Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs
These sweet and sour Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs were a hit at my recent book club gathering. Homemade meatballs were cooked in a sassy sauce with loads of flavor!
Meatball Appetizer Recipes are perfect for any occasion, whether you’re watching football or you need a tasty starter when having company for dinner. They were simple to make, plus they flew off the table!
Why You Must Make
- When any appetizer buffet has cocktail meatballs, the picky hubby is certain to pile a few on his plate. I don’t know why it took so long for me to make a batch.
- It was time to host my book club, and I needed a variety of hearty offerings since it was dinner for most of the group. These saucy numbers fit the bill!
- Both my book club and husband gave these rave reviews. I made just half a batch, and though I’ve tried many cocktail meatballs throughout the years, this sauce stood out!
Tips for Making Cocktail Meatballs
If you’re like me and want to make homemade meatballs, I have a few tips for streamlining the process. Since a full batch makes about 80 meatballs, feel free to cut this recipe in half.
- You can use store-bought meatballs or make them from scratch. If you make them from scratch, do it days ahead of time and keep them in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Let them defrost in the fridge the night before your event.
- I baked them up on a rimmed baking sheet, allowed them to cool, then placed them in a freezer bag, removed the excess air, and popped them in the freezer.
- PRO-Tip: To keep the meatballs a consistent size, use a cookie disher/scoop. Then roll between your palms to make them into nicely shaped spheres.
- The sauce can also be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days (or the freezer for up to a month). Just gently reheat them together before serving.
- You can also reheat the cocktail meatballs in a crockpot, but that will most likely take a couple of hours. It’s hands-off time, though.
- To warm and serve, you can use your slow cooker (affiliate link) or crockpot. Putting a bowl on a warming tray (affiliate link) also helps keep these apricot-glazed cocktail meatballs toasty hot.
- If you can’t find apricot preserves, any sweet jam or jelly works well. The sweetness balances the savory ingredients for a most delicious experience.
You May Also Like:
- Other dishes I served my book club included sliders made with my Pulled Pork and topped with Coleslaw.
- Homemade Queso Dip
- Ginger Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Kahlua caramel baked Brie, plus a cheese tray.
- And during the holidays, if you have an extra can of jellied cranberry sauce, try these tasty Cranberry Baked Meatballs.
The Recipe:
Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Yield
20 servings
Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs! Delicious meatballs in a sweet and tangy sauce, perfect for all your entertaining needs.
4.5 Stars (30 Reviews)
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread, ground into crumbs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 pounds meatloaf mix (equal parts ground beef, ground pork and ground veal)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 28 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 2 ½ cup apricot preserves (I used Bonne Maman)
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- To make the meatballs, mix the bread crumbs, milk, and egg yolks in a large bowl with a fork until well combined. Add the meat mixture, garlic, pepper, and salt. Mix until incorporated.
- Form the mixture into 1 ¼-inch meatballs. Bake meatballs on 2 rimmed cookie sheets until cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through.
- Let the meatballs cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm. If freezing them, place the meatballs into a large Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the tomato sauce, preserves, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. If freezing, transfer to a large airtight container and freeze for up to one month.
- If meatballs and sauce are frozen, defrost the meatballs and sauce in the fridge the night before you want to serve them so they have time to defrost.
- Add sauce and meatballs to a large saucepan and gently reheat until hot. You can also place them in a crockpot on low for 2 hours to heat.
Notes
Adapted from ATK.
You can also use 3+ pounds of premade/frozen meatballs. Yields 80 meatballs
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 279Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 740mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 25gProtein: 12g
The Recipe:
Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Yield
20 servings
Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs! Delicious meatballs in a sweet and tangy sauce, perfect for all your entertaining needs.
4.5 Stars (30 Reviews)
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 4 slices white sandwich bread, ground into crumbs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 pounds meatloaf mix (equal parts ground beef, ground pork and ground veal)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 28 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 2 ½ cup apricot preserves (I used Bonne Maman)
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- To make the meatballs, mix the bread crumbs, milk, and egg yolks in a large bowl with a fork until well combined. Add the meat mixture, garlic, pepper, and salt. Mix until incorporated.
- Form the mixture into 1 ¼-inch meatballs. Bake meatballs on 2 rimmed cookie sheets until cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through.
- Let the meatballs cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm. If freezing them, place the meatballs into a large Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
- To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the tomato sauce, preserves, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. If freezing, transfer to a large airtight container and freeze for up to one month.
- If meatballs and sauce are frozen, defrost the meatballs and sauce in the fridge the night before you want to serve them so they have time to defrost.
- Add sauce and meatballs to a large saucepan and gently reheat until hot. You can also place them in a crockpot on low for 2 hours to heat.
Notes
Adapted from ATK.
You can also use 3+ pounds of premade/frozen meatballs. Yields 80 meatballs
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 279Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 740mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 25gProtein: 12g
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18 Comments on “Apricot Glazed Cocktail Meatballs”
I am in love with that apricot chipotle sauce. It sounds so delicious. Perfect sweet, savory, spicy combo!
I love the meatballs but I really love the sauce! I might have to add a touch of curry powder, But I love the sweet and savory-ness of it! Merry Christmas!
This does sound fabulous and so does your book club! I need to find one just like it!
I do love sweet & savoury combinations, and I certainly do love this idea. I’ve had paired chicken with apricots (both fresh and dried) many times, but meatballs is something I’ll need to try yet. This sounds and looks fantastic!
Great addition to our holiday party!
Everyone loves these at parties.
Such a great recipe for all winter entertaining coming up. Meatballs like this never disappoint. So GOOD!
Perfect for holiday noshing:@)
Onion, tomato sauce, apricot preserves, Worcestershire, Dijon, red pepper … that is a zest combination. I’ll bet these meatballs are fabulous.
The apricot was such a great twist!
Apricot Meatballs are one of my favorite things! These look amazing.
I bet these got rave reviews! They look so juicy and delicious and I love apricot anything – definitely need to make these!
This is a great sauce for meatballs, the apricots would indeed give a nice sweet and tangy note. Yummy!
These are some of the best meatballs I have ever eaten!
I can totaly see how these would fly out of the pot! They look wonderful!
Absolutely addictive, next time I’m making a double batch!
Wow! Your cocktail meatballs look amazing. I would enjoy these for sure as I love a sweet and sour sauce. Yummy!
I love these cocktail meatballs! The sweet salty apricot sauce sounds wonderful and goes really well with meatballs.