3 Ingredient Grape Jelly Meatballs Recipe - (2024)

FAQs

Why 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.

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.

Massage your meat

Get your hands into your mixing bowl and combine the ingredients for your meatballs using your fingers. The heat from your hands will help release the proteins in the meat which will in turn help the mixture stick together when it cooks. Don't overmix, just a few minutes will do.

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.

Add 25 mL (2 tbsp) sugar per 250 mL (1 cup) of jam or jelly being recooked. Return to the heat and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil rapidly for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, skim off foam, fill hot sterilized jars, seal and process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

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].

You could also try adding a bit of a starchy binder such as tapioca flour or cornstarch. A teaspoon of either (together with that additional egg) will help bind the meat and fillers and prevent the meatballs from falling apart. You can add it to the liquid or just sprinkle it on and mix it in thoroughly.

Welch's Jelly is made from fruit juice and Welch's Jam is made from pureed fruit. So to put it simply, though we use the same ingredients, the texture of both products will be different.

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.

What makes meatballs stick together better? ›

Most meatball recipes depend on other ingredients, such as herbs, cheese, and the meat itself for flavor. Instead, eggs serve a more prosaic function: to help hold everything together. As the eggs cook, their proteins coagulate and solidify, binding all the other ingredients they contact.

Here, we're soaking fresh or dried breadcrumbs in a little milk until the bread becomes soggy, then mixing that right into the meat. This binder (aka panade) helps add moisture to the meatballs and also prevents the meat proteins from shrinking and becoming tough.

Baking soda, otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate, appears often in köfte recipes. It raises the PH level of the meat, making it harder for the meat's protein molecules to bond. This in turn allows the meat to retain water as it cooks. And more water means a moist meatball.

Yes, grape jelly can be healthy because of its pectin and antioxidants, which promote better digestion. Even versions containing less sugar, like our sugar free grape jelly, still make it the ultimate energy booster.

Redcurrant Jelly is also traditionally served with beef or lamb, it has a beautiful deep red colour and full berry flavour, or for those who prefer something less sweet, Rowan Jelly also works very well.

There is probably no other dish that is so connected to Swedish cuisine, as meatballs with cream sauce and lingonberry jam.