Home » Hors d’oeuvres = Appetizers Meatballs

Hors d’oeuvres = Appetizers Meatballs

In our home we say appetizer, what we mean by that is snacks…small plates..informal type pre-dinner food. We also have many juvenile sayings that we use. App-a-teasers, whores-De-vores, ors-DA-voo-vray’s (Someone, whom I cannot mention said it this way once, and we laugh about it to this day…because they were as serious as a heat attack when they said it!)

This past Friday night we had a group of good friends over for an Appetizer Buffet. We each made two or three appetizers and had ourselves a feast. This is my favorite way to eat. Grazing. All night long eating a little bit of this a little bit of that. This week I thought I would share with you some of my tried and true appetizers. Starting with these meatballs. The recipe is from a past co-worker, she brought it to an office potluck. They are fabulous, festive and always a hit.
Cranberries, sauerkraut, brown sugar….sweet and sour is one of my favorite flavor combinations! I often make these meat balls weeks in advance and freeze them, so I am ready for any last minute Christmas get together or visitors.
Drain 1 pound of sauerkraut in a strainer, squeeze juice out with the back of a spoon.

Add 1 can of whole berry Cranberries, the drained sauerkraut, 1 cup brown sugar, and a 12ounce bottle of chili sauce in a sauce pan.

Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, at low boil, remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
While your sauce is cooling, you can begin making the meatballs. Combine 2 pounds of lean ground beef, 1 package onion soup mix, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, 2 eggs, and 1 cup of plain bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl.
Squishing raw meat between my bare naked fingers gags me out. So I wear these handy dandy food grade gloves. Squish, Squish…combine all of the meatball ingredients together until everything is completely incorporated.
There’s the squished raw meat…time to make the meat-a-balz-a!
Be careful not to make these meatballs too big. They are appetizer meatballs, they should be eaten in 1 maybe 2 bites. I use an Ikea kiddy spoon…just the right size to make bite sized balls. The meatballs will shrink up a bit while baking. Makes 70-80 meatballs.

Put on some good jams and roll out some balls! You should be able to fit them all in a 9×13 baking dish.

Spoon the sauce over the meatballs.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, then turn up the temp to 400 and bake for 15 minutes longer.

My mouth is watering. I still have a few leftovers from Friday night I think I might need to have them for lunch. Salivating heavily….not attractive.
Aren’t they pretty on a plate, little cranberry, delicate strings of sauerkraut.

After I partook of a few, and the rest were cooled I placed them in a 1 gallon sized bag and froze them, for just such a time as Friday nights semi last minute gathering. (We planned it on Tuesday, but I didn’t stress, because I knew I had the meatballs in the bag…Hee hee.)

I labeled them with my elegant writing, my eight year old has better penmanship than I do!
I learned the hard way…reheat the meatballs on stove top before putting in crock pot. Unless of course you remove them from your freezer early enough for them to thaw and then put them in your crock pot. Which is a organized and novel idea, of which I did not do. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get Christmas shopping done, forgot to take them out of the freezer, came home tried to cram them in the crock pot, and realized “Hmmm this ain’t gonna work!”.
Confession: So you see even though I planned ahead, I still did not plan ahead……ARG!

So I quickly tossed them in a pan, with about 1/2 cup water, reheated them on low with cover on for 30 minutes, then placed them in crock pot. Presto Chang-O fab Appetizer Meatballs!

Appetizer Meatballs

Sheila
These easy to make sweet and sour meatballs are perfect for your next party!
No ratings yet
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 23 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 15

Equipment

  • 1 9x13 baking dish

Ingredients
  

Meatballs

  • 2 lbs lean ground beef
  • 1 package 2 ounce dry onion mix
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 1 cup plain bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper add more to your taste

Sweet and Sour Sauce

  • 1 pound canned whole berry cranberries
  • 1 pound canned sauerkraut drained
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 12 ounce jar chili sauce

Instructions
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    Meatballs

    • Add all the meatball ingredients together in a both and mix thoroughly. The best way to do this is by using your hands.
    • Using a teaspoon roll meat mixture into 75-80 bite sized meat balls, place them in a 9x13 baking dish. It is OK to pack them in tightly.

    Sweet and Sour Sauce

    • Drain can of sauerkraut in a strainer or colander pressing juices out with the back of a spoon.
    • In a 3 quart sauce pan add together sauerkraut and the remaining sauce ingredients. Place pan on burner and turn heat up to medium high, stir until sugar seems to have dissolved and mixture starts to boil. Turn heat down to low, but keeping sauce at a simmer cook for an additional 10 minutes. Continue to stir, making sure the sauce doesn't burn in the bottom of the pan.
    • Using a spatula to get every last bit of sauce, pour sauce over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Turn heat up to 400 and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
    • Remove pan from oven and serve immediately, or move meatballs and sauce to a crock pot place temperature setting on warm and serve this way for your party.

    Making ahead:

    • If you are making in advance for a party. Do all the steps above. Allow to cool, then place meatballs and sauce into zip loc storage bags or some sort of airtight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to use. Remove from freezer, allow to thaw, place in crock pot or baking dish add 1- 1/2 cups water or broth to meat balls and reheat. Serve. Enjoy!

    Notes

    Freezing instructions: If you are making in advance for a party. Do all the steps above. Allow to cool, then place meatballs and sauce into zip loc storage bags or some sort of airtight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to use. Remove from freezer, allow to thaw, place in crock pot or baking dish add 1- 1/2 cups water or broth to meat balls and reheat. Serve. Enjoy!
    Keyword appetizer, barbecue, beef, sweet and sour
    Tried this recipe?Mention @eat2gather or tag #eat2gather!

    What are some of your “go to” HOrs-Day-voo-vrays? And do you say appetizer, or hors d’oeuvres? I would really like to know!

    Enjoy! Sheila

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    3 Comments

    1. Kristen, I actually had that in the post initially, but then took it out. Maybe I should rename these meatballs Kristens Award Winning meat-a-balz!

    2. I love recipes like this…. can be made ahead and are perfect for holiday entertaining. I'm bookmarking this one now. Thanks for sharing! have a great day.