Cape Cod Cocktail Meatballs

These meatballs are the best EVER! I've been making them for over 3 decades and they have always been a hit. Always the first appetizer to go! The vibrant color alone make it a perfect appetizer for the holidays. If I could, I would give them 10 STARS!

I thought these were fantastic and everyone at the party raved about them. The only changes I made were fewer bread crumbs-about 1/2-3/4 of a cup in the meatballs-always depends on the fat content of the meat; I did add the can of chopped pineapple to the sauce as another reviewer suggested and I think that is a great add-in for this recipe. I put the meatballs in the crock pot when they were done-about medium and I cooked the sauce longer on the stove-about med. heat for 10 mins. or so, stirring continuously. Then I poured the sauce over the meatballs in the crock pot and had them on low for about an hour before serving. These are going to be my go-to appetizer for work parties and other events like that. They are just a bit different so it's not the usual cocktail meatball. They taste great and are pretty easy to make.

These were great! I would never have thought to use canned cranberry sauce for a meatball sauce. Glad I did!

Jazzyrobn was so right! I brought these to our Christmas party last night and they were devoured in minutes! People were upset that I didn't have more and I brought about 60 of them. Many asked for the recipe and loved that it uses jellied cranberry sauce for the glaze. The only thing I do differently is that I put the drained meatballs into a crock pot and pour the sauce over them and heat on high for 1 hour. The crock pot stays nice and hot and they are easier to transport to wherever you maybe going. This will definitely be my go-to potluck dish from now on. Loved it!! Edited on 12-18-15 -- I brought these cocktail meatballs to another Christmas party this year and, again, the crock pot came home empty. :)

This was a Recipe Group selection. I made these meatballs larger and served with white rice for dinner. I really liked the sauce and would give it a 5; I used whole berry sauce. However, my whole family thought the meatballs were rather bland and would give them a 3. So I'll call the total recipe a 4. Next time I would double the garlic powder and onion and add some salt and pepper to the meatball mixture. Someone else suggested half sausage, which would also be better.

I really didn't like them. It was a disappointment as I took them to a buffet for Christmas. People said they were good tho'. I won't make them again. I did make them as written in the recipe.

I made the meatballs larger so I could serve it as a supper and it was very good. Very moist meatballs, sauce just had a touch of sweetness and was very good served with rice. I would definitely do this as an appetizer at a party or potluck!

Great Recipe! Love the cranberry, much better than jelly that I've had in other cocktail meatballs.

The recipe was good, but too sweet for me.

I have also made these meatballs for 30 years and they are always a hit at potlucks and family parties. Once made I put them in a crockpot on low and they are good to go for all day snacking. :)

Made this for Recipe Group...LOVED these! So simple to make and so yummy...they were gone in a flash! To save some time, I made/baked the meatballs the day before, then made the sauce the next day and poured it on right before I was ready to bake them the second time...worked perfectly. A definite keeper~YUM! Thanks for sharing. :)

This is a good basic recipe that can be made much better by adding different spices especially Italian herbs and sausage in the meatballs. I also use the whole berry cranberry sauce by Ocean Spray. This was the Buzz Recipe Group selection for the last week of December, 2013.

These meatballs were delicious, although I like a little sweet and spicy myself, so I added a little bit of cayenne pepper and a little bit of smoked paprika to the sauce while it was simmering on the stove top! very delicious this way!!

Made these meatballs for a Christmas party and they were AWESOME! Everybody raved about them. The recipe made 60 cocktail meatballs.

To much ketchup for my taste. Next time I will use only about half of the ketchup. The meat balls where delish

I have made these for to separate family functions and each time they have been a huge hit. I did use precooked/frozen meatballs to speed up prep time due to limited cooking space. I also added 1TBSP of either hot pepper jelly or hot cranberry jelly per batch of sauce. It gave them a little more kick for those that love just a little spice.

These were very good! I definitely would make these again. They went quick! Delish!

Recipe Group Selection for December 28, 2013 – I thought they had good flavor and looked very appealing. You know that others thought they were very good because there was none left.

After cooking the meatballs, I cooked them in the sauce in the crockpot on low for a few hours & then kept them warm until serving. Great way to make ahead & my company loved them!

Put these in the slow cooker after baked in the oven at 350 for 15min . Made with grape jelly and added a bit more brown sugar. They were perfect served over white rice

Made as written. Meatballs were heavy and lacked flavor, sauce tasted like ketchup. Just not that great. Won’t make again.

Great recipe, even used ground sirloin 90% and they were still very soft and delicious.

I love this recipie, and occasionally add crushed pinapple to the glaze in order to make it taste more like sweet n sour sauce.

These were great!!! I loved them, but my son said give them one star, I said no way!!! They were great!!!

Made for New Years Eve and they were delicious. When baking, I put the meatballs on a cookie sheet with a rack.

This is a great recipe. The changes I made were slight and my preferences only. * I used a a mix of beef, veal, and pork for my meatballs, 1/3 each for the 2lbs. * Rather than grate the onions, I chopped mine fine and sauteed with a touch of olive oil. Then mixed in with the meat mixture. Otherwise, I followed the meatballs recipe. For the sauce, I just added a small cup of O.J. and a little extra splash o f lemon juice. to kick up the citrus. I will likely make these again.

Made this recipe added garlic lemon juice brown sugar to ingredients everyone enjoyed them makes a good amount rated them 4 because they needed a little zip maybe cayenne or red pepper

Not a hit with my family, the cocktail meatballs from this site remain the favorite. Recipes are similar, one has ketchup and other uses chili sauce.

It was OK, but would make it easier to just put meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce or teriyaki sauce. Used frozen Italian meatballs . Probably won't make again.

Yummy. I used more brown sugar. Served for lunch with garlic bread.

My favorite go-to recipe

These meatballs are amazing. I make them for work pot lucks and everyone goes nuts. I make them at home with mashed potatoes for my meat and potatoes husband. I didn't change a thing. Great for the crock pot too.

The sauce was a bit sweet so we decided next time we'd add some red pepper to the sauce. Otherwise very good.

These were easy and flavorful. I received quite a few requests for the recipe. Personally, I did think they were a tad sweet and ketchupy tasting, thus the 4 stars instead of 5. They worked great as cocktail meatballs. Not so sure I would like these as a main dish.

I didn't change a thing and my kids loved them.

I made a few changes to this recipe. I added 1# of sweet Italian sausage, 1 -1/2 cups of shredded parmesan cheese, and used panko instead of bread crumbs and then increased all ingredients by 1/2 due to the addition of the sausage. Cooked the meatballs for 30 minutes in the oven and then in a crock pot for 2 hours on high before taking them to a Christmas party. They were a big hit and all gone by the time we got home. Loved the sweetness of the cranberry sauce and the overall taste of the meatballs. Definitely 5 star and will be making again.

This was delicious but we found it a little on the sweet side, so next time I will cut the brown sugar down to 1T. (there's lots of sugar in ketchup and cranberry sauce!). I also added some salt and pepper to the meatball mixture. I had leftover sauce, so made another l lb. of ground beef into meatballs and added the sauce and when the meatballs were cooked I reheated in the sauce in the micro just till hot. Delish - so next time I will use 3 lbs. of ground meat and the same amount of sauce. My daughter cannot eat gluten, so I used 2 slices of gluten free bread and made it into breadcrumbs.

Excellent recipe- I made these as written. They were a hit. Very easy and delicious- will make these again.

Added sweet baby rays bbq sauce

These meatballs are a little bland in my opinion. I wouldn't make them again. Maybe you could add a spice/herb to brighten the flavor.

Simple recipe and absolutely delicious! I wiill make this recipe often!

Very good. A little sweet for me next time I will tone down the sugar. Everyone loved them and they went quick.

Made these for our New England Themed Super Bowl party last year, making again for Good luck this year.......GO PATRIOTS!

Very good - made these meatballs for Thanksgiving appetizer. Was a hit!

Very nice appetizer for NYE !

The flavor of the sauce was too strong for my taste.

This is what I had imagined.

Delicious

Excellent recipe as is. Needs no changes. I was concerned that the sauce would be too sweet. I added 1/2 can of crushed pineapple as suggested by others, but I also combined that with 1/3 cup fresh cranberries and processed smooth. This resolved any issues with sweetness as the fresh cranberries are a bit sour. This came out very nice. I also added 1/3 cup Parmesan to the meatball mix, reduced bread crumbs to 1 cup, and bumped up the parsley to 1/2 cup. I made 55 cocktail meatballs. Next time I will increase the amount of sauce, but it was perfectly fine as is.

these are very good with a few minor adjustments. The meatballs as written are bland. I pinched off a tsp of it and microwaved just to check the amt of flavor. I adjusted to taste and must say that the texture was very fluffy, so the ratio of meat to breadcrumbs is spot on. The sauce again had to be tweaked. It was a bit one-dimensional as written and I could taste the ketchup a bit more than I would have liked. I added a bit of orange zest to the sauce, and added a can of crushed pineapple. The other reason I added more liquid was that it seemed like there would not be quite enough sauce for the amt of meat; especially if one wanted to keep these warm in a crockpot; would be too afraid of scorching or burning. With tweaking, this is a nice recipe and again, the ratio of breadcrumb to meat produces a nice fluffy meatball. I don't however see how this could be eaten as a main course 'over rice', as it is very sweet. I may even cut back a tad on the amt of brown sugar next time.

This recipe was a hit. I made and cooked the meatballs the day before and put in the sauce and heated up the day of.

Had a cocktail party and serve these they were gone in a very short time didn't really change anything in this excellent !

Really good appetizer or even as a meatball sandwich. My family enjoyed them.I cooked these in a slow cooker instead of on the stove. There was a delightful aroma in my kitchen as they cooked. I would make them again.

Super easy to make, great flavor.

This is an excellent recipe. I enjoy it followed as is. I ALSO think it tastes great when cutting corners/saving time using a bag of frozen meatballs. Have gotten positive remarks and requests for the recipe whenever I bring it to a 'covered dish'/pot luck event.

I think this recipe is so yummy! Only thing I might add next time is red pepper flakes. Thanks for the recipe!

Second year making this for the Holidays...Love them!

Sent them off to a party all were eaten

Very tasty. I received many compliments from party guests.

I made 6lb. for a Super Bowl party. Not a meatball left and they mopped up the sauce!

These were very good. I would add less ketchup next time