What could be better than a bowl full of tasty cocktail meatballs with a drink? Not only does it look good but they taste great too. And you easily can make different varieties by varying the spice content of the cocktail meatballs recipe.

Cocktail Meatballs

With the festive season coming up it is always a good idea to have a couple of delicious recipes at hand that you can serve for a holiday party or cocktail parties in general. Meatballs are easy to make, you can reheat them when needed and they are ready in no time at all. Or you can easily add them to a side dish like this swiss chard with feta for instance.

Cocktail Meatballs
Spicy cocktail meatballs with cranberries
Quick to make easy appetizers
Serve hot
Dip/sauce
How to prevent the meatballs from falling apart

Wether you are celebrating Thanksgiving, New Years or Christmas with a small group of people or a big group of people, some tasty cocktail meatballs are everyone’s favorite.

Spicy cocktail meatballs with cranberries

I like my homemade meatballs to be a little bit spicy, so I add a bit of hot sauce (sambal or harissa) for a little punch, but you can add as much or as little as you like. Also think about adding additional spices like ginger, garlic and even a hint of cinnamon. You can even make different varieties of meatball ingredients for the same group of people.

The same goes with the dip. You can easily serve it with a chili sauce (ready made like heinz chili sauce for instance), easy and delicious barbecue sauce or simply add a bit of worcestershire sauce to a few tablespoons of mayonnaise. It doesn’t get any easier than that. I made a delicious pomegranate sauce for this recipe, which gives it a hint of sweetness and is just plain delicious!

Quick to make easy appetizers

This cocktail meatball recipe is very easy to make. You mix the ground meat (I use a combination of ground beef and ground pork) with the spices and make into a good firm mix. You can add some bread crumbs if the meat mixture turns out to be too wet. If you’re using ground chicken it might be a little less firm than beef or pork. Use whatever amount of bread crumbs you need to make it firm enough and not too sticky.

if you want to test if you have added enough spices you can make one test meatball and taste if it needs something extra. I also love adding a little splash of soy sauce for additional taste.

Roll them into 1-inch meatballs. You want to make little meatballs, small enough to pop in your mouth without having to bite. Rolling them with wet hands prevents the mixture sticking to your hands. Using a small cookie scoop is a great way to ensure they are all equally sized.

At this point you can place the raw meatballs in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve. At that point you quickly brown meatballs in a large skillet. They’re small so will be done quickly.

That’s one option. Another option is to already cook them fully and reheat later. They reheat easy in the oven covered in aluminum foil. Also keep in mind that you have to make sure that there is enough fat inside the meatballs. I don’t like using lean ground beef as the meatballs dry out too quickly.

Serve hot

Tender juicy meatballs served in a lovely sweet sauce. I mean; it doesn’t really get any better than that. Perfect to serve for Christmas Eve or on your Thanksgiving table.

Dip/sauce

I sometimes make a simple mayonnaise dip to go with the meatballs. Simply mix mayonnaise with some sriracha or another spice sauce and you’re done. Making the pomegranate sauce takes a little more timeThis is my favorite, but of course a bowl of ketchup is always good. Or curry or whatever you like to dip in. There are lots of options for dipping sauces. From homemade to store-bought. So just pick what you like best and you can’t really go wrong.

I also like serving them with my cranberry sauce recipe. if you’re more of a savory sauce kind of person don’t use the cranberry sauce though. The meatballs also go really well with the mulled wine!

I also sometimes like to make cranberry meatballs, by adding some dried cranberries chopped into the meat mixture. Or use a food processor to make sure the mix is evenly divided and the cranberries small enough.

How to prevent the meatballs from falling apart

Minced meat tends to shrink a little when it’s being cooked. So in order to prevent the meatball falling apart when you prick it with a fork you want to add something that binds. That can be either breadcrumbs or an egg or both. They will also get a more tender texture when you add an egg. Make sure not too add too much breadcrumbs or they will fall apart due to the breadcrumbs. Kind of the reverse effect of what you’re looking for.

How long in advance can I make the cocktail meatballs

In the fridge you can keep the raw meatballs for one day. I wouldn’t keep them any longer. Once cooked they will keep for two days, but keep in mind that keeping them will dry out the meat. Since they are so quick to make I would suggest to pre-roll all the meatballs prior to serving max one day ahead of time and brown them in the skillet just shortly before serving. Or – alternatively – cook them fully, heat the oven and gently reheat them on medium heat when you want to serve them. You can also consider placing them in a slow cooker on the warm setting with a generous amount of sauce, like barbecue sauce and keep them warm that way.

Do I fry or bake the meatballs?

Both are an option. I like to bake mine as I love to have them soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. But frying them will give an even more crunchy exterior and better browning on the outside. So definitely both are an option. I’ve not tried placing them in the air fryer yet. Might do that next time.
To prevent the meatballs from falling apart when frying you can briefly roll them in a bit of flour. That will make it stickier.

Can I use frozen meatballs?

Absolutely. Once made you can freeze the raw meatballs. I would use a freezer bag and place one single row of meatballs in a bag and freeze them like that. That will make it easier to defrost. Leftover meatballs can also be frozen for keeping.

Can I use store-bought meatballs

If you have a good brand you like, you can definitely use store-bought meatballs. That said I find that these easy cocktail meatballs are so quick it is almost more time to run to the grocery store.