These Cranberry Meatballs with Sour Cream Herb Dip are an excellent appetizer for the holidays and parties.
All you need are frozen meatballs, cranberry sauce and chili sauce to whip up this sweet and tangy holiday favorite.
Not only can you quickly heat up these saucy meatballs on the stove top in minutes, but you can also utilize your slow cooker to make them ahead of time and stay warm.
Cranberry Meatballs
These tangy meatballs are a riff on the classic Grape Jelly Meatballs.
Rather than using grape jelly for the sweetness, we’re using cranberry sauce. You can use leftover Cranberry Sauce from Thanksgiving to make this easy appetizer or it’s perfectly fine to use store bought too!
Ingredients Needed
Here’s the basic list of ingredients you’ll need in order to make these Cranberry Meatballs with a Sour Cream Herb Dipping Sauce. As always, you can find the full list of ingredients located in the printable recipe card below.
For The Sauce:
- Sour Cream
- Mayo
- Chives
- Tarragon
- Parsley
For The Meatballs:
- Cranberry Sauce – canned or homemade
- Chili Sauce – found by the ketchup
- Meatballs – frozen or homemade
How To Make Cranberry Meatballs
Whenever I need a quick appetizer, these 3 ingredients meatballs are what I make. They heat up quickly on the stove top and everyone loves the sweet and tangy sauce.
COMBINE SAUCE
Whisk together the chili sauce and cranberry sauce in a large skillet over medium heat, until the mixture is smooth and starts to bubble.
ADD IN MEATBALLS
Stir in the meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are heated through. Keep the pot covered while heating to make sure your sauce doesn’t thicken too much.
MAKE THE DIP
To make the easy sour cream dip, simply combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir.
The longer the dip sits, the more the herbs will enhance the flavor.
Slow Cooker Variation
When you’re planning a party and need an easy appetizer or finger food to serve, utilizing your slow cooker is the way to go.
You can easily toss the cranberry and chili sauce with the meatballs into the slow cooker and heat on low, until the meatballs are heated through. It should only take about 2 to 3 hours on low heat.
PRO TIP: Use a slow cooker liner to make clean up a breeze!
More Finger Food Appetizer Recipes
I love bringing these meatballs to parties because everyone always loves them.
Here are more delicious finger-food recipes that are sure to be a smash at your next party or potluck!
I can’t wait for you to give these saucy cocktail meatballs a try! I know you’re going to love them.
Cranberry Meatballs with Sour Cream Herb Dip
Ingredients
For the Sour Cream Herb Dip:
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1 tbsp chives, chopped (fresh)
- 1 tbsp tarragon, chopped (fresh)
- 1 tbsp parsley, chopped (fresh)
- salt and pepper
For the Meatballs
- 14 oz cranberry sauce
- 12 oz chili sauce, (found by the ketchup)
- 30 to 40 meatballs, frozen or fresh
Instructions
For the Sour Cream Herb Dip:
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine, keep chilled until ready to serve. Flavors intensify when made ahead of time.
For the Meatballs:
- Combine the cranberry sauce and chili sauce in a large pot over medium heat. Whisk until smooth and bubbly. Add the meatballs and stir to coat. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes, until the meatballs are heated through.
- Serve meatballs warm with the herb dip. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Cheesy Pretzel Sticks
Pam
I don’t eat meat so I used my plant-based ground meat substitute, made this, told no one that it was plant based substitute for meat and they came to me asking for more and for the recipe. I gave them your recipe and told them what I had used for the “meat”. It was delicious!!!
Sonya
What exactly kind of chili sauce is found next to the ketchup?
Shawn
It’s called Chili Sauce. I believe Heinz makes one and there are sure to be store brand options too. 🙂
Mar bhat
How would these taste using turkey meatballs (if I find them)
yooying
It looks so good! It’s been a long time from the last time we had meatballs, gonna try this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
home page
This is great, That’s a great website, it really is what I was looking for, thank you for sharing!
clivk here
Thanks for sharing this great. Keep sharing more useful and conspicuous stuff like this. Thank you so much
Kristy
I can’t wait to make these for the Bible study group that meets at our home! I do have some folks (myself included LOL) who are more sensitive to spicy things. Would you say these are very spicy or just mildly spicy?
Shawn
I wouldn’t classify these as spicy! 🙂
Dog names with
These look so good!! 😀
David Kohn
Your meatball recipe was awesome,
Christy
Can you do thease meatballs in the crock pot?
Shawn
You sure can! Just keep them on low so the sauce does not burn.
David Kohn
These meatballs were awesome !
Jen
Yes is it jellied cranberries or whole sauce? Canned?
Going to try these for Christmas dinner!
Shawn
I used the jellied kind for this recipe.
Julia
I am going to make this for a cookie swap I am hosting. Can’t wait! Quick question- do you use whole cranberry sauce, or the jellied kind?
Thanks!
Kathy Wurz
These sound do delicious! Do you use whole cranberry sause or jelliesd?
Kathy Wurz
Sorry, I didn’t do a very good job at typing!!!
Seth B
This sounds amazing! And like the perfect appetizer for having people over to watch Sunday afternoon football. My fiancee loves meatballs, so I’m certain she’ll be excited about this recipe. I’m really curious to try the sour cream herb dip!
Thanks for posting Shannon! Cheers!
Courtney Rowland
What a great appetizer!
Gina @Running to the Kitchen
WOW! I am dying to try these! They look delicious!
Rachel @ Rachel Cooks
That dip would be amazing on vegetables too but I definitely need to make these meatballs happen, stat!
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
These are the most perfect looking meatballs. Ever.
Cathy L
I love using meatballs as appetizer… very excited to try this recipe. I was wondering if you would share exactly what frozen meatballs you use. I have tried to many and I hate the ones that have hard tiny pieces in them or just a weird taste to them all together. I mean did you use like Frozen Wal-Mart brand and obviously not the Swedish ones? lol, Thanks in advance for responding, I just love for my food to taste excellento…..
Megan
I know what you mean about meatballs. My favorite are the Trader Joe’s brand mini meatballs. Small and delicious!
David Kohn
Meatballs were great