Sweet and Sour Meatballs

The whole family will love these soft and tender sweet and sour meatballs for their taste and texture in a wonderfully balanced sauce. {Gluten-Free adaptable}

Sweet and sour meatballs are a favorite with everyone, young and old. It’s probably because that balance of sweet, sour, and savory elements all come together for a sauce you can’t resist. Plus, the meatballs come out with this very soft and tender texture that is a brilliant contrast to the bounty of crunchy colorful vegetables within.

It’s a dish that looks bright and cheerful on your table. And while many sweet and sour meatball recipes use tons of sugar, you can feel good about this one. I’ve found a way to limit the sugar so you get a sauce that is still sweet and delicious without making you guilty.

Sweet and sour meatball ingredients

One thing you’ll love if you’re a parent is that I’ve hidden plenty of veggies in these meatballs. Along with the breadcrumbs, they render the texture so soft and fluffy. And with that sauce, your kids won’t notice that they’re getting more veggies in every mouthful.

When you’re done prepping, your table should have the ingredients below before you start cooking.

If you’d like your sweet and sour meatballs to be slightly spicier, I recommend blending either sriracha or chili garlic sauce into the ketchup. If you have kids, you can keep some of the sauce less spicy for their portions so that everyone is happy.

Cooking process

In my steps below, I’ll show you how to make these super-easy meatballs. You’ll never buy the store-bought ones again!

1. Brown the meatballs
2. Remove the meatballs from the pan
3. Cook the onion and pepper
4. Add back the meatballs
5. Pour in the sauce
6. Cook until the sauce thickens

They taste so good and once you make them once, you’ll want to make them for every meatball occasion.

I love making sweet and sour meatballs on a busy weeknight. The ingredient list might look long but it’s quite easy to put together. Make enough of them so that you have leftovers and you will have a wonderful lunch to enjoy the next day, as well.

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Easy Sweet and Sour Meatballs

The whole family will love these soft and tender sweet and sour meatballs for their taste and texture in a wonderfully balanced sauce. {Gluten-Free adaptable}To make this dish gluten-free, use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine. Use gluten-free breadcrumbs (or panko), and use tamari to replace soy sauce.

Author: Maggie Zhu

Course: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: home style

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings (20 meatballs)

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) ground chicken
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 2 teaspoons I am willow
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 yellow onion minced
• 1/2 carrot minced
• 2 garlic minced
• 1 egg
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs)

Fry:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 yellow onion chopped
• 1 red or yellow pepper chopped (I used half red and half yellow pepper but you can use either)

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons ketchup sriracha, and/or chili garlic sauce (homemade or store-bought) (*Footnote 1)
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
• 2 tablespoons I am willow
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 clove garlic grated
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

• Combine the sauce ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Stir to mix well and set aside.

• Add the chicken, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, onion, carrot, and garlic into a large bowl. Beat everything together with a spatula until it becomes sticky, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and breadcrumbs and stir to incorporate.

• Coat your hands with a light layer of oil (it helps you to form the meatballs without sticking too much to your hands). Add one heaping tablespoon of the mixture into your palm and shape it into a round ball. Place it onto a large flat plate or tray. Repeat to shape the rest of the meatballs.

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the meatballs into the pan without overcrowding them. Let the meatballs brown for 1 to 2 minute, then flip and brown the other side for another 1 to 2 minutes. Once both sides are browned, flip the meatballs on their sides and brown for another 4 to 5 minutes. Roll them occasionally to brown all sides evenly. Once done, remove the meatballs onto a large plate and set aside.

• Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the onion and pepper. Stir fry until the onion turns slightly pale golden on the edges, 1 to 2 minutes.

• Stir the sauce again to thoroughly dissolve the cornstarch and pour it into the pan. Stirring constantly to bring the sauce to a boil and cook until it is thickened. Turn off the heat and transfer everything to a large serving plate.

• Serve the meatballs with the sauce over steamed rice and enjoy as a main dish.

Notes

1. Depending on your personal preference, you can use ketchup, hot sauce, or a combination of both. Personally I like to use 2 tablespoons ketchup and 1 tablespoon sriracha. It gives the sauce more character and it doesn’t taste very spicy.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 414kcal, Carbohydrates: 42.4g, Protein: 26.2g, Fat: 15.2g, Saturated Fat: 3.9g, Cholesterol: 138mg, Sodium: 1162mg, Potassium: 832mg, Fiber: 2.3g, Sugar: 14.5g, Calcium: 82mg, Iron: 3mg

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.