Bless This Mess › Recipes › Appetizers
By Melissa
on Oct 22, 2019, Updated Jan 18, 2020
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These easy Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs have the perfect combination of savory and sweet! A simple party appetizer idea everyone is going to love. The best part? You get to eat the meatballs with a toothpick.
Crockpot Meatballs: An Easy Party Appetizer Recipe
I love an easy and delicious party appetizer, and these slow cooker honey teriyaki meatballs are JUST that. They’re sweet and sticky, savory and rich, and perfectly bitesized. The sauce is unreal and it comes together so quickly before throwing it in your slow cooker over top some pre-made frozen meatballs.
It’s one of my favorite things to bring to parties or make when we’re having a big group of family and friends over. There’s about 15 minutes of hands-on cooking and prepping time, plus 3-or-so hours in the slow cooker, and you have a great party dish that practically makes itself. I love using the slow cooker for party prep because it means I can have something else cooking in the oven, too.
Should I brown meatballs before putting them in the crockpot?
When using pre-made frozen meatballs, you can go ahead and just throw them into the crockpot frozen! They stay together because they’ve already been cooked.
How long does it take for meatballs to cook in sauce?
These meatballs are pre-cooked, so it’s really more of a thawing and coating with sauce for this recipe. It takes about 3 hours in the slow cooker before they’re ready.
How long do you heat meatballs in a crockpot?
When using half a bag of frozen meatballs in this recipe, it takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of cook time on high in the slow cooker to get them nice and hot.
Why do my meatballs fall apart when cooking?
If you’re making homemade meatballs, make sure you use a binder to keep them together, like eggs and bread crumbs. Also, browning them on the stovetop or in the oven before throwing them in the slow cooker will help to keep them together if using homemade meatballs.
Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs
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4 from 1 review
- Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
Description
These easy Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs have the perfect combination of savory and sweet! A simple party appetizer idea everyone is going to love. The best part? You get to eat the meatballs with a toothpick.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 3 pounds frozen meatballs (store bought orhomemade)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the water and the cornstarch, and whisk to combine. Add the sugar, honey, soy sauce, garlic powder, and sesame oil to pan, and stir to combine.
- Heat the pan over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.
- Place the meatballs in the slow cooker, and pour the sauce over the top. Cook according to package directions (3 to 3 1/2 hours on high for half a bag).
- Stir gently half way through cooking and once again before serving.
- When you are ready to serve, you can dish the meatballs onto a serving dish, ladle some of the sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker over the top, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped green onion. Or you can just serve them right out of the slow cooker as they are. The slow cooker is a great party option because it will keep them warm for good long time.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Crockpot
- Cuisine: American
More appetizer recipes you’ll like:
- Quick and Easy Hot Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
- The Best Caramel Dip (perfect to dip apples and pretzels)
- Baked Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
- My Favorite Classic Cheese Board
- Parmesan Pretzel Bites with Parmesan Dipping Sauce
More easy beef recipes:
- Skillet Taco Pasta made with ground beef
- Easy Korean Ground Beef and Rice
- Homemade Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup
- Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches
- Beef Tostada Recipe
This post was originally published in 2014, and has been updated and rephotographed in October 2019.
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