Ultimate Party Meatballs Recipe

Disclosure: I received Heinz®, Johnsonville® and Ocean Spray® products in exchange for sharing this recipe. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hi, my name is Meagan, and I like to party. {Anyone else get the Hot Rod movie reference? :)} But seriously. I love to entertain, and will take any excuse to throw a party – holidays, birthdays, Tuesdays…. During the summer we always have a full house, since we’re the only house in our group of friends and family that has a pool. And we’re coming into my other favorite time of year – the winter holidays! So, needless to say, I’m always looking for new party-friendly recipes to add to my collection.

My party recipes all need to meet a few important criteria – they need to be family friendly. That means, the type of food that appeals to kids and adults, since we always have a big house full of kiddos when we entertain. {One example is my Bacon, Steak, Potato and Cheese Kabobs. Tator tots can = fancy.} I also need party foods to be quick and easy to put together. And when they’re made from ingredients that fit into a frugal budget – even better! And while I’ve got quite the Pinterest board filled with awesome party foods, I am always searching for more. And I’m excited to share a super simple party food idea we just made the other day -Ultimate Party Meatballs. We tried them out for dinner – and will totally be adding these to our list of awesome holiday recipes.

These can be made in about 20 minutes. You can use pre-made frozen Johnsonville meatballs to make things super duper easy peasy {and trust me, they are goooood.} Or you can pick up some Johnsonville ground sausage to create your own favorite meatball recipe – and the video above shows you a great way to create your own homemade meatballs. Then add some simple – yet super delish – sauce made from cranberry sauce and chili sauce, and you’ve got a recipe that’s sure to please everyone in even the biggest party crowd. And check out the infographic at the end of this post for some really fun ways to serve them, and some cool variations of ingredients you can try out.

The Ultimate Meatball recipe’s convenience, versatility and amazingly great taste make it the perfect recipe for holidays, appetizers, at-home tailgating to watch the big game, taking to a pot luck, last-minute guests and visitors that drop by, weekend get-togethers, family celebrations, holiday open houses and many other occasions! It’s just as good as an appetizer as it is in a main course. Ultimate Party Meatballs is a simple, go-to recipe since it has only THREE ingredients – Heinz® Chili Sauce, a bag of Johnsonville® Classic Italian Meatballs and one can of Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce. 3 steps to yum!

I absolutely loved the combination of tangy and spicy in these meatballs. We put our meatballs and sauce over egg noodles for dinner – but there are SO many ways you could enjoy these. You could create meatball subs, put them over rice, or add different spices to change up the flavor. Check out the infographic for more ideas on how to use these in your holiday entertaining – and all year long!

About the brands:

• Ocean Spray®’s delicious sweet and tangy cranberry sauce has been a tradition at the table for generations!
• New Fully Cooked Johnsonville® Classic Italian Meatballs are made with only premium cuts of meat and never any artificial flavors or colors.
• Perfect for recipes, Heinz Chili Sauce has a tangy flavor, and is great on burgers and fries.