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These sweet and sour meatballs are bursting with tangy pineapples and peppers. It’s an easy, 20-minute version of Chinese takeout.
Sweet, Sour + So yummy!
These sweet and sour meatballs are one of our FAVORITE weekday dinner ideas when we’re craving Asian-inspired food.
The sauce has all the complexity, richness, and balance of a takeout dish. But because it uses pre-made meatballs, it takes less than 20 minutes to make! So anytime we’re craving Chinese takeout, we make this easy recipe instead!
There’s a rich sweetness from brown sugar and ketchup, some tang from the vinegar, pineapple chunks, and pineapple juice, and a fresh element from peppers and scallions.
For more sweet and sour favs, check out our: Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork.
WHY WE LOVE IT:
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
- ½ cup brown sugar loosely packed – light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup rice vinegar – add more for a more sour flavor
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2¼ cups pineapple juice, divided – add more for a sweeter dish
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 25 all-purpose meatballs (frozen is fine) – ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken
- 2 bell peppers chopped (optional) – or other veggies like carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions
- 1 cup drained small pineapple chunks
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions for garnish
- rice for serving – Instant Pot Brown Rice or Crock Pot White Rice
- optional spice – Add heat with chili flakes or minced chilis when you add the meatballs and peppers for a deep, spicy kick. Or replace some of the ketchup with sriracha.
- balance flavor out a too-sweet flavor – Add in something acidic like more vinegar or citrus juice. If the dish is too sour, add a sweetener like additional brown sugar, pineapple juice, or honey.
How Much to Serve
- For a party appetizer plan 2-3 (2-inch) meatballs per person.
- For the main entrée plan 4-5 (2-inch) meatballs per serving. Keep warm in a crock pot.
how to make Sweet and Sour Meatballs
- SAUCE. Add ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup rice vinegar, ¼ cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 cups of pineapple juice to a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and the remaining ¼ cup of pineapple juice, whisking to get out all the lumps.
- MEATBALLS. Whisk into your skillet and 25 meatballs and 2 chopped red bell pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are heated through.
- SERVE. Stir in 1 cup pineapple chunks. Garnish with 2 tablespoons sliced green onions and serve warm over rice.
How to Thicken the Sauce
In a separate bowl mix 1-2 teaspoons of cold water with an equal amount of cornstarch. Pour the mixture into the sauce and simmer.
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Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown sugar, loosely packed
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2¼ cups pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 25 all-purpose meatballs, frozen is fine
- 2 bell peppers, chopped (optional)
- 1 cup drained small pineapple chunks
- 2 tablespoons 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 the remaining ¼ cup pineapple juice, whisking to get out all the lumps. Whisk into your skillet.
- Add meatballs and chopped peppers. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are heated through.
- Stir in pineapple chunks. Serve warm over rice. Top with green onion.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Cook the sauce according to the recipe and simmer to thicken. Remove from the heat and cool. Add meatballs and peppers, place in a freezer-safe container, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can heat them in the slow cooker or stovetop.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or 3 months in the freezer. For best results reheat in the oven, or on the stovetop, but the microwave also works.
Adapted from foodnetwork.com
This is the best recipe i have tried thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the meatballs!
Turned out delicious! I added red pepper, salt, and pepper along with pouring the juice from the canned pineapple (mixed with a little extra cornstarch).
Simple recipe and it makes for great leftovers!
I plan to make homemade meatballs because of my daughter’s food allergies. Do you think this would still turn out OK in a slow cooker? I usually cook meatballs about 6 hours on low but wasn’t sure if this sauce would work well slow cooked.
Yes, I suppose it would. I haven’t made it in the slow cooker, but I think this sauce would be just fine being slow-cooked. You may want to bump the heat to high towards the end to help it thicken a bit, but again, I haven’t made this one in the crock pot, so not 100% sure how it’ll turn out. You’ll have to let us know how it goes! 🙂
I was coming to ask the same question. How did it turn out in the slow cooker?
Could I use white wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar?
Yes, you could! I haven’t tried with the white wine, but it would still taste delicious I’m sure.
The recipe says this serves 6 with 25 meatballs. Looking at the picture that’s only 4 small pineapple chunk size meatballs per person. Assuming the portion sizing is meant for children only?
The meatball size will depend on which meatballs you get… or you can make homemade, too. With the peppers and pineapple and rice, we’ve found about 4-5 meatballs per serving feeds an adult. But you can definitely increase the amount of meatballs. You may want to double the sauce if you love lots of sauce. But, adding a few extra meatballs to the recipe would be just fine if you feel like you need more.
Love this recipe and so does my family. ❤️ wondering if I can somehow make a large batch and freeze it?
My Quilting Club loved this and several quilters asked for the recipe!! (I added red, yellow, and green pepper pieces and sprinkled the top with sesame seeds just before serving.)
Great recipe very easy to put together my family loved it.
This sauce is too sweet and the pineapple juice is all you taste.
Thanks for the feedback and for giving the recipe a try!
Very quick and easy recipe! We loved it! I added a couple tablespoons of Sriracha to give it a nip and to counter the sweetness a bit. Will be making this again for sure, I’ll just cut the amount if sugar for our liking! I’m sure this will be excellent with chicken as well! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. A little sriracha sounds tasty. Thanks for sharing what you did.
This was a very easy dish. I had 4 grand daughters over for dinner. We used speghetti noodles instead of rice. I will double the batch next time. Great for leftovers.