You can make Sweet and Tangy Meatballs in just 30 minutes. They’re perfect as an appetizer or quick dinner that your family will enjoy.

These saucy barbecue meatballs primarily require barbecue sauce, but their sweetness comes from orange marmalade. They’ll have everyone licking their fingers clean and asking for seconds.

Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs in a pot with a wooden spoon

To make these tangy treats, all you need to do is mix up the ingredients, shape them into balls, and bake in the oven until cooked through. Then all that’s left is to pour on the sauce!

My family loves my Gigi’s recipe for homemade Italian meatballs. Madden always requests meatballs and always clarifies that he wants the homemade ones, not the ones from Costco.

They all love barbecue sauce in addition to meatballs. However, we need to monitor the amount of barbecue sauce and ketchup our daughter Jersey adds to her plate or food (obsessed). The second most favored sauce is the one used in my orange chicken. This affection for these two sauces was the motivation behind creating these barbecue meatballs.

These barbecue meatballs are versatile and enjoyable! They make a fantastic dinner when served over rice and steamed vegetables, and they can also be served as a stunning appetizer. They are both easy to make and delicious.

These barbecue meatballs rank in our top 10 appetizers. These Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs are so easy to throw together. With only 4 ingredients and 25 minutes baking time, you are 30 minutes away from meatball heaven.

Every holiday or party it is pretty much a guarantee that at every party, there are meatballs and mini-hot dogs, right? I always feel that the meatballs are lacking and just need a little more pzazz. And the addition of the orange marmalade in this recipe does exactly that. I love the hint of sweetness.

Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatball up close on a toothpick with meatballs and cilantro in background

If you wanted to make this a slow cooker meal, making it easy to transport and keep warm just toss all of the ingredients into a slow cooker, stir to combine and the cook on low for a few hours. Your guest will love this either way, and these little meatballs are dressed to impress. I mean just take a look at that sauce, yum! I love to use the extra sauce to drizzle over my rice, and if serving as an appetizer just leave the meatballs in the sauce so they don’t dry out.

up close Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs in large pot with a wooden spoon

While I am not the biggest meatball fan, unless they are homemade I couldn’t stop eating this at 2 pm in the afternoon, spoiling my dinner not because I overate but because I already ate my portion…and I know there will not be any leftovers. So whether you are looking for an easy dinner or a gorgeous holiday appetizer, these Barbecue Meatballs will become a crowd favorite.

Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs in a white pot with a wooden spoon

How do you make barbecue meatballs?

In a large cooking pot add the barbecue sauce, orange marmalade and whole cranberry sauce, stir to combine.

Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a slow boil.

Add meatballs and stir to coat.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cover pot.

Cook for 15 minutes.

Keeping the meatballs over the heat, remove the lid and stir sauce and meatballs.

Cook for another 10 minutes to allow sauce to thicken over the meatballs.

Remove from heat and serve.

Don’t forget to pin these Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 310 kcal
Sweet & Tangy Barbecue Meatballs – Ready in 30-minutes and made with a few simple ingredients, they make a great appetizer or even as dinner a meatball subs.

Ingredients
 

  • 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
  • 1/2 orange marmalade
  • 14 ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
  • 32 ounce package frozen meatballs 64 count (1/2 ounce size)

Instructions
 

  • In a large cooking pot add the barbecue sauce, orange marmalade and whole cranberry sauce, stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a slow boil.
  • Add meatballs and stir to coat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover pot. Cook for 15 minutes.
  • Keeping the meatballs over the heat, remove the lid and stir sauce and meatballs. Cook for another 10 minutes to allow sauce to thicken over the meatballs.
  • Remove from heat and serve.
  • I love to serve these as an appetizer, but if serving as a meal serve with rice and cilantro as a garnish.

Notes

Calories: 310kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 13gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 419mgPotassium: 308mgSugar: 24gVitamin A: 100IUVitamin C: 1.4mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know what you think!

 

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60 Comments

  1. I think I’m going to make these to take to our Thanksgiving dinner!! Soo looking forward to eating these.. they look scrumptious!! Thank you for sharing!!

  2. I made these for a birthday party and everyone raved about them! I bought a 64 oz. bag of meatballs and used most of it, adding an additional half measure of each of the sauce ingredients. I had to adjust the cook time for the meatballs due to the stove I have. The sauce was sweet and tangy, exactly as the name suggests. I will definitely be making this again!

  3. 5 stars
    Glad to see this brilliant article, You are giving motivation, and inspiration to us. The content you published here is extremely incredible. Very helpful and wonderful information you had posted here.

  4. I love barbecue flavor in almost everything I eat, especially during the wintertime! Thanks for sharing another wonderful recipe idea among us. By profession, I like to try new recipe ideas. I hope my other family members will enjoy the recipe as well.

  5. 5 stars
    I love these delicious recipes. I can’t say that I am a magical chef, but when I see such recipes, I immediately want to run to the kitchen and cook something.

  6. 5 stars
    The cranberry sauce is what really makes this recipe pop for me. I made this and served it over Stovetop Stuffing (because of the cranberry element). Holy. Moly. It’s so good!

  7. The combination of sweet and tangy barbecue sauce perfectly complements the juicy meatballs. They’re the ultimate party appetizer or a delicious addition to any meal.

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