Sweet and Sour Meatballs are an easy Chinese inspired main dish recipe that are a kid favorite, and mom too, with hidden veggies in the meatballs and a simple sauce made from scratch.
220 ouncecan pineapple chunks with juicereserve the juice
2/3cupapple cider vinegar
2Tablespoonssoy sauce
2red bell pepperscut into thin 1 inch strips
1red onioncut into chunks
Instructions
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:
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.
Notes
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.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.I also always use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs or crushed crackers because of the nutritional advantage. You could always grind up the oatmeal in a food processor or blender to get a finer mixture.