Crockpot Cranberry BBQ Smokies

This crockpot cranberry BBQ smokies recipe only has 3 ingredients!  Perfect for the holiday season, this uses cocktail sausages,  fresh cranberries, and your choice of BBQ sauce. You can make this crowd pleasing appetizer as healthy as you want it to be. Instructions to make this in the Instant Pot are also included.

Ingredients For Crockpot Cranberry BBQ Cocktail Sausages

I love an easy holiday appetizer recipe and this one couldn’t get any easier. I break down the 3 ingredients below…

• Cranberries: The cranberries can be fresh or frozen. Pick and pick over the cranberries and discard any blemished ones.
• Cocktail sausages: You can use your preferred brand or pick a brand that fits your dietary lifestyle. For example, I wanted my sausages to be whole30 compliant so I used Teton Waters Ranch since I know theirs are all natural. What brand you use is up to you.
• BBQ Sauce – Use your preferred brand! Keep in mind that the BBQ sauce can make or break a recipe. Cranberries are very tart so think about that when choosing a brand or making your own.

How To Make Cranberry BBQ Smokies

Slow Cooker

1. Add cocktail sausages, fresh cranberries, and BBQ sauce to the slow cooker. Mix until well blended.
2. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

1. Add fresh cranberries, BBQ sauce, and water to to the Instant Pot. Mix until well blended. Stir in the cocktail sausages. If you’re using a thick BBQ sauce, use 1 full cup of water.
2. Close lid & seal valve. Cook high pressure for 3 minutes. When done, quick release the pressure.
3. Stir & serve.

FAQs & Tips

When should you serve this?

There’s no mistake this appetizer was made for the holiday season. I seriously serve these slow cooker cocktail sausages on repeat from November through December. There’s a popular slow cooker recipe that combines jelly, BBQ sauce & cocktail sausages. I’ve had it once and it was really good. But it was a bit too unhealthy for me. This is my holiday, cleaned up version where I used all-natural cocktail sausages, fresh cranberries and a homemade BBQ sauce.

What are cocktail sausages?

Cocktail sausages are small, smoked sausages. You may know them as cocktail weenies, cocktail weiners, or by Lit’l Smokies which are probably the most popular brand of cocktail sausages. Cocktail sausages are already fully cooked so really you’re just reheating them in a sauce made from fresh cranberries and BBQ sauce.

How much sauce should use?

1 1/2 to 2 cups. It will depend on how saucy you want your cocktail sausages. What you see in the pictures is 2 cups.

Is this healthy?

Tailor this slow cooker holiday appetizer recipe to be as healthy as you want it to be. Depending on what brand of cocktail sausages & BBQ you use, this recipe can be low-carb, paleo, or Whole30 compatible. For example, Teton Waters Ranch & Applegate both make paleo and Whole30 compliant cocktail sausages. Fresh cranberries are naturally compliant so all you need to do is use a paleo/whole30 compliant BBQ sauce. Same goes for low-carb. Sausages and fresh cranberries are low-carb so if you use a low-carb BBQ sauce like G Hughes Sugar Free Sauce, you are all set.

How do you keep this heated?

This is a great recipe for holiday parties and potlucks because you can set the appliance to WARM. This will keep the smokies heated through. 

How do you store leftovers?

Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. 

What size slow cooker did I use?

I used my 3.5-quart slow cooker for this recipe. Feeding a larger crowd? Double the recipe and use a larger slow cooker.

Holiday Appetizers

• Fried Mushrooms

• Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

• Pigs In A Blanket

• Seafood Au Gratin

Crockpot Cranberry BBQ Smokies

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This crockpot cranberry BBQ cocktail sausages recipe only has 3 ingredients!  Perfect for the holiday season, this uses cocktail sausages,  fresh cranberries, and your choice of BBQ sauce. You can make this crowd pleasing appetizer as healthy as you want it to be. Instructions to make this in the Instant Pot are also included.

• Author: Shannon Epstein
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 24 ounces packaged cocktail sausages
• 4 ounces fresh cranberries (frozen or thawed)
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup water (or more) for Instant Pot only

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Instructions

Slow Cooker

1. Add cocktail sausages, fresh cranberries, and BBQ sauce to the slow cooker. Mix until well blended.
2. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.

Instant Pot

1. Add fresh cranberries, BBQ sauce, and water to to the pressure cooker. Mix until well blended. Stir in the cocktail sausages. If you’re using a thick BBQ sauce, use 1/2 cup of water.
2. Close lid & seal valve. Cook high pressure for 3 minutes. When done, quick release the pressure.
3. Stir & serve.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

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