Smoked Meatballs with Cranberry Wine Sauce
A simple, delicious, and elegant appetizer idea for the holidays. Smoked meatballs made from pork and beef, cooked on the smoker, then braised in a sweet and savory cranberry wine sauce.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 20 meatballs
Cost $20
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground pork
- ½ onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely diced
- ½ cup breadcrumbs or breadcrumb substitute like Panko
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
For the Cranberry Wine Sauce:
- 1 16-ounce can cranberry sauce
- 1 cup fruity red wine Pinot Noir or other fruity red wine like Zinfandel
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- Preheat smoker to 225 degrees.
- Mix all meatball ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands.
- Shape into approximately 1-inch balls.
- Place on the smoker until the internal temperature of the meatballs reads 165 degrees (roughly 1 hour on the smoker). Remove from smoker and add to the cranberry wine sauce (below).
For the Cranberry Wine Sauce:
- In a medium size saucepan, combine the cranberry sauce, wine, brown sugar and Dijon mustard.
- Bring to a simmer and whisk continuously for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to begin to reduce and thicken.
- Transfer the sauce to a crock-pot, add the meatballs, and gently stir together. Keep warm.
Notes
Alternatively you can cook the meatballs on the stovetop in a heavy pot or large pan, coated with oil and set to med heat. Cook, and rotate the meatballs so all sides get browned (roughly 4-5 minutes). After they are browned transfer to an oven set to 375 for an additional 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature of the meatballs is 165 degrees.