Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Meatballs (Print Version)

Frozen meatballs in tangy-sweet peach preserves sauce. Effortless appetizer or main dish in your slow cooker.

# What You 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, optional
08 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
09 - 1/2 tsp ground ginger
10 - 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional

# How To Make:

01 - Place frozen meatballs into the bowl of a 4-6 quart slow cooker
02 - In a mixing bowl, whisk together peach or apricot preserves, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard if using, garlic powder, ginger, and red pepper flakes until smooth
03 - Pour sauce over meatballs and stir gently to coat all meatballs 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 - Serve hot as an appetizer with toothpicks or over steamed jasmine rice as a main dish

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • You can start this with ingredients straight from the freezer and pantry, no thawing or chopping required.
  • The sweet and tangy sauce clings to every meatball and tastes like you spent hours balancing flavors.
  • It works equally well as a quick weeknight dinner over rice or a party appetizer that disappears in minutes.
  • Even picky eaters who claim they don't like sweet and sour anything come back for seconds.
02 -
  • Don't skip stirring at least once during cooking or the meatballs on the bottom can stick and the ones on top stay dry.
  • If your sauce looks too thin after cooking, leave the lid off for the last 20 minutes to let it reduce and thicken.
  • Use a slow cooker liner if you want cleanup to take 10 seconds instead of 10 minutes of scrubbing.
03 -
  • Stir in chunks of fresh pineapple and diced bell pepper during the last hour of cooking for a more vibrant, restaurant-style sweet and sour.
  • If you're serving this at a party, start it in the morning so your house smells amazing by the time guests arrive.
  • Use a small slow cooker if you're halving the recipe, a 3-quart works perfectly for a smaller batch.
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