Easy Grape Jelly Meatballs Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do you put grape jelly in meatballs? ›

To make these sweet and tangy meatballs, you'll need: Grape jelly: For a sweetness that balances the chili sauce, and to provide a glossy finish to the sauce. Chili sauce: Tomato paste, spices, and garlic give this sauce its depth. Barbecue sauce: Thickens the sauce while complementing the jelly and chili sauce.

To thicken runny grape jelly meatball sauce, mix up a teaspoon of cornstarch (or even two depending on how thick you want things) with an equal amount of water. Stir this into the bubbling meatball mixture during the last hour they're in the slow cooker.

What to Serve With Grape Jelly Meatballs. Serve these grape jelly meatballs with skewers as a sweet-savory appetizer or as an entree over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or rice.

Replace the Grape Jelly with apricot preserves, orange marmalade, canned cranberry sauce, raspberry preserves, or hot pepper jelly. Replace the Ketchup with Heinz chili sauce or barbecue sauce. If swapping the ketchup for chili sauce, it is not a spicy sauce.

While water and broth may keep the meatballs moist throughout the cooking process, milk's extra fat and luscious consistency add an unmatched level of complexity to any classic meatball recipe.

The first option is to unseal your jars and re-cook the jelly. Add more sugar, add some pectin, and you'll get your gel. Resterilize your jars, top with new lids, and process again.

Homestyle meatballs are commonly served in red sauce and often enjoyed with pasta [2]. Italian-style meatballs are versatile and can be served with spaghetti, as appetizers, or in sandwiches. They are often simmered in tomato sauce for enhanced flavor [1].

Add breadcrumbs

Add breadcrumbs to the mixture, but not too many breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs act as a filler and they also prevent the meatballs from becoming too dry by absorbing some of the meat juices released during cooking.

It could be because you use too much breadcrumb. Instead of using dry crumbs, try to soak stale bread in milk and then squeeze. Dry breadcrumb absorbs the juices of your meatballs, milk-soaked bread on the other hands adds juice.

Egg: A lot of meatball recipes add egg to the mince mixture because it helps to bind the balls together. Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs also help to bind your meatballs. If the mince mixture is quite wet, breadcrumbs will help soak up excess moisture so that the balls don't fall apart.

Is grape jelly good for your stomach? ›

Another benefit of grape jelly consumption is that it can help improve digestion. The pectin in grape jelly can act as a natural laxative, promoting regular bowel movements and preventing constipation.

Grapes, the main ingredient in grape jelly, are known for their antioxidants, particularly resveratrol, which has been linked to various health benefits. While grape jelly may contain these antioxidants, it's important to note that they might be in lower amounts than in fresh grapes.

Welch's Natural Concord Grape Spread

And unlike most grape jelly, it isn't made with high fructose corn syrup. It's just concord grapes, sugar, lemon juice concentrate, and fruit pectin. Don't be turned off by the fact that it's a “spread” rather than a jelly—it's the consistency of jelly, I promise.

Grapes are best frozen in syrup, but grapes to be used for juice or jelly can be frozen without sweetening. To freeze grapes: Choose tender skin, firm, sweet grapes with full color and flavor. Sort, remove stems and wash. Leave seedless grapes whole; cut table grapes with seeds in half and remove seeds.

As its popularity continues in the modern era, the looming question for many health-conscious consumers is: "Is grape jelly healthy?" Yes, grape jelly can be healthy because of its pectin and antioxidants, which promote better digestion.

For a bold fruit taste, there's Welch's 30 Oz. Grape Jelly. It tastes delicious spread on toast or on an English muffin. You can even use it to make a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

What soaking the bread does is add moisture to the meatball as well as bread for a binder. In today's recipe, I used a mixture of fresh bread crumbs and soaked bread. The combination of both turned out to be a winner. Another general rule when forming meatballs is to work quickly and handle them as little as possible.