Grandma's Hot & Spicy Meatballs

This 2nd post is a special shout out to my grandma Dorothy. She's one mean cook and one of her specialties is her infamous Hot & Spicy meatballs. There wouldn't be a Hartley Christmas without em'. These meatballs really seem to bring out the best, and worst, in us. I made them for a very special fraumate's wedding a few years back and they were a big hit. There's never a meatball left when they are served as appetizers & potlucks. They have about 50 ingredients and a very special secret ingredient, which you'd never guess. Since I'm sharing my recipes though and want your meatballs to taste just as good as my grandma's, I'll tell you what that very special ingredient is: grape jelly.  Yup. It's true. Grape jelly is what makes em'. I'd have never guessed it, but according to my gram, you can't substitute it for any other kind of jelly - apparently they just won't taste the same. Even though this recipe calls for a ton of ingredients, it's totally worth it. Bon appétit! 


For the meat balls:

2 eggs

2-3 tsp horseradish

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 lbs of ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together & shape in to 1” balls. Bake at 350⁰ on slightly greased baking sheet about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so.

For the sauce:

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup or more grape jelly (don't use any other jelly, as it does not taste the same)

1/2 cup or more ketchup

1/2 cup or more of chilli sauce (or you can use salsa)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cider vinegar (you can use white)

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard

1 tbsp Tabasco or hot pepper sauce

Place all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce, simmer uncovered  for 5 minutes. Place meat balls in sauce and simmer covered in the pot or bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1/2 an hour. Serve them nice and hot out of the oven or you can freeze them until ready to use. If this is the case, after your meat balls thaw out, bake them covered for about 1/2 to 3/4 hour at 350 degrees until they look done.

- Grandma Hartley