Hear me out. These over the top cooked barbarian style meatballs sound like a mish-mash of nonsense. Until you eat them. I actually don’t tell people what they are other than “holiday balls” and then the questions come. “What in the world is in there” and “can I get the recipe”, I always laugh inside when telling people what it is because they just look at me in disbelief. You cannot taste the sauerkraut, you can’t taste the cranberry jelly concoction that no one eats at Thanksgiving. Chili Sauce? Does anyone eat that anyway?
I promise you, this will be the biggest appetizer hit at your holiday get together.
OTT Holiday Balls
OTT means Over The Top, we re-heat the meatballs above the dutch oven in order to let the meatballs absorb a little bit of applewood smoke. I typically serve them with an individual toothpick and just set out a small bowl and refill it often since they taste much better hot than cold.
This recipe is very simple and you can always do it in a crockpot as well. Combine all the other ingredients together and let it cook.
Ingredients:
Directions:
OTT Holiday Balls
- Prep Time: 5mins
- Cook Time: 3hrs
- Total Time: 3hrs
- Yield: 50 meatballs 1x
Description
Our favorite holiday appetizer. This can be cooked in a crockpot or on the pit and kept warm and served all day long. It sounds like a crazy concoction (and maybe it is), but the results will have you sneaking a meatball every 5 minutes. All of the flavors meld together; there is no heavy sauerkraut nor cranberry taste in the end.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pre-cooked meatballs
- 15oz Barvarian sauerkraut
- 14oz Cranberry sauce (with whole cranberries)
- 12oz Heinz Chili Sauce
- 2tbsp Brown sugar
- 2tbsp Holy Voodoo (by Meat Church)
Instructions
– Pre-heat grill to 300 or crockpot on low. In a dutch oven combine sauerkraut, cranberry sauce, chili sauce, sugar and rub. Stir to incorporate.
– Place dutch oven on grill and top with pizza screen to hold the meatballs above the pot (so drippings can fall into pot). Smoke, with a small amount of applewood, for 1 hour or until meatballs are cooked.
– Gently place meatballs in sauerkraut mixture and stir to combine. Cover and cook for an additional 2.5hours or until the mixture is thick and the sauerkraut is very soft.
– Serve in a small bowl with a toothpick per meatball. Refill bowl as needed to keep meatballs hot.
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