So, what, am I on a meatballs kick now? Am I changing the blog to “Meatless Meatballs 365?” No, well, at least not yet. But those Meatless Meatball Subs were so good and they made me think of Stephanie O’Dea’s cranberry party meatball recipe that I have yet to try. And I had this huge bag of cranberries leftover from when I made the Best Cranberry Sauce Ever. So, bottom line is, yes, I’m now addicted to both cranberry sauce AND meatballs.
Oh, well, I’m OK with it.
Vegetarian Cranberry-Barbecue Meatballs
Ingredients
1-2 lbs. (packages) meatless meatballs (I used one package Quorn meatballs). Use 2 if you like it less saucy. You could also use the meatballs from the Meatless Meatball Subs, without the Italian herbs.
1/2 C barbecue sauce
1 can (16oz) jellied cranberry sauce or 2 C homemade Cranberry Sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce
Directions
Cut cranberry sauce into slices, if applicable
Place sauce into bottom of stoneware insert
Add barbecue sauce and soy sauce
Top with cooked or frozen meatballs.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-4
The cooking time depends on if your meatballs are frozen, thawed, or freshly baked.
The Results
These are, hm, different? All right, I’ll just say it. These are absolutely awful. Granted, I was low on barbecue sauce, so that may be part of it. And I’ll admit I wasn’t all that fond of these Quorn meatballs in spaghetti. I’m not normally a meatball person. I like marinara or “meat” sauce on my pasta, why bother with meatballs? But those meatball subs were so tasty! I thought I’d turned it all around. My relationship with meatballs was fresh and new and beautiful. Now it’s crushed.
It’s like a weird, too sweet and too sour combination. I don’t know what exactly is bad about it, but in general it took two yummy sauces and combined them to be gross sauces. This is an epic failure. It could be the Quorn contributed to the failure. The recipe seems sound to me for the real meat. It could also be the fact that I didn’t use the can of HFCS sauce. Maybe that’s the key in this one. Oh well, we knew there’d be days like this.
Now I just have to decide whether to dump these in the disposal an feel super guilty or wash off the meatballs and save them. First step is seeing if the toddler likes them. She likes weird things sometimes. If you try this recipe with the original ingredients or with just the meat swapped and it turns out well, let me know. If anyone has a recipe failure story, feel free to comment about that, too.
It’s like a weird, too sweet and too sour combination. I don’t know what exactly is bad about it, but in general it took two yummy sauces and combined them to be gross sauces. This is an epic failure. It could be the Quorn contributed to the failure. The recipe seems sound to me for the real meat. It could also be the fact that I didn’t use the can of HFCS sauce. Maybe that’s the key in this one. Oh well, we knew there’d be days like this.
Now I just have to decide whether to dump these in the disposal an feel super guilty or wash off the meatballs and save them. First step is seeing if the toddler likes them. She likes weird things sometimes. If you try this recipe with the original ingredients or with just the meat swapped and it turns out well, let me know. If anyone has a recipe failure story, feel free to comment about that, too.
Kristi is a former newspaper reporter and editor who is now a vegetarian mom, married to a meat-eating dad and parenting two undecided kids. Join the family on our journey creating whole foods recipes to suit our blended-eater lifestyle. 
Hi there Kristi.Its been a while since I made veggie meatballs, you've encouraged me to make some soon and I may just have to try this cranberry BBQ sauce. I am intrigued. Happy New Year to you from Snowy Scotland.
Hello again mango & a Happy New Year to you as well! You are a brave soul to try the sauce. It seemed delicious on paper. It's probably a matter of natural ingredients strayed too far from the taste of the canned junk. I definitely encourage you to try to make the meatballs. Delicious. Proceed with caution on that sauce though!
Ugh. I found more barbecue sauce in the pantry this morning. Maybe I should experiment with adding some. I hate to waste more sauce on it though. Hmm…
i am now following you from the hop please follow me back at <a href="http://mizzreviewlady-mommyreviews.blogspot.com/http://mizzreviewlady-mommyreviews.blogspot.com/<… />thanks!
Stopped by to follow your blog from the F.M.B.T. Tuesday blog hop… do comment/follow me back
Have a Happy Holiday Season!Best,ElizabethPositive Kismet Blog
I've had a few of those 'epic failures' myself – it's always the things that look really good on paper! I had one of those with a new cornbread mix tonight…yuck!Samhttp://thegiveawayqueen.blogspot.com/
It looks so promising in the photo, too.
A mix failed? That's the worst!
Hi there! I am your newest follower from the blog hop. Lovely blog:) You can find me at <a href="http://www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.comwww.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com<br />I have some amazing handmade giveaways going on so take a peek when you come by:) Happy Holidays!These look good by the way. I post lots of recipes too but mainly they have meat. I was a vegitarian for 13 years though so I still enjoy the cooking a lot
I don't mind that your recipes are meaty. I will just stick them into my meaty conversion grinder and make them into veggies. Mwa ha ha!
Thanks for coming by Hanna. Heading to see you soon.
This sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing it. Go veggies!
I found you via FMBT and am your newest follower Rae T. I'd love if you could follow me back at my blog: There's a Contest for That Have a great day! 