TAILGATING HELLY JELLY (SWEET AND SPICY) MEATBALLS

TAILGATING HELLY JELLY (SWEET AND SPICY) MEATBALLS image

Yield 40 meatballs

Number Of Ingredients 21

Helly Jelly Sauce
1 jar chili sauce (like Heinz)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 large jar grape jelly
1 can chopped mild green chilies
3 tablespoons diced shallot
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Turkey Meatballs (recipe makes about 40)
1 pound lean ground turkey
2 eggs
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chiffonade
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Steps:

For Meatballs: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or cover your sheet with non-stick tinfoil. Mix ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, black pepper, salt, thyme, oregano, dried basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Make into small meatballs and place on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring once halfway, until cooked through. While meatballs are in the oven, put all the ingredients into the crockpot and mix well. Add the meatballs when cooked and stir to coat well. Either return pot to oven to reheat, use your crockpot (Warm setting) or place pot on outdoor grill to reheat.When fully cooked through and the meatballs have been soaking in the sauce, serve with toothpicks and small dinner rolls. Note: You can use frozen meatballs, Lil Smokies sausages or sliced smoked sausage instead of the homemade meatballs. Also, the recipe makes a lot of sauce, a good deal of which will be left over when the meatballs have been eaten. I've found that having a *lot* of sauce is of real benefit when making meatballs in the crockpot - the meat remains nice and moist.