Sweet and Sour Meatballs

By Amy Dong
Updated Dec. 27, 2024

These Sweet and Sour Meatballs are incredibly tender, flavorful, and oh-so-easy to make! Dress them up for a party appetizer, or keep them simple for an easy weeknight dinner.

Close-up of sweet and sour meatballs on skewers, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds. — These Sweet and Sour Meatballs have the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors.

Video: watch us make this Recipe

Why This Recipe Stands Out

These meatballs are a guaranteed hit at any gathering, with the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and tangy flavors. Here’s why you’ll love them:

Tender and Juicy: Each bite delivers the succulent flavors in a convenient cocktail meatball.
Weeknight and Holiday Ready: These sweet and sour meatballs are simple yet celebratory! They’re perfect for party appetizers yet devoured for dinner any busy night of the week.
Easy to Make: They’re super easy to make! In fact, feel free to freeze baked meatballs for easy future meals. These Sausage Meatballs make another tasty meatball option!
Super Quick: No need to spend hours in the kitchen! This meatball recipe is ready in a flash, just like our Easy Asian Glazed Meatballs.
Crowd Pleaser: This is the appetizer that people will crowd around and eat more than their fair share of. It’s easy, delicious, and adored by adults and kids of all ages.

Key Recipe Ingredients

Overhead shot of ingredients to make sweet and sour meatballs on a dark surface.

Ground Beef – This is the base of our meatballs that works with the other ingredients for an incredibly juicy and tender texture.
Bread Crumbs – These help to bind the meatballs and add a slight crunch to the exterior.
Pineapple Juice – We add this to the meatball mixture and also use it to make our sauce. It helps tenderize the meatball and adds a beautiful flavor to the sauce.
Apple Cider Vinegar – This is the tangy component of our sweet and sour sauce, providing a nice contrast to the sweetness.
Tamari Sauce – It adds a deep, savory umami flavor to our sauce that brings all the flavors together.

Substitutions And Variations

Here are our favorite substitutions and variations for this recipe:

Meat: While we use ground beef, feel free to substitute it with ground turkey or ground chicken You can also try making these with a mix of half pork and half beef, as we do in our Swedish Meatballs with Gravy recipe.
Sweetener: Instead of brown sugar, you can use granulated sugar.
Gluten-Free: To make this recipe gluten-free, opt for gluten-free breadcrumbs instead of regular ones.

Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions

Meatball ingredients being mixed by hand in a glass bowl to make sweet and sour meatballs.

Meatballs placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet, ready to be baked.

Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, seasonings, eggs, pineapple juice, and onion powder in a large bowl.
Form this mixture into meatballs and bake for 20 minutes at 350F.

Cornstarch slurry being added to sweet and sour sauce mixture to make sweet and sour meatballs.

Sweet and sour sauce being thickened in a saucepan.

In a saucepan, combine all the sweet and sour sauce ingredients. Whisk thoroughly to ensure there is no trace of white cornstarch left.
Heat sauce over medium heat, whisking until it thickens and the tomato paste is fully incorporated.

Sweet and sour sauce being poured over baked meatballs in a slow cooker.

Sauce being poured over sweet and sour meatballs before serving.

Add meatballs and sauce to a slow cooker, gently fold to coat, and cook on low for 30 minutes.
Switch to warm setting and serve saucy meatballs straight from slow cooker.

For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.

How To Prep Ahead

Take a look at our favorite prep-ahead strategies for this recipe:

Make and Freeze Meatballs: These meatballs can be made entirely in advance and frozen for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, thaw and reheat them with the sauce.
Make the Sauce Ahead of Time: The sweet and sour sauce can be made several days in advance. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

A fork holding a glazed sweet and sour meatball topped with sesame seeds, with more meatballs blurred in the background. — For a simple weeknight meal, serve sweet and sour meatballs with fluffy rice.

What To Serve With Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Rice or Noodles

These sweet and sour meatballs are delicious served over a bed of fluffy rice. The rice will soak up the delicious sauce beautifully.
Try it with our Easy Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms or this Chinese Fried Rice.
We also love serving it over a bed of cooked spaghetti or egg noodles tossed in butter.

Sides

You can’t go wrong with a fresh, crisp salad on the side. We love these meatballs with a Kale Brussel Sprouts Salad.
For something a bit more substantial, try this Easy Chopped Greek Salad or our Asian Rice Salad.

Hawaiian Dishes and Drinks

Serve it alongside other Hawaiian-themed dishes such as our Slow Cooker Kalua Pork sandwiches or this Poke Bowl Recipe.
We also recommend serving it alongside other Hawaiian-themed appetizers, such as these Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Nachos.
To take your meal to the next level, give our Hawaiian Mai Tai a try!

Commonly Asked Questions

What type of ground beef is best for meatballs?

We recommend using lean ground beef for this recipe. It has just the right amount of fat to keep the meatballs juicy without making them greasy. If you prefer, you can also use ground pork or a mixture of pork and beef.

Can I make these meatballs on the stovetop instead of baking them?

While baking the meatballs is the easiest and most hands-off method, you can also pan-fry them or cook them in the sauce on the stovetop. Just make sure to cook them all the way through before adding the sweet and sour sauce.

How long do sweet and sour meatballs keep?

Sweet and sour meatballs can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Make sure to store them in an airtight container to maintain their freshness.

Did you make this?

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