Description
This easy sweet and sour meatballs recipe transforms pre-cooked meatballs into a restaurant-quality dish with a tangy, sweet glaze, colorful vegetables, and fresh pineapple. Perfect for busy weeknights, this one-pan meal is ready in under 30 minutes and delivers authentic takeout flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 500 grams pre-cooked mini meatballs
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), cut into bite-sized pieces
- 250 grams fresh pineapple, diced
- 4 spring onions, cut into 3 cm batons (white and green parts)
- Steamed rice, for serving
- 90 grams (1/2 cup packed) brown sugar
- 45 millilitres (3 tablespoons) white vinegar
- 30 millilitres (2 tablespoons) tomato ketchup
- 15 millilitres (1 tablespoon) light soy sauce
- 80 millilitres (1/3 cup) pineapple juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 2 teaspoons cornflour, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Combine brown sugar, white vinegar, tomato ketchup, light soy sauce, pineapple juice, and Chinese five spice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until the sugar fully dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cornflour mixture and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Heat a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add vegetable oil and swirl to coat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes or until nearly cooked through.
- Introduce sliced onion and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the capsicum and stir fry an additional minute.
- Add diced pineapple and prepared sweet and sour sauce to the wok. Stir fry until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and heated through. Remove from heat.
- Gently toss through the spring onion batons. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes
- For best results, use freshly cut pineapple rather than canned for a brighter flavor.
- This dish tastes even better the next day as flavors meld together.
- The cornflour slurry is essential for achieving the perfect sauce texture.
- Using fresh pineapple significantly improves the flavor profile.
- The recipe doubles easily for larger gatherings with no adjustments needed.
- Chinese five spice powder is truly the secret ingredient in this recipe.
- These sweet and sour meatballs store beautifully in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to three days.
- Prepare the sauce up to three days in advance and store it refrigerated in a sealed container.
- The vegetables can be prepped and stored separately a day ahead.
- Serve with crispy vegetable spring rolls, quick pickled cucumber slices, or steamed broccoli dressed with sesame oil.
- Consider serving with simple vegetable fried rice or Singapore noodles.
- Use precooked meatballs for convenience but homemade are wonderful if you have time.
- Balance sweetness by tasting and adjusting vinegar quantity to your preference.
- Opt for toasted sesame seeds as a finishing garnish for additional texture and flavor.
- Frozen meatballs work well in this dish.
- Canned pineapple is a perfectly acceptable substitute for fresh.
- This sweet and sour sauce works wonderfully with other proteins like chicken, pork, shrimp, or tofu.
- This is a mild dish with no added chili or heat elements.
- This versatile dish works well with additional vegetables like snow peas, baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli florets, or carrots.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 420
- Sugar: N/A
- Sodium: N/A
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: N/A
- Unsaturated Fat: N/A
- Trans Fat: N/A
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: N/A
- Protein: 22 g
- Cholesterol: N/A
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