Crunchy Salty Sweet

In the spirit of focusing more on family and friends during the holidays, I’m continuing the trend of easy and quick recipes for entertaining.

Instead of spending all day in the kitchen, do a little prep ahead of time, throw these bad boys in the slow cooker and enjoy the festivities!!

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a medium-sized bowl, gently mix together the meat, Parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, ritz crackers and eggs.

You could also start with frozen or pre-made meatballs to make this even quicker!

Roll the meatballs (about 2 tablespoons each) and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.

Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned.

In the slow cooker, add the chili sauce, grape jelly, ketchup, sriracha, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne.

Whisk until there are no lumps.

Add in the cooked meatballs, and gently stir to cover all the meatballs in sauce.

Cook for 4 hours on low until completely cooked through.

Serve with toothpicks and watch them disappear!

(I’ll be honest with you, the two times I made these recently, I forgot to take an ‘after’ pic…and then they were gone so fast that I didn’t get a chance!)

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Makes: 30 meatballs (serves 5-6 as an appetizer)

Prep: 5 minutes, Cook: 10 minutes (plus 4 hrs in slow cooker), Total: 15 minutes active (plus 4 hours)

• 1 lb meatball mix
• 1/2 cup white onion, diced
• 2 eggs
• 1 garlic clove
• 10 ritz crackers, crushed
• 1 jar chili sauce (12 oz) (NOT sriracha! the jar will say chili sauce)
• 1 jar grape jelly (16 oz)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon sriracha (more or less to taste)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (more or less to taste)

Preheat the oven to 400.

In a medium-sized bowl, gently mix together the meat, Parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, ritz crackers and eggs.

Roll the meatballs (about 2 tablespoons each) and place on a baking sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned.

In the slow cooker, add the chili sauce, grape jelly, ketchup, sriracha, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne.

Add in the cooked meatballs, and gently stir to cover all the meatballs in sauce.

Cook for 4 hours on low until completely cooked through.

Serve with toothpicks and watch them disappear!

NOTE: If you don’t have a slow cooker, simply make the meatballs and then in a large pot, whisk the sauce and add the meatballs. Simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour.