This fall party appetizer for Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins was created as part of a sponsored post for Daily Chef – Casa Di Bertacchi meatballs which are available at Sam’s Club.
Fall is such a great time to get together with family and friends. An autumn party can be held outside without the heat and humidity of summer. You can enjoy the beautiful leaves, have a bonfire and sip hot apple cider. Today I’m excited to share these Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins that are perfect for serving at fall celebrations from harvest parties and football parties to Halloween and Thanksgiving! They have a mild buffalo sauce with a pretzel stem and a parsley leaf.
These delicious Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins start with Daily Chef – Casa Di Bertacchi meatballs. We’ve been using Daily Chef – Casa di Bertacchi meatballs for almost a year now and we love them. These fully cooked, gluten free, Italian style beef meatballs are available at Sam’s Club. There are six pounds of 5/8-ounce meatballs in each bag which is perfect for entertaining.
I used my slow cooker to heat the meatballs. Pour half of the bag into the slow cooker, cover and heat on high for 3 – 3 1/2 hours. You can also prepare them in the oven or on the stovetop.
Once the meatballs are hot, make the buffalo sauce. Melt butter and then stir in buffalo sauce, pumpkin puree and ranch dressing. I made this recipe kid-friendly (less spicy) but you can add more buffalo sauce and less butter if you want it hotter. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and stir to coat.
The buffalo meatballs can be served right out of your slow cooker with the buffalo sauce on them. I wasn’t ready to serve mine yet, so I put the slow cooker cover back on, turned the heat to low and let them sit for another half hour. I stirred them again before serving.
To make the buffalo meatballs look like pumpkins, put them on a tray.
Break the ends off pretzel rods and insert them into the meatballs. Pretzel rods which thick, so I cut a small hole in the top of each meatball before inserting the pretzel. Braided pretzels or pretzel sticks would work as pumpkin stems as well.
Finally, add a green parsley leaf or a piece of cilantro to finish off the pumpkins. Serve with ranch dressing for dipping. Daily Chef – Casa Di Bertacchi meatballs make it super easy to prepare these Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins. They are so much fun to serve at fall parties and look super cute on the serving platter!
Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds Daily Chef - Casa di Bertacchi meatballs about 75
- 38 pretzel rods or other pretzel sticks
- 1 bunch fresh parsley or cilantro
Buffalo Sauce:
- ⅓ cup butter
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoon ranch dressing
Instructions
- Put the meatballs into the slow cooker, cover, and heat on high for 3–3 1/2 hours.
- Pour the buffalo sauce (recipe below) over the meatballs and stir to coat.
- To make the buffalo meatballs look like pumpkins, put them on a tray.
- Break the ends off of the pretzel rods and insert them into the meatballs. Cut a small hole in the top of each meatball before inserting the pretzel, if necessary.
- Finish them off with a green parsley leaf.
Buffalo Sauce
- Melt the butter and then stir in the buffalo sauce, pumpkin puree and ranch dressing.
Notes
Nutrition
Here’s another delicious way to serve Daily Chef – Casa Di Bertacchi meatballs:
Sarah says
Clarification- You cook the meatballs by themselves in the crockpot and at the end add in the buffalo sauce?
Tonia says
Yes that is correct! 😊
Lucy says
This is such a cute idea I am going to make them for tonight’s Hocus Pocus Marathon!! Do I use salted or unsalted butter? Thank you!
Tonia says
Hi Lucy,
I used salted butter. Have fun tonight!
~Tonia
Janna says
I tried this recipe and it turned out really good. What else can I add to the recipe? Thanks for the recipe.
KATHY says
Do you use the powder ranch dressing or liquid?
Tonia says
I used the liquid form of ranch dressing.
Margie says
It seems Sams Club no longer makes these meatballs. Is there another brand you would recommend? I am a vegetarian, so I have no idea what’s good, but I wanted to make these for an upcoming Halloween-themed party…
Tonia says
Hi Margie,
If you are shopping at Sam’s Club, try the Member’s Mark meatballs. If you are shopping at your local grocery store, find whatever frozen Italian meatballs they have available. Brands vary by different areas of the country.
Enjoy!
~Tonia
Renee Wilson says
Do these meatballs have to be frozen or thawed?
Kathy says
Okay, the pretzel idea was a little genius. Love that there is a bread option or they can chuck it but perfect little handle. Love this idea. Thank you for sharing .
Faith says
Hi, I have never heard of buffalo sauce and will look for it by hot sauce. I had a hard time reducing the recipe, I just want to make that many and when I reduced the amount I really didn’t understand the amounts to use?? They look like something I’d like to make for my Bunco group but there are only 12 of us. This would be a great thing to take for our October meeting. Thanks they look great..
Tonia says
Hi Faith,
If you click on the serving size in the recipe a slider should appear and you can reduce the number of servings. It should change the recipe as well. Then, if you search Google for “cups to tablespoons” a little conversion box will show up at the top of the search results. Enter the cups from the converted recipe such as .16 cups and it will show you 2.56 tablespoons. So you would need to use 2 1/2 tbsp.
Or…tell me how many meatballs you want and I will give you the conversion.
Enjoy!
~Tonia
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
Oh man are these cute! Perfect for Halloween parties!
Roosevelt says
I totaly love Buffalo Meatball Pumpkins. Thanks For Recipe
Chandra@The Plaid & Paisley Kitchen says
Tonia these are the cutest meatballs I ihave ever seen! So tasty and clever
Michelle at A Dish of Daily Life says
This is such a fun idea! It’s perfect for tailgate season. And delicious too…I am completely addicted to buffalo sauce!
Beth says
Tonia, this is pure genius! I can totally see these at halloween parties all over america! Am I being too dramatic? I think not!! 🙂
Linda Snodgrass says
Where do you buy buffalo sauce?
Tonia says
You can find it in the grocery store next to the hot sauce. Enjoy! ~Tonia
Sara @ Bitz & Giggles says
We eat these meatballs at home. . .and we eat A LOT of them. The kids go crazy over them. This is just one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I love that the pretzel stem also serves as an appetizer pick so guests have something to grab onto before they pop it into their mouths!
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious says
These are so fun, my kids would devour the whole pan!!