Quick and easy sweet and sour meatballs with green pepper and pineapple. On the table in 30 minutes and the whole family will love them!
So, my mom makesthe best sweet and sour meatballs. Ever. She makes them every year for our family’s big Christmas Eve get together and every year they are all gone, even though there’s a ton of food there and she makes a boatload of them. Because they’re the best.
I may be biased, but I don’t know if anyone that has had her sweet and sour meatballs would disagree with me on this.
And I finally got the recipe. That’s right, been cooking for a lot of years now, and clearly I enjoy it, and yet I have never made this recipe myself. Enjoyed it every Christmas, but for some reason never got around to getting the recipe and making something that my whole family loves. I’m kinda sorta kicking myself for taking so long to make these.
My family inhaled this meal. Plus, it was super quick and easy to make.
Which is perfect since it’s 30 minute Thursday again and I needed a quick and easy meal to share with you today! Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for a list of other 30 minute meals from my blogging friends – the links are below the recipe.
The great part about this sweet and sour meatball recipe (besides how tasty it is!) is that it doesn’t take a whole lot more time to double or triple the meatballs that you make, and then you can freeze the extras for a super fast meal another night.
Or you can cook everything up earlier in the day (or the day before) and then throw everything in the slow cooker a few hours before you want to eat to let the meatballs simmer away.
This is what my mom always does in order to bring a hot dish to a party. These are perfect as a meal, or as an appetizer, depending on what you need.
One of my favourite things, a fast and easy recipe that is also adaptable. And the whole family loves it. Doesn’t get much better.
Quick and easy sweet and sour meatballs with green pepper and pineapple. On the table in 30 minutes and the whole family will love them!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
1 pound (450g) lean ground beef
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
For the sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced or grated ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can (19 fl oz, 540 mL) pineapple chunks and juice
sliced green onions, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, milk, breadcrumbs, onion, salt and Worchestershire sauce until well combined.
Form the mixture into 1 inch meatballs and place them on a broiler pan or baking sheet. I like to use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop or a melon baller to portion out the meat into balls and then roll them into tight meatballs with my hands.
Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, or until they are cooked through.
In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, pineapple juice and cornstarch.
Heat a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
Add the green pepper chunks and saute for 2-3 minutes until slightly softened.
Add the sauce and stir to combine. Stir in the pineapple chunks.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, continue cooking for 1-2 minutes until thickened, and then lower the heat to a simmer.
Add the cooked meatballs to the pan and stir to coat them in the sauce.
Serve over hot rice with sliced green onions sprinkled on top.
These meatballs freeze very well if you want to double or triple the meat recipe for a really fast meal another night. Just bake them and let them cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in a ziplock bag or airtight container to freeze.
This can also be kept warm in the slow cooker if you need to make it ahead of time. Bake the meatballs the same way and then place them in the slow cooker. Make the sauce on the stovetop as written and then pour the hot sauce over top of the meatballs and cook on low for 1-3 hours (shorter time if everything is hot to begin with, longer if the meatballs are cold). Don't leave it in the slow cooker all day though as a longer cooking time tends to cause the sauce to thin and not be as flavourful.
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Chill your meatballs: refrigerating your meatballs an hour before cooking helps them hold their shape throughout the cooking process. They can chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking, making meatballs a great make-ahead dish, too.
Baking will result in meatballs with a crunchy exterior, though the caramelisation achieved from frying will be superior. Baked meatballs take the least amount of effort, as you'll only need to turn them once or twice throughout the cook and you can make a larger batch at once.
After all of the Italian meatballs I've been making lately, I consider myself a meatball expert. A good rule of thumb is to bake meatballs for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit.
A traditional size for this sort of meatball is 2 to 3 inches across, but you can make them any size you want. Once you roll the meatball in your hands, roll it in the flour to give it a good coating. Set each one on a baking sheet as you work.
The best meatballs are tender, baked and browned in a hot oven to seal in all the juices. Simmered in robust sauce for a couple of minutes ensures they soak up all of those saucy flavours, this is an easy dinner recipe that will be a hit with your family!
Because meat shrinks when cooked, mince proteins are likely to separate and crumble unless bound together. Whether it's breadcrumbs or egg (or both), or simply salt, binding the mince is a crucial step in maintaining the softness of your meatballs while preventing them from falling apart.
Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.
When it comes to adding liquid to meatball mixtures, milk is often used for its versatility, depth of flavor, and richness. Without the use of milk, you may be faced with a plate of dry meatballs. Milk adds a certain level of moisture that helps produce perfectly tender meatballs.
Milk: Adds moisture and tenderizes the meat, making our meatballs juicy and tender once cooked. Egg: Adds more moisture and helps the mixture firm up once cooked. Parmesan: My secret ingredient for the best meatballs! Parmigiano-Reggiano adds flavor and salt to our mixture.
Baking soda, otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate, appears often in köfte recipes. It raises the PH level of the meat, making it harder for the meat's protein molecules to bond. This in turn allows the meat to retain water as it cooks. And more water means a moist meatball.
If you lightly coat your hands with olive oil or cooking spray before rolling the meatballs, they will form better and crack less. Bake meatballs on parchment paper. It makes for even cooking and easy cleanup, not to mention juicy meatballs!
You can bake your meatballs in the oven, fry your meatballs on the stove, deep fry your meatballs in a deep fryer, or cook your meatballs directly in a pot of tomato sauce. Some people like to drop the raw meatballs directly in a pot of Italian tomato sauce and let them simmer.
As the collagen in the meat dissolves over time, it transforms into gelatin, which not only adds a silky texture to the sauce but also contributes to the overall richness and depth of flavor. The longer the simmer, the more tender and succulent the meatballs become.
Giving the meatballs enough time to cook is essential, but if they are left to soak up the sauce for too long they'll turn squishy. Your meatballs should be fork-tender, but not soggy. But things can go the other way too; poorly cooked meatballs can come out of the pan dry as opposed to juicy.
Because meat shrinks when cooked, mince proteins are likely to separate and crumble unless bound together. Whether it's breadcrumbs or egg (or both), or simply salt, binding the mince is a crucial step in maintaining the softness of your meatballs while preventing them from falling apart.
Moisture-retaining ingredients are starchy binding agents such as breadcrumbs, bread soaked in milk, cooked rice or even a small amount of leftover white sauce. Work one or more of these ingredients into the leftover meatball mixture, then carefully cook samples to test the new texture.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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