Meatballs in Cranberry BBQ Sauce

I like to stock up on fresh cranberries at this time of year.

It is nice to have them in the freezer to make things long after the holidays are over.

I felt like something different for dinner the other night, and thought of those frozen cranberries I had stashed in the freezer, so I started searching the Internet for a recipe. This one jumped out at me right away.

I had some of my frozen meatballs in the freezer so I used those and then tossed them and the sauce right in the slow cooker. Then all I had to was make some mashed potatoes and I was ready to go.

It was very tasty; the sauce is a tangy but sweet!

What you need,

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2 tbsp. canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, minced

Salt/pepper to taste

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, you can add a couple extra tbsp. if you like it a bit sweeter

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp. dry mustard powder

1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, depending how hot you like it!

5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1-2 lbs. frozen meatballs

Heat the oil in medium sauce pan over high heat. Add the onions and garlic, salt and pepper and cook until deep golden brown, stirring often, 12-15 minutes.

Add the sugar and tomato paste, mustard and cayenne cook stirring constantly until darkened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in vinegar and cranberries and continue to cook, stirring often until cranberries start to pop, about 4 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

You can puree in a blender or use an immersion blender to make it smooth or if you don’t mind chunky BBQ sauces just leave it, I did! You can even use a potato masher to smooth it out a little if you like.

Add your meatballs to the slow cooker and pour the sauce over. Stir to coat. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

If you are wondering why my mashed potatoes are orange, it is because I like to mix one sweet potato in with my regular potatoes. I did it once when I was short on regular potatoes and my in house taste tester loved it, now I do it all the time. It adds a really nice sweetness!

This is a lovely way to use up some cranberries!

Jen

Recipe from Whole Foods