I grew up eating these , and the formula I use is from my mom who likely get it from a neighbor down the street back in the ' 80s . And you know what ? They utterly still hold up .

Ope! Hello there. I am Krista and I have been residing in Los Angeles, California for nearly a decade. However, my roots run deep in a teeny tiny town outside of Wichita, Kansas.

Ever been to a nut FESTIVAL?#fyp#foryou#testiclefestival#countrylife#kansas#cows#farmer#wichitakansas#whytho#yuck#ItBeLikeThat

Let’s segue that into Midwest FOOD. I grew up eating a lot of it. It actually is inspiration to a lot of thezero-effort recipesI make today — like the meatball recipe we are about to get into.

I grew up eating these meatballs, and the recipe I use is from my mom who probably got it from Wally down the street back in the ’80s. And, with many recipes that originate in the Midwest, this one is done in a slow cooker. There are tons of variations of crockpot meatballs similar to mine. So, I don’t know where these originated or who first thought to toss meatballs in a crockpot and sauce them up.

And, just like me, people have been watching their mom make them for decades!

MIDWEST MOMS EVERYWHERE KNOW THIS STAPLE:

And people are now making these meatballs into meals, not just appetizers like I have typically done:

So, you get it, they are beloved. Now let’s get into the recipe…

Here is my full “cook along with me” explaining the recipe and I will break it down step-by-step below the vid:

First, toss a bag of frozen meatballs into your slow cooker (the bag I use is 28 ounces):

Then spend a few minutes trying to open a jar of grape jelly:

Once you’ve succeed, dump it in:

I do the WHOLE JAR (which is typically 17.5 ounces):

A sweet BBQ sauce is the next ingredient. Squeeze in half a 28-ounce bottle — or however much you want, the measurements on this recipe aren’t very specific:

Then about 1/2 a cup of chili sauce, measure with your heart:

Once everything is in, you give it a good mix. Cover and cook on low for about four to five hours or on high for about two to three hours.

When they are done, you’re going to open the lid and get a steamy shot like this:

Take them out and they will be nice and juicy like this:

And watch yourself go from “ew” to “OOOOOOHHHH YESSSS!”

Now, before we end this, I feel like I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t also share all the amazing upgrades and ideas people have for this recipe. Like using cranberry sauce instead of jelly and spicy instead of sweet BBQ sauce:

You can substitute the meatballs for little smokies (or turkey meatballs!) and add brown sugar:

Look for sugar-free options if you’re doing keto or make them for dinner as meatballs subs:

You can actually make your own version of the sauce with this person’s recipe:

Or you could be like this person’s ex who adds ketchup — you do you!

closeup of meat balls

different meatball recipe search results

comment reads, this 100 percent in the don't knock it til youve tired it column of hte midwest cuisine book

comment reads, my mom made these in the 70s grape jelly with a jar of chili sauce so darn good and everyone loves them

comment reads, my mom used to make these and fast forward to today i'd eat those yummy spheres of deliciousness

comment reads, we had this last week for dinner, served over some mashed potatoes, delicious

comment reads, these are bomb. i agree that when you hear the ingredients, it might sound like an ew food but no, it's so good

frozen meat balls

grape jelly dumped on the frozen meat balls

closeup

bbq sauce being poured into the mix

author smiling with a jar of chili sauce

steamy shot of the meat balls cooking

the process from questioning to making to tasting and then approving the meal

comment saying, i used to make these all the time, this is now the most requested thing for family get togethers

comment reads, i just made this with the little smokies last week, you can also throw a little brown sugar or some very good honey

comment reads, if you get the sugar free jelly, they're keto friendlywe love these wrapped in the folio cheese wraps like a meatball sub

comment reads, garlic powder onion powder, paprika, hot sauce, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar

my ex husband also added ketchup to this recipe i was skeptical at first but they were good

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