This is the only cocktail weenie recipe you will ever need.
Get ready for the best cocktail weenie recipe you will ever taste.
After having so many lovely comments come in about my Honey Garlic Crockpot Meatballs (you really must try those) , I wanted to try that yummy sauce with something else .
The obvious answer was cocktail weenies!
Everyone loves those cute little sausages. Holy cow people!!! The combo is amazing, each little bite is BURSTING with flavor. Not too sweet, not to spicy (so the kiddos can enjoy) and incredibly easy to make.
I bet ALL of your guests will be demanding this recipe on the spot.
QUICK TIP: Keep your Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies in your slow cooker to keep warm all night long. Well….. that is if they last that long.
Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies Sausages
Printable recipe directions and ingredients at bottom of post.
DIRECTIONS:
- In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic. Place cocktail weenies in a 3-4 quart crockpot and pour sauce over sausages.
- Stir so they are coated evenly. Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Keep your Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies Sausages in your slow cooker too keep warm all night long.
- These Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies will be the hit of your next gathering!
I sure had some happy little taste testers…. The couldn’t wait to eat more and invaded my photo shoot. haha
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Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies Sausages
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 28 oz. lil' smokies or any little cocktail weenies
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic.
- Stir so they are coated evenly. Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
- These Crockpot Honey Garlic Little Smokies Sausages will be the hit of your next gathering!
Save this recipe for later! Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your recipe box!
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Post updated September 2020
Liz says
Thank you for the nice recipe.
LauraB says
Sounds like the PERFECT appetizer! Will definitely try over the holidays! Thanks.
Angelynn says
Does it smell good as it looks? Hubby loves the aroma of food cooking! going to try this
next week for a pot luck,i’ll let you know how it turned out…
Robin F says
Just pinned this for later, can’t wait to try them. A little something different than just bab sauce. Thanks.
Katharine in Brussels says
Hi Corey, was scratching my head on if this could be made vegetarian–and yes! Made with (homemade) seitan/wheat gluten (rolled into sausage shapes). Aha! I am going to try it with a little less sweetener just to see if I can get away with it, but maybe an extra clove or two of garlic because wheat gluten doesn’t have as much taste on its own as sausages do. Thank you because my preschoolers adore cocktail weenies and once I make a batch I can share it with them. Let us know if you try it for your DH too 🙂 Oh if you try making wheat gluten from scratch, the raw gluten will expand considerably when boiling so only snippets of gluten will end up the right size for weenies, but I’m going to try it boiled in a sausage-size foil ‘log’ to keep its shape. Anyway. Thanks for your holiday crock pot recipes, they are so handy.
Jennifer @ Crockpot Gourmet says
Corey, I love seeing this! My mom has always made little smokies for every holiday “for the kids” and everyone gobbles them up. I love addition of the honey and garlic. I just added this to my list since Thanksgiving is at my house this year!
Corey says
Yay! I hope all your guests love them as much as we do!
Mary says
I only have a 6 quart crockpot will they burn in it or do I need a smaller crockpot?
Corey says
I would just make sure to stir them more often Mary and maybe stick with the low setting….unless you keep a close watch on them to prevent burning.
Lynn says
Just double the recipe! 🙂
Sarah Conley says
Just about to go get the weenies for this!! Making it today for the potluck at my parents house, lots of friends & family coming to watch the Christmas light boat parade, hopefully these will be a big hit!! =)
Nicole says
These sound delicious! I’m going to make them for my work potluck and I looked up great recipes on Google and this one popped up. I wanted to do something different than traditional cocktail wienies. Thanks for the recipe!
Allyson says
I made these for a New Years Eve Party… They were a huge hit, everyone loved them!! Thanks!!
Corey says
So glad to hear that Allyson 🙂
Joy says
Love this recipe…needed a sauce for a group of people that aren’t fans of a typical bbq sauce. This was just the ticket, did a trial run before the big group function and got rave reviews on the Honey Garlic Lil Smokies! Smells divine…I’m trying the sauce on baked chicken thighs this weekend…can hardly wait!
Amy says
These are the best little weenies!!! Everyone raved about them when I took them to a party! I will never make any other recipe now!!
Corey says
Haha. That is awesome Amy! They are addicting little weenies, aren’t they! haha
Misty says
I can’t have soy is there another substitute
Corey says
Can you use amino acids like Braggs?
Courtney says
How much longer would frozen little weenies take? I have a couple lil smOkies packs in the freezer.
Corey says
I have never cooked them from frozen, but I would think an extra 30-60 mins would do the trick. I hope that helps!
Patti says
This looks awesome. Do u think it would be as good if I did it with bacon wrapped smokies!
Corey says
The bacon might get a little soggy, but I would love to know how it turns our if you try, because I LOVE bacon 🙂
Debin Hammond says
Hello, Can I substitute minced garlic in a jar for fresh garlic? thank you!
Corey says
Sure thing! That should be just fine.
Martha says
do you think I could use small meatballs with this instead of the little smkies
Corey says
Yes Martha! I actually have a meatball one that has the same sauce 🙂 https://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2014/07/honey-garlic-crockpot-meatballs.html
Nicole Z says
Just made this recipe for me my family tonight. Im only 23 and with limited cooking experience so let me tell you this is easy and the sauce uses ingredients we all have lying around the pantry/fridge! I started with frozen smokies and they took about 3 hours on high in our new crockpot. The sauce coated them beautifully and they absorbed the flavor. My brothers went crazy over them they were absolutely great for an easy dinner while we were all home for the holidays. I used a little extra sugar, honey, garlic, and soy so it was just a more bold taste which I think is fun. Thanks Corey Im a fan now! 🙂
Corey says
Yay! Thanks Nicole! 🙂
Emma says
Hi, I was wondering if I could use Dark Soy for this recipe?
Erika says
Can you use this sauce for chicken????! This sauce is amazing!!! 🙂
Dorothy says
Suggestions for How to dounle/triple up for larger party???
Corey says
Hi Dorothy! I would use a 6qt crockpot for a double batch and add on 45-60 mins more of cook time.
CARRIE says
I do not usually follow recipes just look to get ideas and juices flowing but on a particularly brain foggy day i did this one exactly and served them on Thanksgiving and by request i am making them again just because . Big hit and I thank you
Linda says
can you use this recipe with cheddar lil smokies?
Corey says
Oh man! I have never used those Linda, but I think that would be and AMAZING idea! haha. Now I want to try it!
Crystal says
i made this just for myself and omg this is great!!!! i could use the sauce on like anything. it even reheats great.
Barb says
Would pineapple chunks be good in this sauce??
Caitlin says
These sound delicious!
Can I mix it all together and refrigerate overnight so I can just put the Crock-Pot on in the morning?
Corey says
Yep! That would work just fine!
Corey says
Yes that should work!
Melissa says
This is Amazing,even a hit with the kiddo he’s 6 and didn’t know with the garlic. Just heard him saying mmmmm as he ate more…..
Sonja says
Made these for Thanksgiving and again at Christmas… EVERYONE loved them… was asked to bring them every time we have a get together!
Karly says
Love little weenies! Perfect for any type of party! So easy to just throw together.
Karen Kampas says
Are you using the sausage style weenies or hotdog style weenies?
Corey says
The kind I use are called little smokies. I believe there are sausage style.
Barbara Rupnick says
Do you use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar?
Corey says
Either will work out fine. I usually use light brown.
Lori says
I made these for a party at work and they were a huge hit! Several people requested the recipe.
Nicole says
These are DELICIOUS. We always have Little Smokies for our Christmas Eve snacky dinner, and also usually for my eldest’s birthday, as well — and when everyone tasted these, we all agreed that they’re the best smokies yet. So this is going to be our go-to recipe from here on out! The only change I made was to add a tsp or so of chili-garlic sauce for a little heat. Thank you!
Gina Dockery says
This recipe was over the top delish! I almost didn’t use this recipe because of the ketchup and honey ingredients. I just couldn’t feel the combination of these and the other ingredients working together. Wow am I glad I was wrong! Absolutely fantastic taste and a great change from the normal BBQ smokies.
I did ad something to the recipe, a 1/2 of a green pepper and a 1/2 of a yellow onion, both cut in large pieces, which I removed before serving I would suggest following the heating directions; however add the sausages 20-30 minutes before serving so the sausages are not overcooked and chewy. With that said the combination of the ingredients and the levels of flavors in this recipe was surprisingly unique and beyond delicious!
Sarah says
Hello, could you make these in the oven or stove top ?
Deb says
Great recipe. I added 2 tablespoons of calabrian chili pepper for some spice
Glennda says
The market can’t get lil smokies and doesn’t have Vienna sausages, thinking of trying this with cut up Hebrew National hot dogs, what do you think?
Corey says
Sorry you aren’t able to find the sausages. I have never used hotdogs for this recipe, so I can’t say for sure. If you do try that out, please let us know how it worked out.
Joanne says
Can this recipe be made with large hotdog length smokies cut into pieces? Should it cook the same amount of time?
Corey says
Yes you can! Same amount of time too 🙂
beth C says
i just made this today. i normally make the grape jelly smokies and i was out of jelly. these were absolutely delicious. i made them on the stove instead of the crock pot
Lee Thayer says
I prepared this on 26 Nov 2022, and it is simply brilliant! Wonderful flavor. I used 2 lb smoked pork and chicken cocktail sausage, and here in Thailand, these are really just short hotdogs, but of good quality. Great combination of ingredients. I am normally fan of BBQ sauce and grape jelly, as well as chili sauce and orange marmalade, but your recipe is outstanding! I served this as a main dish with a side of cranberry rice, family loved the flavor from this. Thank you Corey for a great recipe, this will be a regular here now.
Joanne says
Can this recipe be made with ham kielbassa chunks?
Corey says
Yes! I actually have a recipe that does that Joanne. https://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2015/01/crockpot-honey-garlic-polish-sausage.html
Leland says
Excellent recipe! I was looking for a recipe that didn’t involve the typical BBQ and jelly ingredients, and this one worked really well. I added some extra hot powdered Indian peppers to it and the sweet heat flavor was a hit for my gathering.
Autumn Haley-Hatton says
I love this recipe. Just modified adding a tbsp of white wine vinegar, and some heat from Tabasco, Tony’s Cajun Seasoning, and some black pepper to taste.
Saumra Peaster says
These were delicious!!
I used to always make my little smokies with the grape jelly/brown sugar sauce, but these were much tastier!
I doubled the recipe for a social function and came home with an empty crockpot! 😊
I will definitely be making these again!
Thanks for the recipe!
Dierdre Strass says
Yup, was a winner! pinning it! Really smooth and sweet. I love BBQ sauce but I wanted something dfferent. Not unhealthy, either! Oh, I added dried minced garlic. Really elevated the flavor!