These party meatballs couldn’t be easier! Using my Alpha-Gal–safe ground turkey meatballs – Savory Turkey Meatballs – all that’s left is a simple two-ingredient sauce. Only grape jelly and barbecue sauce. Once the meatballs are fully cooked just set the crockpot to warm and let the jelly and BBQ sauce melt together into a glossy, delicious glaze. Give everything a good stir before serving. The slow cooker simply keeps them warm, saucy, and ready for guests to enjoy all party long.
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For years I stayed away from most anything with pectin in it. Mainly because it was not obvious, unless stated, that the pectin was mammal free. A few years ago I contacted Welch’s to verify ingredients. Welch’s grape jelly is useful for so many things not to mention delicious.
The company did respond and assured me that the pectin was fruit pectin and that the jelly was in fact Alpha-Gal safe. I’ve been enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ever since! They’ve actually even added that it is “fruit” pectin on the ingredients.
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I have yet to contact the company regarding this brand of BBQ sauce, however I have never had any trouble. Sweet Baby Ray’s Original is said to be vegan and includes ingredients free of animal products. If you need verification, please do reach out to the company regarding the ingredients before ingesting.
There may be other brands you know are Alpha-Gal safe and those would be fine to use as a substitute. I try not to add a BBQ sauce that has honey or added sugar because the grape jelly is already very sweet.
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Putting It All Together…
This recipe calls for turkey meatballs. If you have a recipe or brand of meatball that you know is safe it can definitely be substituted. I am providing a link to my turkey meatball recipe if you need a go to. These DO need to be cooked before adding them to the slow cooker.
However, I am always in a crunch for time and I find that making a large batch of meatballs and freezing them, ahead of time, is helpful on busy nights. Especially when I need something last minute, like this, for a party. I freeze some of the meatballs uncooked but I also freeze a separate bag of pre-cooked meatballs. So, for this recipe, you can pull pre-cooked meatballs out of the freezer or you can go ahead and make them fresh from the oven.
They won’t need to actually cook again in the slow cooker so it’s ok to just set it to “WARM.” Give it a couple of hours to melt together and it will be hot and ready to serve. You can serve these with some toothpicks beside them for a finger food type appetizer, add them to a gluten free roll for a meatball slider or just serve them via spoon and eat them with a fork and the sauce. Any way you choose, they are bound to be a crowd pleaser and are also good left over – if you have any!
Party Meatballs – Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Cook your meatballs prior to placing them in the slow cooker. You can have them precooked in the freezer or you can mix and cook them just prior to making this recipe. If added to the slow cooker frozen, plan to let them cook on low for at least 2 hours instead of placing on ”warm.”
- In the slow cooker combine the grape jelly, bbq sauce and pre-cooked meatballs.
- Set the slow cooker to warm and plan for at least 2 hours before they will be ready to serve.
