Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa Bites

These Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa Bites are such an easy recipe! Just 3 simple ingredients and they’re ready in around 20 minutes. These glazed sausage bites are sure to be a hit at any holiday or game day party!

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While I don’t have the insane sweet tooth that some of the people I know and love do, I enjoy sweet things once in a while. I especially enjoy sweet things when they have a kick of spiciness to them! I think the heat helps take the edge off the sugary sweetness!

This dish was very loosly inspired by a sauce of sorts that we had with a really mediocre dinner back when I was in all of my third trimester eat-all-the-things glory (isn’t it funny how I try to pretend I’m not still eating all the things!?). I know I’m doing an incredible  job of building it up, but bear with me because the end product is much better than mediocre!

My sister and her boyfriend were joining us for a dinner at my house in the middle of the week. We were going to have Chicken and Waffles. Because yum! And I thought the plan was to get a bucket KFC and make some quick and easy waffles and go to town. Even though I thought we were taking the easy route, I started searching Pinterest for information on how to make great fried chicken.

During this, I happened to stumble across some website where the brilliant southern chef John Besh (and his equally brilliant, luxurious locks) was discussing his tips and tricks to making Fried Chicken. One thing he mentioned was to mix honey and hot sauce to make a fantastic sweet and spicy sauce to put on your Fried Chicken. He said was necessary and if John Besh says to do something, you do it.

Well, it’s a good thing I read what I did, because a few hours later my sister and her boyfriend were walking in our front door without a bucket of chicken. Instead, they had bags full of fried chicken fixings. Needless to say, after some major waffle fails (that’s a whole other post in itself) and and some just-ok fried chicken we were finally eating our dinner, which was best described with a monotonous meh.

One aspect of the meal that was not meh was that sauce. The sweet honey mixed with the spicy hot sauce played perfectly with the chicken and I could not stop eating it. So outside of making these kielbasa bites, your other take away is make the honey/hot sauce mixture for your fried chicken. It is a good life decision.

So fast forward to months later, I’m over here dreaming up tasty holiday/game day/just because appetizers and the concept of sweet and spicy was once again firmly planted in my brain. But this time I was loving the idea of kielbasa. Something about the smoky, savory sausage with the sweet and spicy sauce was calling to me!

Well it just-so-happens that I had a jar of Apricot Preserves hanging out it my pantry (Hi Smuckers! I still love you! Note- this post is not sponsored, I’m just a shameless Smucker’s fan!) and some hot sauce hanging out in my fridge. So I got to work.

I was super happy with the results. I made it not-too-spicy since I’m nursing and all but you can always up the amount of hot sauce! This is perfect for a holiday gathering or for New Years. It also has game day written all over it!

One thing I want to make you aware of is this recipe is best served right away. If it sits around for too long the sauce thickens and it’s not as good cold. That being said it’s so good that it probably won’t last that long anyway. I bet you could even keep it in the slow cooker on warm if you wanted to. Give it a try!

Other tasty appetizer options include:

Quick and Easy Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Bacon Jalapeno Ranch Crescents

Philly Cheese Steak Bombs

Meat Lover’s Pizza Bites

Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa Bites

These Sweet and Spicy Kielbasa Bites are such an easy recipe! Just 3 simple ingredients and they're ready in around 20 minutes. These glazed sausage bites are sure to be at hit at any holiday or game day party!

5 minPrep Time

20 minCook Time

25 minTotal Time

Author: Jessy Freimann at The Life Jolie

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Ingredients

• 1 13 oz package of Kielbasa, sliced
• 1 cup of apricot preserves (I like Smuckers)
• 4 Tbsp. of hot sauce

Instructions

1. Whisk sauce together over Med/med low heat and whisk periodically for around 7 min or until it starts to bubble. 
2. While the sauce heats, spray pan and heat to medium high and brown sausage for around 5 minutes on each side until it's nicely seared.
3. Drain oil and reduce heat to a little below medium.
4. Add the sauce and cook for around 10-15 minutes until the sauce reduces, stirring frequently.

Cuisine: Holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Game Day Easy, | Recipe Type: Appetizer, Hors D'Oeuvre

Notes

If you're doubling or tripling for a crowd, do meat in shifts so they all get a nice sear. This is best served right away, but if you must let it sit do it in a warm slow cooker.

7.6.4

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https://www.thelifejolie.com/sweet-and-spicy-kielbasa-bites/

Jessy Freimann, The Life Jolie

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