw I will add the sauce right in that same pot after draining the water.
with homemade meatballs
In a large bowl combine ground beef, sausage, garlic powder and other ingredients stated below in recipe card. Form balls and bake at 350F on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. If you wanted to skip the oven and just use a cast iron skillet you could. Just use the instructions on how to cook meatballs on the stovetop here for timing etc.
FAQ
Hormel comes in at the top when a survey was conducted. Omaha Steaks was second followed by Devault brand. Personally I have bought a number of brands and never found one to be โbadโ. I will admit that the higher priced bags do have the best texture to them. Iโd recommend those. In the end homemade is just best, period.
If youโre feeding a large crowd that will enjoy these all day long using a Crock pot is best! Put on low for 1 hour and then on warm for the rest of the time. Keep the lid on and have skewers or toothpicks beside your pot for snacking.
If you donโt have any leftover or canned cranberry sauce, you can use any other type of sweet and tart sauce, such as grape jelly, apricot jam, or applesauce.
Yes, you can make these meatballs ahead of time. Simply form into balls and then freeze them on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag or container. When you are ready to cook them, simply thaw them in the refrigerator overnight or in the microwave for a few minutes.
Cranberry Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 9ร13 dish
Ingredients
Homemade Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef, lean
- 1 lb ground pork, mild or could use spicy for a kick
- 1 c quick oats
- 1/2 c onion, finely diced
- 1 egg
- Sauce
- 2/3 c evaporated milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder, optional
Cranberry Meatballs Sauce
- 14 oz cranberry sauce, jellied
- 12 oz chili sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a bowl combine all ingredients for meatballs at the top of the recipe card. Shape them into 1 โ 1 1/2" balls and place on a non stick baking sheet or in a 9ร13 pan. (skip this step if using frozen, just set those on sheet pan in single layer and follow cooking directions on back of bag)
- Bake homemade for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned on the outside.
- While they are baking add sauce ingredients into a pan and warm on medium heat on your stovetop. Allow to simmer for a few minutes stirring intermittently, then set to low and cover for 5-10 minutes stirring often.
- When meatballs are done baking remove from baking sheet and put into 9ร13 pan if they aren't in this already.
- Spoon cranberry sauce over them so all meat is covered and coated.
- Continue baking at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
- Serve!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What to serve with meatballs
- Sweet and sour sauce is another idea if you want to have a meatball bar of sorts.
- Pasta always goes well
- Meatballs with cheese on a skewer is a great appetizer
- Pair them with your favorite pull apart bread with refrigerated biscuits
- White rice
- Mixed vegetables
- If you want to just serve appetizers for dinner I would say our air fryer wings recipe go well with cranberry meatballs too.
Other Thanksgiving cranberry recipes youโll love
- Pumpkin cranberry bread is great for brunch
- Our cranberry cobbler is always a hit
How do you keep meatballs moist?
- Add moist ingredients into the mix
- like finely chopped or grated onions, parsley, parmesan cheese, barbecue sauce, etcโฆ.
- some like adding rice like in our Instant Pot porcupine meatballs recipe.
- Do like we did by mixing a higher fat ground sausage with your lower fat ground beef.
- Go easy on mixing everything together really well.
This last stage of cook time is just for the meat to absorb this wonderful cranberry barbecue sauce. It is similar to the well known grape jelly meatballs recipe. You could make both really if youโre having a party.
