June 3, 2019 / Updated July 19, 2019 / By Jade

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Name: Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef); 1/2 cup oatmeal; 1/4 cup milk; 2 Tbsp onion (chopped ); 1 zucchini (finely shredded); 1 large carrot (finely shredded); 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 egg (use 2 eggs if using medium eggs); 1 cup brown sugar; 2 Tbsp cornstarch; 40 oz pineapple chunks (or 2- 20 oz cans, reserve the juice ); 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar; 2 Tbsp soy sauce; 2 red bell peppers (cut into thin 1 inch strips); 1 red onion (cut into chunks)

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Sweet and Sour Meatballs are an easy Asian main dish recipe that are a kid favorite, and mom too, with hidden veggies in the meatballs and a simple sauce made from scratch.

This is a recipe I have adapted from my mother in law and it is one of my husband’s favorites. It’s the perfect blend of sweetness and tang and the crisp veggies are a nice contrast to the soft meatballs.

Want to get your kids excited about trying new foods? See my guide to raising world food explorers for tips and tricks to help you introduce new foods and flavors to your family.

Ingredients you will need:

ground turkey or beef
oatmeal
milk
chopped onion
zucchini
carrot
salt
Worcestershire sauce
egg
brown sugar
cornstarch
pineapple chunks
red onion
red bell peppers

Meatballs are one of my favorite ways to add in a ton of extra veggies without anyone noticing. I finely shred a zucchini and a large carrots to add to the mix. I sometimes also will finely chop spinach or use thawed frozen spinach and add that to the mix.

I use both ground turkey and ground beef equally so use whichever meat is preferred by your family.

What’s the fastest way to shred zucchini and carrots?

Whenever I am making something that needs finely shredded veggies I use my food processor fitted with the shredding blade. It’s the fastest way to knock out the ingredient prep AND gets the veggies small enough that the kids don’t seem to notice.

Why use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs?

I also always use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs or crushed crackers because of the nutritional advantage. If you’re concerned about the texture so far no one has noticed I use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs.

You could always grind up the oatmeal in a food processor or blender to get a finer mixture.

How to make sweet and sour meatballs:

To cook meatballs, pan fry them over medium heat until brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking time. This may need to be done in batches depending on your pan size.
Remove meatballs from frying pan and drain fat.
Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in skillet. Stir in pineapple with juice, vinegar, and soy sauce.
Heat to boiling, stirring frequently.
Add meatballs and reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
Add bell peppers and onion. Cover and simmer until crisp- tender about 5 more minutes.
Serve with white rice and garlic soy edamame.

To bake the meatballs:

I like to bake my meatballs instead of pan frying them because I can get a big batch done at once and go ahead and get started on the sauce. So choose what appeals more to you and go with it.

If baking, cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan.
Place meatballs with a little room in between each one.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Tips and tricks

I use a medium cookie scoop for meatballs which helps me quickly measure out even meatball sizes. This can also be helpful to quickly divy up meatballs for kids to help roll.

Ways kids can help make this

Kids love to help with making dinner and when they help make the food, they are far more likely to try the food! Here are some ways they can help:

Measure and pour ingredients
Rolling meatballs
Mixing sauce
Cutting peppers and onions

For more tips see my quick start guide to cooking with kids

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