Sweet and Sour Meatballs
A popular party food, meatballs and pineapple in the slow cooker with homemade sweet and sour sauce
Servings: 60 meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 slices white or brown bread not grainy bread
- ⅓ C milk
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 can pineapple chunks, drained reserve juice for sauce
Sweet and Sour Meatball Sauce
- 1 C pineapple and orange juice mixture add enough orange juice to reserved pineapple juice for 1 cup in total
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½ C hoisin sauce
- ¼ C lemon or lime juice fresh squeezed is best
- ½ C rice vinegar
- ½ C soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 4-5 green onions reserve a few for garnish if desired
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Pour milk over bread and let slices soak. Squeeze excess milk and add to food processor along with about 1/3 of the beef and 1/3 of the pork. Add minced garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Puree until well blended and meat is pureed.
- Add meat mixture to remaining beef and pork and mix in a large bowl until combined.
- Roll into balls, approximately 1 oz each, about 60 balls. Bite sized is best. Place on large baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes until most of the fat and liquid is released. Pour off liquid. Reduce heat to 325°.
- Place meatballs in large dutch oven or slow cooker. Add pineapple chunks.
- Prepare sauce by combining all ingredients well. You may need to heat the sauce slightly to ensure honey and hoisin is melted and well incorporated. Pour over meatballs and stir gently.
- Bake covered for approximately one hour, stirring after about 30 minutes. Or if using slow cooker, cook 2 hours on high.
- Serve with party picks for appetizers or over cooked rice for a main dish. Garnish with reserved green onions.