Sweet and Sour Crock Pot Meatballs (Printable Version)

Frozen meatballs slow-cooked in tangy-sweet peach preserves sauce. Effortless appetizer or main dish in 3 hours.

# 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 tablespoons soy sauce
06 - 1/4 cup light brown sugar
07 - 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
08 - 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
09 - 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
10 - 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

# How To Make:

01 - Place frozen meatballs into the slow cooker bowl
02 - Whisk together peach preserves, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, ginger, and red pepper flakes until smooth
03 - Pour sauce over meatballs and stir gently to coat evenly
04 - Cover and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours until meatballs are heated through and sauce is bubbling, stirring once or twice during cooking if possible
05 - Serve hot as an appetizer with toothpicks or over rice as a main dish

# Cooking Tips:

01 -
  • You can prep this in five minutes flat, then forget about it while the slow cooker does all the work.
  • The sweet-tangy sauce clings to every meatball and tastes like you spent hours balancing flavors.
  • It works as a quick weeknight dinner over rice or a party appetizer that actually impresses people.
02 -
  • Resist the urge to cook these on HIGH to speed things up, the sauce can break and turn grainy instead of silky.
  • Stirring once or twice during cooking helps redistribute the sauce, but opening the lid too often will add time to the cook.
03 -
  • Use a slow cooker liner for the easiest cleanup, the sticky sauce can be a pain to scrub off the ceramic insert.
  • If you want the sauce thicker, uncover the slow cooker for the last 30 minutes and let some of the moisture evaporate.
  • Keep these warm on the LOW setting during parties so guests can help themselves without the meatballs drying out.
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