‘Southern Charm’: Kathryn Dennis’ Grape Jelly Meatballs Do Not Deserve the Shade – They Are ‘Elegant but Easy’

Kathryn Dennis took it on the chin when she brought her grape jelly meatballs to Friendsgiving on Southern Charm this season.

Several cast members feigned disgust or even surprise when she revealed the recipe. But these grape jelly meatballs have been around almost as long as sweet tea. The grape jelly meatballs were even a topic of conversation at the Southern Charm reunion. “I’m telling you it is good!” Dennis exclaimed during part one of the reunion.

Shep Rose admitted, “I liked them at Friendsgiving!” But Andy Cohen threw shade at the grape jelly meatballs, suggesting that Dennis stop cooking for her men. And while Cohen and others disrespected the meatballs, they have a history that has become a beloved recipe many families have embraced.

And they don’t deserve the shade they got on Southern Charm.

‘Southern Charm’ grape jelly meatballs came from a 1960’s cookbook

The grape jelly meatballs emerged during the height of the cocktail party era in the late 1960s. They appeared in Marian Burros and Lois Levine’s 1967 “Elegant But Easy” cookbook, Salon reports. The recipe essentially calls for small, beef meatballs combined with regular grape jelly and cooked slowly until it creates a sauce. Many people create the dish in a crockpot, which also makes it ideal for a cocktail party as a “set it and forget it” type dish.

Originally, the recipe called for beef meatballs, combined with “12 ounces of tomato-based chili sauce, 10 ounces grape jelly, and lemon juice.” The mixture usually simmered on the stove and according to the 1998 version of the cookbook was “probably the most popular hors d’oeuvre in the book.”

These cocktail meatballs have had many different names

While the grape jelly meatballs made their official debut in “Elegant But Easy,” the meatballs were allegedly first submitted to food columnist Dorothy Dean’s Summer Recipes Contest, according to Quaint Cooking. The person who submitted the recipe referred to it as “Meatballs a la Twist” but it did not win the contest.

The recipe author said the meatball recipe came from a game of telephone and was passed down from friend to friend, many of the friends along the way were shocked by the ingredients (hello grape jelly).

The cocktail meatballs went through several iterations through the years. They were called Ruth Kochman’s Party Meatballs in 1974. And in 1979 they were called Tangy Buffet Meatballs in a newspaper.

Most recently the grape jelly meatballs resurfaced on Southern Charm and the tradition continues.

Many families celebrate the holidays with grape jelly meatballs

The Southern Charm grape meatball recipe ended up in “Betty Crocker’s” cookbook, the red and white plaid cookbook that was almost standard issued to every American home. The Betty Crocker recipe called for the meatballs to be rolled in parsley and bread crumbs and browned in shortening before being plunged into the grape jelly and chili sauce.

Salon noted that the grape jelly meatballs became a family holiday tradition over time – like Dennis bringing them to the festivities on Southern Charm.

“The idea of meatballs swimming in something so sweet is a little jarring, but honestly, who am I to judge?” recipe developer, Lee Kalpakis told Salon. “Sugar enhances flavor. Plus, fruit and meat historically work well together. A grape jelly meatball is kind of the same flavor profile, Betty Crocker-style.”