• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Easy Budget Recipes

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
      • Terms Of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclosure
    • Budget Recipes Explained
    • Easy Recipes and Meal Plans
    • Easy Budget Healthy Recipes
    • How to Get Kids Involved in Cooking
    • Budgeting Tips
  • Contact
  • All Recipes
    • Appetizer
    • Bread
    • Breakfast
    • Copycat
    • Dessert
    • Drink
    • Healthy
    • Instant Pot
    • Main Dish
    • Recipes Kids Can Make
    • Salads
    • Side Dish
    • Slow Cooker
    • Snacks
  • Recipes By Cost
    • $5 Recipes
    • $10 Recipes
    • $15 RECIPES
    • +$15 Recipes

Home » Recipes » Appetizer » Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs

Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs

Pin
Share
Tweet
Share

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE SEE OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR DETAILS.

Recipe Cost $10.91
Recipe Serving Cost $0.46
Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
This Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs recipe is a super easy recipe made with just five ingredients. Whether you serve it as an appetizer or main dish, it will serve a crowd! via @easybudgetrecipesThis Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs recipe is a super easy recipe made with just five ingredients. Whether you serve it as an appetizer or main dish, it will serve a crowd! via @easybudgetrecipesThis Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs recipe is a super easy recipe made with just five ingredients. Whether you serve it as an appetizer or main dish, it will serve a crowd! via @easybudgetrecipes

This Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs recipe is a super easy recipe made with just five ingredients. Whether you serve it as an appetizer or main dish, it will serve a crowd!

Cranberry Meatballs are an easy appetizer or main dish made in the crockpot for about $10.91, which is just $0.46 per serving when served as an appetizer and $1.09 as the main dish.  

Meatballs make the perfect appetizer for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or any other gathering. For more appetizer ideas, be sure to look at our Cheesy Mexican Sausage Dip and our Pepperoni Pizza Rolls.

A bowl of crockpot cranberry meatballs with a bite taken out of one.

Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs

Do you need an easy appetizer that is low-stress, full of flavor, and only uses a few ingredients? Then our recipe for Cranberry Meatballs is definitely for you! The recipe calls for only FIVE ingredients. 

You can throw this together in a matter of minutes. Dump the ingredients in the crockpot, walk away, then come a few hours later to some amazing Cranberry Meatballs. That’s it! This recipe makes your holiday entertaining just a little bit easier. 

These meatballs are a little sweet, a lot savory, and incredibly juicy and tender. Everything we look for in a meatball. They are a crowd-pleaser every time at any Holiday Party, a big college game day, a Superbowl party, or a potluck.

You see where we are going with this. Cranberry meatballs can really be made and enjoyed year-round, not just at Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

Cooking the meatballs in the cranberry sauce is the BEST combo, which leaves you with melt-in-your-mouth goodness with each meatball. Just be careful not to get too full for dinner as it will be hard to resist having more than only a few of these at a time!

A toothpick lifting up a cranberry meatball with smoked sausage.

Should you brown meatballs before slow cooking?

There is no need to brown the meatballs before placing them in the slow cooker. The slow cooker does the work for you. It is the perfect way to get tender, juicy meatballs with minimal effort. 

How long can meatballs stay in a crockpot?

Cook the meatballs on low for 4-6 hours. If they cook longer than this, they may become tough and hard to chew. 

What do I serve meatballs with?

If you are going to use these Cranberry Meatballs as the main dish, you can serve them with Jenna’s Naughty Mashed Potatoes, serve them over rice or egg noodles, and whip up some Instant Pot Corn on the Cob for a complete meal. 

How much will this Crockpot Cranberry Meatball recipe cost to make: 

RECIPE COST: $10.91

APPETIZER PRICE PER SERVING: $0.46

MAIN DISH PRICE PER SERVING: $1.09

An overhead picture of all of the ingredients needed to make Cranberry Meatballs

  • 2 pound frozen pre-cooked meatballs – $5.96
  • 14 ounces smoked sausage rope – $2.98
  • 2 (14 ounces) cans jellied cranberry sauce – $1.88
  • 3 Tablespoons Sriracha – $0.06
  • 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar – $0.03

To find out more about how we price our recipes, check out Budget Recipes Explained. 

How to make Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs recipe: 

A picture collage of the cranberry meatballs in the crockpot before and after they are cooked.

STEP ONE:  First, add the meatballs, sausage, cranberry sauce, Sriracha, and brown sugar to the slow cooker. 

STEP TWO: Then cook on low for 4-5 hours. After 1 hour of cooking, stir the ingredients together (this will give the cranberry sauce time to melt). 

STEP THREE: Finally, serve immediately as an appetizer or main dish. 

Cook’s Tools:

  • cutting board
  • chef’s knife
  • slow cooker
  • measuring spoons

The Flavor and Recipe Variations

If you don’t like smoked sausage, you can just leave them out. 

Serve the cranberry meatballs over white rice or egg noodles when serving as a main dish. 

How long is it good for:

Serve: As with most recipes, you shouldn’t leave these meatballs out for longer than 2 hours. 

Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

Freeze: This recipe comes together so quickly that there isn’t really a benefit to freezing it. With that said, you can freeze the cranberry meatballs. Just cool them down and then freeze in freezer-safe containers or Ziploc bags. 

How to get the kids involved with this recipe:

Ages 2-3: Let them pour the bag of meatballs into the slow cooker. They can practice counting how many meatballs they see. 

Ages 4-5: Have your kiddo help measure and pour the ingredients into the slow cooker. 

Ages 6-8: This is a great recipe to let your child try on their own. It is effortless with few ingredients and will build their cooking skills self-esteem immensely. 

Ages 9-11: Supervise them while they prepare the entire recipe. Remember to have them read it twice before beginning the recipe. 

Ages 12+: Let them prepare the entire recipe, unsupervised, while you do the happy dance in the corner!

A picture of Cranberry Meatballs served as an appetizer with toothpicks or a main dish over white rice.

More $10 recipes:

  • 4th of July Poke Cake
  • 20-Minute Thai Peanut Noodles
  • BBQ Chicken Braid
  • Cake Mix Peach Cobbler
  • Copycat Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo
  • Cranberry Party Punch
  • Easy Chana Masala
  • Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts
  • Homemade Sloppy Joes
  • Inside Out Chicken Pot Pie
  • Jenna’s Chicken Pillows
  • Panda Express Orange Chicken Copycat
A wooden spoon lifting up cranberry meatballs from the slow cooker.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs with Smoked Sausage

Recipe Cost $10.91
Recipe Serving Cost $0.46
This Crockpot Cranberry Meatballs recipe is a super easy recipe made with just five ingredients. Whether you serve it as an appetizer or main dish, it will serve a crowd!
Prep Time5 mins
4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 5 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cranberry, meatballs, smoked sausage
Servings: 24 people
Calories: 187kcal
Author: Easy Budget Recipes Original!

Equipment

  • cutting board
  • chef's knife
  • slow cooker
  • Measuring spoons

Ingredients

  • 2 lb bag frozen pre-cooked meatballs we recommend turkey meatballs
  • 14 ounces smoked sausage rope sliced into ½-inch pieces
  • 2 (14 ounces cans) jellied cranberry sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons Sriracha
  • 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

FOR SERVING (optional):

  • White rice
  • Egg noodles
  • chopped fresh parsley
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Add meatballs, smoked sausage, cranberry sauce, Sriracha, and light brown to a slow cooker insert.
  • Cook on LOW for 4-5 hours. Stir after 1 hour.
  • Serve as an appetizer or over white rice or egg noodles for dinner.

Notes

This recipe will serve 24 as an appetizer and 10 as a main dish. The nutrition information below reflects serving it as an appetizer.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 187kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 378mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you love this recipe?We'd love to hear from you, follow us on our Facebook page @EasyBudgetRecipesOfficial and let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
Pin
Share
Tweet
Share

Related

Filed Under: $10 Recipes, Appetizer, Main Dish, Side Dish, Slow Cooker Tagged With: brown sugare rope, jellied cranberry sauce, meatballs, smoked sausage, Sriracha sauce

Previous Post: « Witches’ Brew Halloween Drink
Next Post: Eggs Benedict Breakfast Braid »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nellie Tracy

    October 17, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    5 stars
    We love to have lots of different appetizers for Christmas Day food and this is definitely getting added to the list!

    Reply
    • Jess Jankowski

      October 17, 2020 at 8:52 pm

      That’s awesome Nellie. Enjoy!

  2. Susan

    October 17, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe couldn’t be easier. Simple to make when I have friends over!

    Reply
    • Jess Jankowski

      October 17, 2020 at 8:52 pm

      Susan, so happy you love it!

  3. Tialyn

    November 1, 2020 at 3:15 pm

    5 stars
    These are so so so good! Love how easy they are!!!

    Reply
    • Jess Jankowski

      November 3, 2020 at 2:11 pm

      My kids request them almost weekly!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

 

Beth, Jill, and Jess of Easy Budget Recipes

We’re Beth, Jill, and Jess, and we’re the team of sisters-in-law behind Easy Budget Recipes!

Combined, we have over 50 years of cooking, meal planning, and budgeting experience. Each of our recipes serves at least six people, and we have broken down the cost of every recipe for you so that it’s easier to budget your shopping list every week!

We’re so glad that you’re here. Find out more ABOUT US!

Recent Posts

  • Walking Tacos
  • Easy Valentine’s Day Fudge Recipe
  • White Chocolate Dipped Oreos
  • Baked Chicken Wings
  • Valentine’s Rolo Pretzel Turtles

Categories

Copyright © 2021 · EasyBudgetRecipes.com · ToS & Privacy Policy