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Cocktail Meatballs

Bite-size beef meatballs in a glossy, sticky sweet and tangy sauce, served on toothpicks at any party.

By Wanda Oyola 1 h Easy

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Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.

Small meatballs in a glossy dark red sauce, with toothpicks and chopped parsley, in a white serving dish.

Cocktail meatballs in a sweet and tangy sauce have been an American party favorite for decades. The classic sauce is a surprise: grape jelly melted into tomato chili sauce, which cooks down into a glossy, sticky glaze that is sweet, a little tangy and very hard to stop eating.

The Thermomix® TM7™ chops the onion, garlic, parsley and bread and mixes the meat gently on reverse, so the meatballs stay tender. They brown in the oven while you rinse the bowl, then go back in with the sauce on reverse at soft speed until every one is coated. Put out toothpicks and watch them go.

Made in the Thermomix® TM7™

Cocktail Meatballs

Makes: About 50 meatballs

  • Prep25 min
  • Cook35 min
  • Total1 h
  • Serves12

Ingredients

For the meatballs

For the sauce

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
  2. Place the bread, onion, garlic and parsley in the mixing bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 6. Scrape down the sides with the spatula.
  3. Add the milk, egg, salt and pepper and mix 5 sec/speed 4. Add the ground beef and mix 20 sec/reverse/speed 3, until just combined.
  4. With wet hands, roll the mixture into 2.5 cm (1 in) balls, about 15 g each, and place them on the sheet.
  5. Bake in the oven for 14 to 16 minutes, until browned and 71°C (160°F) in the center. Meanwhile, wash the mixing bowl.
  6. Place the chili sauce, grape jelly, lemon juice and pepper flakes in the mixing bowl and cook 6 min/100°C (212°F)/speed 2, until the jelly melts.
  7. Add the meatballs, place the simmering basket on the lid instead of the measuring cup and cook 10 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft, until glossy and well coated.
  8. Spoon into a serving dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with toothpicks.

Tips

  • To keep them warm through the party, move the meatballs and sauce to a slow cooker on the warm setting.
  • Make ahead: bake the meatballs, cool and freeze them up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge and glaze them as in step 7, cooking 12 minutes.
  • For a smokier sauce, use barbecue sauce instead of chili sauce.

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