Gluten Free Meatballs with Grape Jelly Sauce
When it comes to finding delicious gluten free appetizers, you can’t go wrong with meatballs! And these gluten free meatballs with grape jelly sauce are the perfect mix of sweet and tangy — a great combination for any party. Make your meatballs from scratch, then add a delicious two-ingredient sauce to whip up this easy finger food with just a few minutes of prep work.
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Gluten Free Meatball Ingredients
One of the best parts about this simple recipe is that you can make it with a handful of basic ingredients, including:
- Gluten free breadcrumbs
- Milk
- Egg
- Grape jelly
- Chili sauce
- Ground beef
- Garlic powder
- Parsley
- Oregano
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Gluten Free Meatballs
The first step to making great gluten free meatballs is to soak the bread crumbs. You don’t want to skip this step. If you do, you’ll end up with meatballs with crunchy, grainy bread crumb chunks inside. So trust me, you want to soak your bread crumbs! Pour the gluten free bread crumbs in a bowl. Then, whisk together your egg and milk, and pour the milk mixture over the bread crumbs. Stir a little bit to make sure all the crumbs are covered, then move on to the next step while they soak.
While the bread crumbs do their thing, start mixing up the sauce. If you’ve never had or heard of grape jelly meatballs, this next step may sound very strange. This delicious sauce is a combination of grape jelly and chili sauce. I know — it doesn’t sound like those two ingredients should ever go together, let along be put together in a gluten free meatballs recipe. Trust me, these two simple ingredients create a sweet and tangy sauce that pairs perfectly with meatballs!
So pour those two weird ingredients into the bowl of your crock pot and whisk it well. The most important thing to do here is make sure you remove most of the grape jelly chunks. So, whisk that sauce until it’s as smooth as possible.
Now that you have the sauce prepared, move back to your bread crumb mixture. The crumbs will be nice and mushy by now, so it’s time to add the meat and seasoning to your gluten free meatballs. First, put the meat into the bowl and top it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and parsley.
The next step will require you to get a little messy. Stick your hands in the bowl and work all the ingredients together. Think of it like kneading dough. You want all the ingredients to be mixed well and you want to work the meat a little bit so it sticks together when you form the balls. So really get in there and mash that meat!
Using a tablespoon, scoop out the meat mixture and form your gluten free meatballs. After you scoop the meat out, use your hands to roll an even ball. A tablespoon is the perfect amount of meat for gluten free meatballs. They’re a great bite-sized piece, making it the perfect size for an appetizer. Place each gluten free meatball in the bowl of the crock pot after it’s been rolled.
When all your gluten free meatballs have been rolled into balls, you’ll need to coat each one in sauce. Make sure each side of the meatball is covered in sauce to keep it from drying out as it cooks. You’ll probably end up with more meatballs than you have room for in your crock pot. That’s okay — just stack the meatballs on top of each other in the slow cooker, making sure that each meatball has plenty of sauce on it.
These meatballs will be finished after cooking them in your slow cooker on high for three hours or low for six hours. I suggest popping off the lid halfway through the cooking time and stirring them to rotate the meatballs on the top row to the bottom row. This will also help stir the sauce a little bit, too.
Storage and Serving Ideas
I love that these gluten free meatballs can be cooked in the slow cooker! That makes them a great option for a party because once you have the meatballs formed, you can set them and forget them for a few hours.
Storage
Once you’re finished eating your meatballs, you should keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to heat them up again. Transfer the leftovers to an airtight container and they’ll stay good for up to four days.
Freezing
You can also freeze your meatballs if you want to store them longer. After forming the meatballs, arrange them in an single layer on a baking sheet and place the uncooked meatballs in the freezer. When they’re frozen solid, you can transfer them to a freezer bag. They’ll stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To cook the frozen meatballs, just mix the meatballs with the sauce directly from the freezer and follow the instructions for cooking.
Reheating
To reheat the meatballs, cook them in the microwave or at 350 degrees in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Gluten Free Party Meatballs
A sweet and tangy recipe for gluten free meatballs in the slow cooker.
Ingredients
- ½ cup gluten free bread crumbs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 4 teaspoons parsley
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups grape jelly
- 2 12- ounce bottles chili sauce
Instructions
- Pour grape jelly and chili sauce into bowl of crock pot and mix until combined.
- Place gluten free bread crumbs in a large bowl.
- Whisk together milk and egg. Pour over breadcrumbs and allow to soak for at least five minutes.
- Add ground beef, parsley, garlic powder, oregano, pepper, and salt to the breadcrumbs.
- Using your hands, work all ingredients together, mixing until all ingredients are well combined.
- Scoop out meat mixture by tablespoonful and roll into a ball.
- Place each meatball in the bowl of the crock pot, rolling each meatball in sauce until it is completely covered. Meatballs may be stacked if they do not fit into one layer.
- Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours, stirring halfway through.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1 meatballAmount Per Serving: Calories: 143Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 298mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 9g
More Gluten Free Appetizer Ideas:
Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Cheddar Hush Puppies Gluten Free
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms
Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
This looks amazing and I will have to give it a try since I am finding I more than likely have an issue with gluten. I never would have thought of the grape jelly sauce!! I am most definitely intrigued!!
These look so yummy! I love the sweetness that grape jelly adds. And I love that you made them in your crockpot — easy, peasy!
Jinkies! These look so good, my mom makes a similar recipe but not gluten free. These will be great for potlucks!
These look delicious!! The perfect super bowl party snack!
They look awesome! They would make a yummy appetizer at a party!
These look delicious! Who would think grape jelly and chili sauce would go together… 🙂
I’m not a huge meatball fan but my hubby is and he LOVES the idea of grape jelly. So I think we will be trying these soon! Thanks for sharing.
Wow I don’t think I’ve ever gotten hungry just from a Recipe but I can’t wait to try these tonight! They look delicious
I don’t think I would’ve ever come up with that combination but it actually sounds really good.
Are you supposed to use dry herbs or fresh? Thank you, Patty
I used dried herbs in this recipe Patty.
Can these be made with non dairy milk
I think these would be fine with non-dairy milk, but I haven’t tested the recipe to be sure. I would make sure to use unsweetened milk!
I’ve never cooked with chili sauce. Would you share the brand you use?
Thanks
Julie
I used Heinz chili sauce. I think you can usually find it with the BBQ sauce at the grocery store or Wal-Mart.
Can I precook the meatballs so it won’t be as greasy?
Sure! I think if you cook the meatballs before putting them in the slow cooker, you can probably reduce the cook time. I haven’t tested it, so I’m not sure how much time you could take off. I’d say at least an hour when cooking on low.
I can buy frozen gluten free appetizer sized meatballs by me, at Whole Foods. Can I use them frozen or should I thaw them first? The brand is Pineland Farms. They have Italian style and Swedish style.
Lucky you! You can definitely use frozen meatballs with this recipe. Just add them to the crockpot frozen and stir in the sauce, then follow the cook times in the recipe instructions.