Recipe By Matthew Fairman
Published on August 27, 2026
A recipe for happy party guests: homemade cocktail meatballs in a sweet, bold glaze.
Time
5 hrYield
Serves 10-12Why This Recipe Works
For sweet, spicy, savory meatballs that would still be tender and juicy after a stint in the slow cooker, we added a panade (a paste of bread and liquid that helps meatballs stay moist). For our panade, we landed on milk for the liquid component and crushed saltines for the bread component. This combo resulted in firm yet tender meatballs. We added the panade to a mix of ground beef, grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Giving the cocktail meatballs a quick blast in a 450-degree oven before placing them in the slow cooker rendered their excess fat and created flavorful browning without tedious batch frying on the stovetop. For the sweet and sour sauce, we relied on a potent, easy stir-together mixture of hot pepper jelly, soy sauce, white vinegar, and garlic. After a series of tests, we realized we could put this mixture to work in two ways: as a slow-cooker braising liquid and as a cornstarch-thickened glaze for the finished meatballs.
Ingredients
Meatballs
Sauce
Instructions
Cook along with these step-by-step instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Set wire rack in aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet and spray rack evenly with vegetable oil spray.
- Place saltines in large zipper-lock bag, seal bag, and crush fine with rolling pin (you should end up with 1 cup). Combine saltines and milk in large bowl and let sit for 5 minutes to soften. Mash with fork until smooth paste forms.
- Add beef, Parmesan, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to saltine mixture and mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Divide mixture into about 70 (1-tablespoon) portions. Roll portions between your slightly wet hands to form meatballs and evenly space on prepared wire rack. Roast meatballs until beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer meatballs to slow cooker.Recipe TipA #60 scoop or a tablespoon measure will make quick work of portioning the meatballs. To make shaping the meatballs easier, wet your hands slightly.
- Whisk jelly, water, soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic together in bowl. Pour half of sauce (about 1½ cups) over meatballs in slow cooker. Cover and refrigerate remaining sauce until needed. Cover slow cooker and cook until meatballs are tender, 3 to 4 hours on high or 4 to 6 hours on low.
- Whisk cornstarch into reserved sauce. Microwave until sauce is bubbling and has consistency of thick jam, about 6 minutes, whisking halfway through microwaving. Add sauce to slow cooker and gently fold with rubber spatula until meatballs are thoroughly coated. Serve. (Meatballs can be held in slow cooker on low or warm setting, partially covered, for 2 to 3 hours.)Recipe TipIt's unnecessary to temp the meatballs because they will reach a food-safe temperature if cooked according to the recipe instructions.
Meatballs
Sauce
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