Maria Mac's Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Hands down the very best sweet and sour meatballs you’ll ever taste. These meatballs work well as a dinner or a party buffet appetizer dish.

I took one look at these and fell instantly in love!

My friend Maria, who runs the large Facebook group Recipes A Plenty, posted these on her wall yesterday and they looked so good the drooling started instantaneously.

Maria Mac's Sweet & Sour Meat Balls | bakeatmidnite.com | #meatballs #sweetandsour #appetizers

Wonderful flavor makes them versatile

This was a recipe of Maria’s before she started her blog, Maria’s Mixing Bowl and just would post her family recipes on her wall or in the group.

Her meatballs looked so tender and juicy, not hard and dry like some can be. Her secret is adding some water to the dry breadcrumbs and letting it soak. You do have to be careful with them, since they are a bit fragile being so soft, but a little extra care is well worth the effort. They are delectable!

Maria’s original recipe called for less breadcrumbs, but I found the meat mixture to be a bit too fragile, so I upped the amount a bit. Both of us cook by “eye” so perhaps the amount I used was the amount she used. Both of us attempt to get measurements right, but sometime we slip up LOL!

Sweet and tangy

Her sauce didn’t contain the soy sauce I added. I just like the flavor and think it adds depth to anything remotely Asian, so I added it.

Serve this with a nice hot and fluffy jasmine rice–whether it’s party food on the buffet or a sit-down meal with the family.

Enjoy!!!

Maria Mac's Sweet & Sour Meatballs

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Judith Hannemann

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Meatballs:
1 lb very lean ground beef
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 tbs minced onion
1 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup water
1-2 tbs oil for frying
Sauce:
1 cup sliced celery
1 small red bell pepper, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 small green bell pepper, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained
drained juice from pineapple plus enough water to make 1½ cups
1 tbs soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cider vinegar
Thickener:
3 tbs cornstarch
¼ cup water

Instructions

Mix together bread crumbs, onion and the ¼ cup water. Let stand until water is absorbed by breadcrumbs.
Add the ground beef, salt and beaten egg and combine well. Form into meatballs about the size of a marshmallow (about 1.5-inches diameter).
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs on all sides, carefully turning them so they don't fall apart and are completely cooked. Remove from pan; set aside.
In the same skillet, saute the celery and bell peppers until crisp-tender; about 5 minutes.
Add the brown sugar, cider vinegar, pineapple and water/pineapple juice mixture. Heat till boiling.
Mix the thickener ingredients and add to the boiling sauce. Stir until thickened, reduce heat and cook for 1 minute.
Add meatballs back to pan and stir to coat them with sauce and heat through.
Serves 4.