These spicy slow cooker meatballs are the easiest party appetizer to make and perfect for cocktail parties, football food and feeding hungry crowds. Made with frozen meatballs, soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha, brown sugar, honey and garlic, these crockpot meatballs are slow simmered to perfection and come out tender and juicy every time.
It’s an unwritten rule that if you are having a cocktail party or serving up football food of any kind, you better have some frozen meatballs in a crockpot somewhere, ready and waiting.
Its just not a party without them. Great music? Yes! Stimulating conversation? Absolutely! Open bar? WOO HOO!!! No slow cooker meatballs? … party’s a bust!
Save your party and your reputation by serving up these Spicy Slow Cooker Meatballs. These are the easiest party appetizer to make and are delicious every time.
Add your frozen meatballs straight from your freezer into your slow cooker, add in your sauce ingredients and let the crockpot do the work for you.
These slow cooker meatballs are saucy, spicy and come out perfectly tender and juicy every time and do you want to know the best part? They take all of about 5 minutes to make and it’s only 5 ingredients. FIVE!!!
.. well, technically SIX ingredients but one of those ingredients is garlic so does that even count??? Garlic goes in everything … it’s like air. Or sunshine.
Looking to use homemade meatballs? Try my chicken meatballs for this recipe instead of frozen meatballs from the grocery store. Serve them up alongside some baked chicken wings, pub nachos or jalapeno bacon cheese dip.
WHY THESE ARE THE BEST PARTY MEATBALLS
- Add your frozen meatballs to your slow cooker, a few sauce ingredients and let the slow cooker do the work for you.
- These crockpot meatballs are spicy, savory and slow simmered to perfection.
- Perfectly versatile, you can use frozen meatballs or homemade meatballs for this recipe.
- This meatball recipe has a little bit of a kick to it by adding the sriracha but it’s just a recipe. Want to serve up super spicy meatballs, add more sriracha. Want to tame them down a bit, add less. You are in control.
- These slow cooker meatballs are made with only 5 ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. It gets no easier!
To make these spicy slow cooker meatballs, you will need:
- Frozen or homemade meatballs
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Brown sugar
- Ketchup
- Sriracha
- Garlic powder
HOW TO MAKE FROZEN CROCKPOT MEATBALLS
To make your spicy slow cooker meatballs, add the frozen meatballs to your crockpot. Next, pour the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, garlic powder, brown sugar and sriracha on top of the meatballs.
Gently stir then cover the crockpot and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours until your meatballs are tender and your sauce is hot.
PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT MEATBALLS
- This recipe can be doubled depending on how many you need.
- Frozen meatballs are often on sale around holidays and football season. Stock up on frozen meatballs ahead of time and stash them in your freezer for when you will need them.
- These reheat perfectly by popping them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Add more sriracha to kick up the heat, reduce the sriracha if you prefer the sauce to be more mild.
MEATBALLS
This slow cooker meatball recipe is perfect for frozen meatballs. We all want easy appetizer recipes when it comes to serving up party food because there is so much to do when entertaining at home.
Make your day easier by using frozen meatballs when making this recipe.
However, substituting the frozen meatballs with homemade meatballs is also a great option, especially if you’re trying to avoid processed food or prefer homemade over store bought.
My personal choice is making up a batch of chicken meatballs. Grab the recipe HERE. Simply make and bake the meatballs before adding them to the slow cooker with the spicy sauce.
STOVE TOP SPICY MEATBALLS
Wanting to bypass the slow cooker? No problem! Simply add the meatballs to a saucepan large enough to accommodate everything and will still allow you to stir things together.
Then add in your sauce ingredients, give it all a gentle stir to incorporate, cover and let simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until your meatballs are tender and your sauce is hot.
Reduce the heat to low to keep the meatballs warm.
MORE PARTY FOOD YOU WILL LOVE
- Slow Cooker Spicy Hawaiian Meatballs
- Pepperoni Stromboli Ring
- Roasted Beet Hummus
- Easy Bean Salad
- Easy Homemade Salsa
Enjoy!
If you’ve tried these Spicy Slow Cooker Meatballs or any other recipe on this website, please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you it came out in the comments below.
Share a photo of your creation on my Facebook page, Instagram or save it to Pinterest and tag #AWICKEDWHISK. I can’t wait to see your work!
Spicy Slow Cooker Meatballs
Ingredients
- 24 oz frozen meatballs
- 1.5 cup ketchup
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon sriracha or more depending on taste
Instructions
- To make your spicy slow cooker meatballs, add the frozen meatballs to your crockpot. Next, pour the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, garlic powder, brown sugar and sriracha on top of the meatballs.
- Gently stir then cover the crockpot and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, or HIGH for 2 to 3 hours until your meatballs are tender and your sauce is hot.
Notes
PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT MEATBALLS
- This recipe can be doubled depending on how many you need.
- Frozen meatballs are often on sale around holidays and football season. Stock up on frozen meatballs ahead of time and stash them in your freezer for when you will need them.
- These reheat perfectly by popping them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Add more sriracha to kick up the heat, reduce the sriracha if you prefer the sauce to be more mild.
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Update Notes: This post was originally published in April of 2018 but was republished with an updated recipe, new photos, step by step instructions and tips in January of 2020.
These will be devoured at my next family gatheringl
Can it be doubled?
Yes!! I double this recipe all the time… 🙂
We tried this recipe last weekend but added a little more sriracha sauce. Delicious!!!! We will definitely be making these again. Already put the recipe in my book so I have it whenever we want to make this.
meatballs look so so delicious!! I love spicy food!
Meatballs are the stars for all parties and just as you said without them the party is not as much fun. If you have meatballs lapped up in yummy sauces looking as delish as these then any party will be rocking. I am drooling at the sight of the meatballs.
Heather,
I am drooling looking at the meatballs- you had me at spicy!