These Sweet and Sour Meatballs are made with frozen meatballs and pineapple chunks and are covered in a DELICIOUS homemade sweet and sour sauce!! It’s the perfect appetizer or dinner idea served over rice or noodles.
We love all things sweet and sour, including: Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork. These meatballs are also favorites, and especially because they are simple and have a delicious sauce also filled with peppers and pineapples.
Easy + so flavorful!
We LOVE meatballs!! We may not have always liked them as a kid, but now that we are grown up, we can’t get enough of them!! We have all sorts of versions here on the site, including a homemade meatball version and have loved trying out different recipes with them.
Sometimes we take the easy route and just buy frozen meatballs, like what we did with today’s recipe for these easy sweet and sour meatballs.
We’ve been long time fans of all things sweet and sour (if you are too, you’ll love our sweet and sour chicken recipe), and we were excited to try a meatball version. We were so happy with the result. Not only was the recipe simple, but the flavors of the meatballs, sauce, and veggies were amazing! We have a homemade sweet and sour sauce we LOVE, but this is a quicker and more simple version that we loved too!
How to make Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Like I mentioned, this sauce is easy and quick!! Here are the ingredients needed to make it:
- brown sugar
- vinegar
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- pineapple juice
- cornstarch
SAUCE. To make it you will add the brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and 2 cups of the pineapple juice to a large skillet. Bring this to a boil.
THICKEN SAUCE. While the sauce is bowling, mix cornstarch with ¼ cup of the remaining pineapple juice, whisking to get out all the lumps. Add this to your boiling sauce mixture.
ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS. From there you will turn the heat and add the meatballs and peppers. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes, until sauce has thickened and the meatballs are heated through. Stir in pineapple chunks.
Serve these delicious meatballs over rice or noodles and you’re set! Or just keep warm in a slow cooker and serve at your next party!!
RECIPE FAQ + SIDE IDEAS
How to store meatballs? Allow the meatballs to cool and store in an airtight container. They’ll keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
How to reheat? The easiest way is in the microwave, however, the oven works well and keeps the flavor and texture. To bake these, place in an oven-safe dish for 8-10 minutes at 350.
We LOVE these meatballs are so excited to make them more often! Check out the recipe below and let us know what you think. We hope you love them as much as we do! 😉
what to serve with these meatballs?
There are so many great dishes that go well with these meatballs, but here are a few on the site we love:
For more meatball recipes, check out:
- Easy Homemade Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Buffet Meatballs
- Asian Meatballs
- Barbecue Pineapple Meatballs
- Pesto Chicken Meatballs
Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar loosely packed
- 1/2 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 1/4 cups Pineapple Juice
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- 25 All-Purpose Meatballs (frozen if fine)
- peppers chopped (optional)
- 1 cup Drained Small Pineapple Chunks
- 2 tbsp Sliced Green Onions for garnish
- Rice for serving
Instructions
- Add brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and 2 cups of pineapple juice to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
- In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and remaining ¼ cup pineapple juice together, whisking to get out all the lumps. Whisk into your skillet and add Meatballs and chopped peppers. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes, until sauce has thickened and the meatballs are heated through.
- Stir in pineapple chunks. Serve warm over rice.
Adapted from foodnetwork.com
This is such a great recipe! I love how the sauce turns out nice and thick! I also really like that there’s not a ton of ingredients, so it’s a recipe I can make from my pantry staples.
Made this for dinner tonight. Every bite was gone and begged for more.. Next time I will have to make more..
This recipe is so good! Kids love it! Great way to slice up meatballs
Kristyn, these are awesome. So fast and easy but full of flavor. Husband and son both love this dish and I always make extra and freeze for quick lunches. One thing that some might like is to add a little ‘heat’.
Perfect for freezing! Glad they both love them! Thank you!
I also add cayenne pepper!
Yumm!
I must say my family love this sweet and sour meatball recipe!! I make it quite often!!
I do use 1/2 the vinegar though!
It’s very potent in full in the recipe!
Thank you!
Glad your family likes it! Thank you!
Delicious
Happy you think so 🙂 Thank you!
This recipe was highly rated, so I gave it a try. It was not good. Maybe just not our taste. I wouldn’t make it again. Giving it two stars because the recipe is well written and the ingredients should taste good together.
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out to your liking. Thanks so much for trying it!
I keep meatballs in the freezer, for convenience. This is one of the recipes I’ll use them for, and I just realized I never commented and thanked you.
Our family doesn’t like very sweet food, so I reduce the brown sugar and cut WAAYY back on pineapple chunks and juice. If I have it on hand, I use spicy catsup (if not, add a little something for a bit of heat). I add some black pepper and hon dashi. Finally, my kid hates bell peppers, so I substitute some broccoli.
Looks like a lot of adjustments, but it doesn’t feel like it when I’m cooking. 🙂 Husband and daughter both enjoy this with my changes. Thanks so much for the recipe!
All of your substitutions sound amazing! Thanks so much for sharing what you do. I’m so glad your husband and daughter enjoyed it!
I love how this recipe comes together so easy. But I must say I cut the brown sugar amount by half and the ketchup amount by half and the sauce was still too sweet for my husband and I. Next time I will use less sweetener to get the right balance for us. The pineapple juice itself is sweet so we may try making it with out sugar. Otherwise, we loved it. Thanks!
Those all sound like great suggestions! Let me know how it goes next time you try it. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
We just love this recipe!!!!
Thank you!!
You’re welcome!! I’m so glad to hear you love it!
The best sweet and sour sauce ever
Thank you!! So glad you like the dish!
This recipe is awesome!! So wonderfully easy, and our littles loved it! We have a couple of pineapple allergies in the family, so I subbed orange juice; still turned out perfect!
Oh I’m so glad to hear it was a hit. That’s a great idea to sub with orange juice. My little like this recipe as well! Thanks for sharing!
I am trying to eat more plant based meals. I made this recipe with Beyond Meatballs(Italian style). Slow cooked it for 35 minutes and added broccoli the last 5 minutes. It turned out great!
Ooh that is good to know! Thanks for sharing! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Best recipe ever…just cut the rice wine vinegar to 1/4 cup or less….1/2 burns!!
Thank you for your recipe!!♥️
So glad you enjoy the recipe and have found a way to make it your own too. Thanks for trying it!
Made this for my wedding reception/cocktail hour, multiplied the recipe by 6 so there would be enough for everyone to have some. Took about two hours for the sauce to cook and it didn’t really thicken up at all but they still tasted amazing! Will definitely make these again but maybe not as large a batch
Oh what a fun way to use this recipe! I wonder if it could have used a bit more cornstarch to thicken since the quantity was so large? I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor though and will make again!
This is a delicious recipe, and easy! I used Shady Brook Farm turkey meatballs, not frozen, and they were great, even with their Italian seasoning. I am so glad that they are finally back. I used green and yellow peppers, and onion chunks. I threw in some broccoli florets. They lose their bright green color but tasted crisp and good. Ten minutes is a good amount of time to get the vegetables done but not mushy. I did add again as much cornstarch near the end of cooking–mixed in water first of course. I question adding the scallions, but my husband loved them.
Thanks for sharing what you used. Love the addition of the extra veggies. So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
This is a post script. I made more sauce to go with leftovers. Perhaps one should just make the sauce to taste. This time I would have preferred a bit less vinegar and perhaps a bit more sugar. I still love the recipe.
Thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed the meatballs!
This recipe is a big hit with my family. I use Gardein meatless meatballs. I also double the sauce as I like lots of sauce. In addition I add carrots, pineapple tidbits, a bag of frozen stir fry peppers and onions, and today I am adding Brussels sprouts. Once I whisk in the cornstarch and pineapple juice mixture I add the meatballs, pineapple, etc. and leave it in the crockpot for several hours to cook the veggies and get that flavorful sauce really imbedded in the meatballs, etc. Yummy served over brown rice!
Yum!! Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing what you do. I’m so happy to hear this recipe is a winner with your family!