Elevate cocktail meatballs this season with this recipe for black cherry bbq meatballs! With how busy holidays and parties can be, we chose to dress up some delicious pre-made meatballs from the store. If you want to make your own meatballs from scratch, this recipe still works great! Just be sure to cook your meatballs until they reach a safe internal temperature. This recipe can be prepared 2 ways! We have the traditional finger-food crockpot cocktail meatballs and we also have a quick stovetop version perfect for a delicious and easy-to-prep entree for dinner.
Ingredients
- An 8oz bottle of Elda’s Kitchen Black Cherry BBQ Cooking & Grilling Sauce
- Cranberry jalepeno chicken meatballs (brie uses pre-made, fully cooked meatballs for ease in this recipe.)
- A ¼ cup of canned black cherries, sliced
- 2 tablespoons of the juice from your canned black cherries.
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 1 frozen fresh ginger cube or 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced)
Optional garnish
- Fresh rosemary
- Cranberry sauce
Directions
For large batch in a crock pot
In a crock pot set to low heat, add your meatballs to the pot and pour in your entire 8oz bottle of Elda’s Kitchen Black Cherry BBQ Cooking & Grilling Sauce. Turn meatballs gently with a spoon to coat in the sauce. Add your black cherries and stir gently. Add a few tablespoons of black cherry juice from your canned black cherries. Let cook until heated through (the longer, the better to allow the flavors to combine). Again, our meatballs are already cooked for this recipe. If you’re cooking raw meatballs, be sure to cook until they reach the internal temperature recommended for whatever type of meat you’re making. For these pre-cooked meatballs, we recommend cooking on low heat for at least 2.5 – 3 hours for maximum flavor.
For quick stovetop dinner
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. While butter is melting, slice your meatballs in half. Once butter is melted, add your meatballs and stir to coat. Let sit to crisp. After a few minutes, once the meatball halves are crisped on multiple sides, add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and stir to combine.
Once the brown sugar has dissolved, add your 8oz bottle of Elda’s Kitchen Black Cherry BBQ Cooking & Grilling Sauce. Stir to coat. Add your black cherries and stir. Then, add 1 cube of frozen fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger). Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Once meatballs have cooked through and the sauce has thickened and reduced, remove from heat. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice and enjoy.