Christmas time means Christmas parties. Sometimes a quick, simple recipe is just what you need for those last minute potlucks and family gatherings. This easy 4-ingredient recipe does just the trick.
I’ve been making a variation of these chili sauce/grape jelly meatballs for a few years now since a family friend gave me the recipe. Yes, you just read chili sauce and grape jelly in the same sentence. I promise it isn’t as strange as it sounds, and that it’s a DELICIOUS combination.
This year I upgraded the recipe by using Amazing Hazel’s Gourmet Chili Sauce, and I’m officially never changing it back.
Amazing Hazel’s is a local company that began when Dave VanWye started making chili sauce using his grandmother’s famous recipe. The sauces have been passed down in his family through many generations. His grandmother, Hazel, used to make the chili sauce and sell it during the Great Depression to make ends meet. Dave found the recipe while clearing out some old family boxes and created what is now Amazing Hazel’s!
The chili sauce can be used as a great base or condiment and is fantastic on chicken, pulled pork, hamburgers, in soups, and more. I pick up my Amazing Hazel’s Chili Sauce in the local section at the Target in Fishers, but there are a ton of retailer locations you can find it all around Indy:
- A Taste of Indiana, 62nd and Binford
- Target Grocery Stores: Greenwood, Carmel Michigan Rd, Fishers, Southport, Kokomo, Bloomington
- Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets, 10 stores: Avon, Bloomington, Broad Ripple, Carmel, W. 86th St., E. 82nd St., Evansville, Fishers, Lafayette, and Muncie
- Baesler’s Market: Terre Haute, Sullivan and Linton
- Conner Prairie Store, Fishers
- Dugger Family Farm, Morristown
- Georgetown Market, Indianapolis
- Greggs Corner Market, Waynetown
- Herculean Food Prep, Indianapolis
- Honeysuckle Hill BeeStro, Brazil
- Indiana Artisan Store, Carmel
- Market District, Carmel
- Moody’s Butcher Shop, Zionsville
- Old Bob’s Avon
- The Real Food Shoppe, Plainfield
- Wildwood Market Fountain Square
- Ye Olde Meat Shoppe, Pittsboro
Now… on to the recipe!
Amazing Hazel’s Potluck Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1 jar of Amazing Hazel’s Gourmet Chili Sauce
- 1 18 oz. jar of grape jelly
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 26 oz. bags of frozen meatballs (or 3.25 pounds of homemade ones)
- 7+ quart slow cooker
To start out, go ahead and turn your slow cooker on high to warm up while you mix the sauce up.
Next, add the Amazing Hazel’s Chili Sauce, grape jelly and pinch of cayenne pepper to a medium saucepan.
Stir over medium heat until the sauce is hot and all the jelly has dissolved.
When adding everything to the slow cooker, first pour in one bag of meatballs and then coat them with half of the sauce. Then, add the second bag of meatballs and pour the remainder of the sauce over them.
Cover and cook on high for 2.5 hours, or on low for 3.5-4 hours. Just check to make sure all the meatballs are done.
Once they’re ready to serve, switch the slow cooker to low or a “keep warm” setting. I like to sit out toothpicks or small forks for those who just want to grab one and go.
These really are one of my favorite appetizers. I’ve made them for a family party and an office potluck and they’ve been a big hit! These Amazing Hazel’s Meatballs are perfect for all the upcoming holiday parties too. Just make them ahead of time and take your crock pot with you!
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