I have brought these meatballs to our family’s Christmas eve party for the last two years and both times they disappeared quickly, followed by high praise. For good reason–they are the best party meatballs evah! Even if you don’t add the peppers, they’re great, but the peppers add some nutrition, some beauty, some class, some variety, some color, and, most importantly, some extra flavah!
Betty Crockah! Respiratah! Operatah! What’s for dinnah? ……..supercalifragilisticexpialidociousah!
I apologize. I’m sort of crazy with exhaustion right now and am finding the strangest things amusing. You should try replacing the ending letters of words with “ah” when you’re tired, too. It makes exhaustion more interesting.
Anyway.
I’m squeezing this recipe in this week (and I have so many more to come–sorry I’m a procrastinator!) because you so need to bring them to your own Christmas eve party this year and then keep making them for things like New Years, the Supah Bowl (hehehe), potlucks, etc., etc. They are the best evah! Wait, I already said that. I’m so tired.
Crockpot Meatballs and Peppers in Cranberry Chili Sauce
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
1 (5 pound) bag frozen Italian meatballs
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 (14 ounce) cans jellied cranberry sauce
2 (12 ounce) jars chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional but recommended
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Place the meatballs in crockpot. Slice all the peppers into strips, discarding the cores and seeds, and place on top of the meatballs. In a large saucepan, combine the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt, and some pepper, and bring to a simmer. Whisk while heating until the sauces combine and you have a smooth sauce. Pour over the peppers and meatballs; do not stir. Cook on the low setting for 8 hours or on high for about 4 to 5 hours. Stir well to incorporate the peppers before serving. To make these into a meal, serve over rice.
Recipe source: adapted from The Cooking Photographer.
A big thanks to my husband, Dennis, who took the photos for me because I’ve been so busy! God bless him. He’s the best. Evah. :)
Veronica's Cornucopia 
Wow this meatball dish sounds really flavourful and tasty. I love the combination of cranberry and peppers… it sounds very interesting and delicious :)
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what an easy and tasty dish!
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I LOVE meatballs! They look supah with the peppers!
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Bwahahahaha! Thank you for playing along. :)
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Wow, meatballs with cranberry sauce? That reminds me so much of Ikea. And my mouth is watering.
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It’s sort of like a different twist on sweet and sour meatballs. So good!
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Meatballs are a such a great potluck food and these look delicious! I agree about the addition of peppers — great idea!
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The cranberry/chili sauce combo sounds killah. =)
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Teehee–thank you for joining in my insanity. :)
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Just had to tell you, my daughter made these meatballs for our Christmas Eve get-together and they were such a hit! Everyone raved over them. My idea..*said humbly*..when she asked me about something new to add this year, these came to mind. She doesn`t like frozen meatballs so she made her own, but stuck to the recipe other wise and we are so glad she did. Yummy! Thanks a million..your recipes never fail to please.
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So glad you tried them! I hate frozen meatballs but this is the only way I’ll eat them. Glad they were a hit!
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I just had to tell you, I found this recipe a while back when I was taking my first looksie around here, and I can’t believe I never thought about putting peppers in with them! I have a brunch today and made sausage meatballs and just put them in the slow cooker with a ton of colorful peppers! I found some berry balsamic sauce that I am using in place of the cranberry & can’t wait to see how they turn out! Thanks so much for the idea!
PS – I’ve missed seeing you around! : )
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I have to give credit where it is due, my friend Laura thought of it and I was like you–why didn’t I ever think of that?! I saw your post on the brunch, it looked so lovely!!
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