These Spicy Hawaiian Crockpot Meatballs are made easily with frozen meatballs and cooked low and slow in a mouthwatering sweet and savory sauce made from just 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper)! Perfect as a party appetizer, game day treat, or fun dinner!
This is one of my Appetizer recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
Now that football season is over, not only do I miss it (huge football fan here!), but I’m missing those game day parties.
Party foods are some of my all-time favorites! There’s something so tantalizing about a spicy buffalo chicken dip, a big platter of nachos, or a perfectly pop-able bite sized meatball.
I love this recipe because it’s different than the super popular and common bbq meatballs, but still every bit as delicious, and just as easy.
They’re great to have for a party, but also a fun dinner. Sometimes we serve these alongside some rice pilaf, mashed potatoes, or some roasted brussels sprouts and it’s quick, easy, and yummy!
Why you’ll love this recipe!
Crockpot meatballs are not only incredibly easy to make, they pack so much flavor despite only using a handful of ingredients!
- Easily customize-able – we love how easy this recipe is to tweak to your tastes and preferences.
- Affordable – because this recipe doesn’t use many ingredients, it’s pretty affordable, especially when you buy things on sale.
- Fan-favorite – if you’re serving this at a party, be prepared for these meatballs to go pretty quickly! If you’re serving this as a dinner, your family will be requesting this meal often!
What do I need to make this recipe?
- Bbq sauce – any barbecue sauce will work, so just choose your favorite.
- Pineapple – I like to use canned pineapple chunks, because they’re readily available and more affordable.
- Garlic – I prefer to grate the garlic cloves, so the pieces are much smaller.
- Red pepper – this amount varies, depending on how spicy you want this dish to be.
- Salt and pepper – nothing special here, just regular salt and pepper for flavor.
- Green onions – green onions or scallions are a great thing to bring freshness and a mild onion flavor.
- Meatballs – I like to pick up a bag of my grocery store’s brand of homestyle meatballs for this recipe.
How to make spicy hawaiian crockpot meatballs:
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Add sauce ingredients. There’s no need to add the sauce to a bowl first, just add the bbq, pineapple, garlic, seasonings, and green onions to the slow cooker insert.
- Stir. I like to stir the sauce before adding the meatballs, just to make sure everything combines well.
- Add meatballs. They’re added frozen.
- Stir and cook. The meatballs are cooked for several hours.
- Garnish and serve. I like to add additional green onions for freshness and color.
Helpful Tip!
I don’t advise using an Italian seasoned meatball variety for this recipe. I generally pick up a bag of my grocery store’s brand meatballs, in the homestyle variety. Cooked Perfect brand and Trader Joes are some other frozen meatball alternatives as well.
Variations of this recipe
- Meatballs – to save on some time, this recipe uses pre-cooked frozen meatballs, but you can use homemade meatballs if you want. Just sear or partially bake them first, so they hold up well in the slow cooker.
- Thawed – if you have thawed meatballs, you can use those, just cook on LOW for about 2 hours, or HIGH for about an hour (I would stir a couple of times if cooking on high, just to make sure the sauce doesn’t burn).
- Pineapple – instead of canned pineapple, you can use an equal amount of fresh pineapple that you’ve cut into chunks.
- Heat level – feel free to adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to your preferred heat level. You can also add a bit of cayenne pepper or use a spicy bbq sauce.
- Bbq – you can use any bbq sauce that you love! I typically use Kinders or Sweet Baby Ray’s.
FAQ’s
Nope, to make things easier and for the sake of quick party prep, this recipe calls for frozen meatballs… no need to thaw. Just toss the meatballs in frozen, add the sauce ingredients, stir, and cook.
Because of the strong sweet and savory flavor of the sauce, I don’t recommend a flavored meatball (such as an Italian variety). But this recipe works really well with beef, turkey, and chicken meatballs. We love to use our local grocery store’s brand, and Cooked Perfect brand.
Absolutely not; I make zero claims of authenticity for this recipe. It’s simply a crockpot meatball recipe with a little American/Hawaiian flair from the drained pinapple pieces.
Making crockpot meatballs ahead of time
Since these meatballs cook in the slow cooker, and there’s no rushing around cooking, I don’t find that I need to make this recipe ahead of time.
If you want to do it, you can make it 1-2 days ahead, and reheat in the slow cooker until hot and bubbly.
Freezing
Meatballs can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat.
Storage
Leftover meatballs should be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
My Favorite Slow Cooker!
I’ve had this slow cooker for a while now, and I really love how it cooks. The locking lid feature is amazing for taking food to potlucks or other gatherings!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 2 cups bbq sauce (I like to use Kinders brand)
- 20 oz can pineapple chunks drained well
- 5 cloves garlic grated or very finely minced
- 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flakes depending on desired heat level
- sprinkle salt and pepper
- 4 green onions diced
- 32 oz bag frozen pre-cooked meatballs (I like to use the homestyle variety)
Garnish
- extra green onions for garnish if desired
Instructions
Combine sauce
- To the insert of a slow cooker, add 2 cups bbq sauce, 20 oz can pineapple chunks, 5 cloves garlic, 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flakes, sprinkle salt and pepper, and 4 green onions.
Add meatballs
- Stir the sauce in the slow cooker, then add a 32 oz bag frozen pre-cooked meatballs and stir to combine.
Cook
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours, or on HIGH for about 2 – 2.5 hours.
- I do recommend cooking on low whenever possible. While meatballs are cooking, I like to stir them every so often to make sure the sauce isn't burning.
Serve
- Garnish with additional diced green onions if desired, and serve hot.
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Chef Tips
- I’ve estimated this recipe will serve approximately 8 people, with each person getting about 4 oz of meatballs. However, please feel free to divide this recipe up into as many servings as you’d like.
- For larger gatherings, I definitely recommend doubling this recipe.
- Please note that all slow cookers cook a little differently, with some running hotter than others, so all cook times are approximate.
- This recipe was cooked and tested in a standard 6 quart slow cooker, and has not been tested in an electric pressure cooker.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Maureen says
I didn’t care for this recipe.
The Chunky Chef says
I appreciate your honesty 🙂 Anything in particular about it that you didn’t like?
Mary S says
I made these a couple of nights ago and they’re super delicious! We used Stubbs’s Sweet Heat bbq sauce, a favorute of ours, though the sweet and the heat did overshadow the other flavors a little. But that’s entirely on me, love the meatballs and the bbq pineapple chunks. Will definitely make again and experiment with other bbq sauces!