These easy Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs have the perfect combination of savory and sweet! A simple party appetizer idea everyone is going to love. The best part? You get to eat the meatballs with a toothpick.
Crockpot Meatballs: An Easy Party Appetizer Recipe
I love an easy and delicious party appetizer, and these slow cooker honey teriyaki meatballs are JUST that. They’re sweet and sticky, savory and rich, and perfectly bitesized. The sauce is unreal and it comes together so quickly before throwing it in your slow cooker over top some pre-made frozen meatballs.
It’s one of my favorite things to bring to parties or make when we’re having a big group of family and friends over. There’s about 15 minutes of hands-on cooking and prepping time, plus 3-or-so hours in the slow cooker, and you have a great party dish that practically makes itself. I love using the slow cooker for party prep because it means I can have something else cooking in the oven, too.
Should I brown meatballs before putting them in the crockpot?
When using pre-made frozen meatballs, you can go ahead and just throw them into the crockpot frozen! They stay together because they’ve already been cooked.
How long does it take for meatballs to cook in sauce?
These meatballs are pre-cooked, so it’s really more of a thawing and coating with sauce for this recipe. It takes about 3 hours in the slow cooker before they’re ready.
How long do you heat meatballs in a crockpot?
When using half a bag of frozen meatballs in this recipe, it takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of cook time on high in the slow cooker to get them nice and hot.
Why do my meatballs fall apart when cooking?
If you’re making homemade meatballs, make sure you use a binder to keep them together, like eggs and bread crumbs. Also, browning them on the stovetop or in the oven before throwing them in the slow cooker will help to keep them together if using homemade meatballs.
Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8 1x
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These easy Crockpot Honey Teriyaki Meatballs have the perfect combination of savory and sweet! A simple party appetizer idea everyone is going to love. The best part? You get to eat the meatballs with a toothpick.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 3 pounds frozen meatballs (store bought or homemade)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the water and the cornstarch, and whisk to combine. Add the sugar, honey, soy sauce, garlic powder, and sesame oil to pan, and stir to combine.
- Heat the pan over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.
- Place the meatballs in the slow cooker, and pour the sauce over the top. Cook according to package directions (3 to 3 1/2 hours on high for half a bag).
- Stir gently half way through cooking and once again before serving.
- When you are ready to serve, you can dish the meatballs onto a serving dish, ladle some of the sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker over the top, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped green onion. Or you can just serve them right out of the slow cooker as they are. The slow cooker is a great party option because it will keep them warm for good long time.
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Crockpot
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: crockpot meatballs, crockpot meatball recipe, sweet and sour meatballs crockpot, best crockpot meatballs, slow cooker meatballs, easy party appetizers
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More appetizer recipes you’ll like:
- Quick and Easy Hot Ham and Cheese Pinwheels
- The Best Caramel Dip (perfect to dip apples and pretzels)
- Baked Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
- Very Merry Cheese Ball Recipes
- My Favorite Classic Cheese Board
- Parmesan Pretzel Bites with Parmesan Dipping Sauce
More easy beef recipes:
- Skillet Taco Pasta made with ground beef
- Easy Korean Ground Beef and Rice
- Homemade Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Ground Beef Enchiladas
- Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup
- Pepperoncini Beef Sandwiches
- Beef Tostada Recipe
This post was originally published in 2014, and has been updated and rephotographed in October 2019.
About Melissa
I have a lot going on, and I’d much rather spend my time enjoying my messes than fretting about what I’m going to make for dinner. Over the past few years, I’ve nailed down a few strategies that helped me keep my kitchen running like a well-oiled machine, so I started Bless This Mess to help other mess-loving parents solve the nightly dinner delimma—no stress, no drama, just really great food your whole family will love. Read more...
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This was really good! I cut the sugar in half and used brown sugar instead because it was what I had. I also added a half tablespoon rice vinegar and some powdered ginger to balance the sweetness. The kids loved it!! I used frozen chicken meatballs from ikea. Cooked stovetop. Will keep this recipe!! Thank you!
★★★★
Those meatballs sounds awesome! I’ll have to check them out, I have no idea Ikea sold meatballs!
Your dish looks so delicious! What should i use to replace the roasted sesame oil when i run out of it?
It’s a great addition but if you don’t have any I would omit it all together (doesn’t really have a replacement and you won’t need additional oil), so if you are out just skip it!
You make me speechless with the deliciousness you bring to my party every time! This look fantastically delicious! I can’t wait to see what you share in your next blog.
Recipe Success! My google search for teriaki meatballs brought me here and I couldn’t be happier. I threw this together for dinner tonight (served over rice — I also tossed in some red bell pepper and onion strips to round it out). We will definitely make this again. Thanks!
This looks so so so good!
My husband and I are going to try these tonight! I saw your recipe on Foodgawker and I can’t wait to taste them! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! Make a double batch of that sauce and save it for stirfry later in the week (or half the amount of meatballs and save half the sauce… 3 pounds of meatballs is a lot!)
I love these types of slow cooker meatballs. They are great for parties, and unexpected guests.
Those look delicious!