This week I was in the mood for some meatballs!
These are Cocktail Meatballs!
AuthorRetroRuth
From My Mother's Personal Recipe Collection, 1977
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Mix the first 9 ingredients and shape into balls. Brown in oil. Take out and drail oi. Mix in chili sauce and jelly. Stir constantly till jelly is melted. Add meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the first 9 ingredients and shape into balls. Brown in oil. Take out and drail oi. Mix in chili sauce and jelly. Stir constantly till jelly is melted. Add meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
I have to admit I cheated a bit this week with this one. I’ve published this recipe on the blog before, though I’ve never taken photos and written it up as a real post. As I was digging out and organizing my holiday recipes, I decided to remedy that. Because if you don’t already have a version of this recipe in your family recipe box, you need to add it!
This one is special to my family because it was given to my mother by her next door neighbor in the late 1970’s. My mom made it for Christmas Eve that year and has been making it every year since.
Our family traditionally has cocktails and snacks for Christmas Eve “dinner”, which include my mom’s Party Cheese Ball recipe and these lovely meatballs. In fact, my brother has declared that it just isn’t Christmas without them!
“So, how do they taste?”
“Like Christmas.”
The Verdict: Festively Delicious
From The Tasting Notes –
These are a really good addition to your cocktail, holiday or even game day party. These are a classic in our family, and everyone agrees that they are a big part of the Christmas tradition. The meatballs are moist and juice and the sauce ends up on the sweet side of sweet-spicy. If you want something with a bit more tart to it, feel free to substitute a can of cranberry sauce for the grape jelly. My mother tends to put the finished meatballs in the crockpot and then put the sauce on top and let it cook in that way, but I like to make the sauce in the pan and let it caramelize a bit before pouring it over the meatballs in an electric skillet or chafing dish. Enjoy!
My family makes the same recipe every year! I remember my grandmother making them. She called them “sweet and sour meatballs” and we always had them with rice. So cool.
We have the same recipe as well but use currant jelly instead of the grape jelly. No family party is complete without the meatballs!
The Heinz Chili Sauce and grape jelly/cranberry sauce (or even Knott’s boysenberry preserves) sauce is a staple in our family for a lot of stuff: meatballs (we cheat and buy pre-made these days), cocktail franks, chicken thighs, stuffed cabbage, etc. I like your idea of cooking the sauce to caramelize it a bit — yum!
We may have to copy your family’s Christmas Eve tradition for Hanukkah (aka “Christmukkah”) this year. I’ve been wanting to make your cheeseball recipe for years, but haven’t had an occasion to do so.
Hope TJ is doing well! 🙂
LOVE this recipe! We’ve made these meatballs for years. They smell and taste so great! It’s the simple things….
Congrats on your little guy. I’m the oldest of six, I hope Alex is a better sport than I was.
I love these! In our house, they are known as Mrs. Fink’s Meatballs because our neighbor, Mrs. Fink, contributed the recipe to my first grade class cookbook in 1975! When I was growing up, we had them on Christmas Eve, too!
4:41 am ? must of been baby feeding time 🙂
I’ve had these made with lamb and pork and even chicken but ground chicken leaves a bit to be desired …..
I’ve never made meatballs before, but I decided these looked too good and made them last night. They’re FANTASTIC! Just the smell they give off as you’re making them is incredible. And I was surprised at how easy these were. Usually I’m a little fussy with new recipes as I’m not used to them yet, but these were very simple and good!
However, I did think the meatballs themselves were a little plain. It might have been my fault for not mincing the onion enough. Still, when I do these again, I think I’ll go heavier on the Worcestershire sauce and add in a few more spices. They went very well with rice, though!
I make these (but with ground venison), and add a couple TB of hot pepper jelly to the simmering sauce. I use dried minced onion, and bake the meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400F.
(Congratulations on your newest edition, by the way!)
These are awesome! Mom used to make these when I was in high school, back in the stone age. Thanks for reminding me of them, I’ll be making some!
Currant jelly for us, too. I like the idea of trying cranberry sauce.. that sounds like a good twist.