Baked Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Forget the frozen meatballs and whip up a fast and fresh recipe for Baked Sweet and Sour Meatballs in 30 minutes or less!

Homemade meatballs make a weekly appearance at our house and are a dinnertime favorite of both of my eating machines (read: my husband and 17-month-old!).

And a quick search for “meatballs” around here will lead you to more than six takes on good ol’ balls-o-meat.

We’ve got the classic Baked Turkey Meatballs, the handheld Baked Asian Meatball Lettuce Wraps, the takeout-fakeout Baked Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs, and now, rounding out (food pun count: 1) the lineup: Baked Sweet and Sour Meatballs.

So what separates these rotund beauties from all of their culinary cousins? A lick-the-spatula-and-your-plate homemade sweet and sour sauce that pairs perfectly with the garlicky meatballs but would work equally as well atop chicken breasts, as a dipping sauce for egg rolls or simply drizzled over white rice, if you’re into that sort of thing. #iam

Toss in a few chunks of fresh pineapple and there will be multiple candidates for President of the Clean Plate Club.

Best of all? The meatballs are baked at a high temp so they’re ready for tossing in minutes, and that means dinner is on your table in 30 minutes or less. Just add fried rice or lo mein noodles to complete your feast!

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For the meatballs:

1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey, chicken, pork or a combination
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2/3 cup minced yellow onion
1large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the sauce:

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 Tablespoon water
1 cup diced pineapple

Make the meatballs:

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Grease 9×13 baking dish or mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs and milk and let sit for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, garlic, onion, egg, salt, pepper and breadcrumb mixture, mixing with your hands just until combined.

Using your hands, break off 2 or 3 tablespoons of the meat mixture and roll it into a ball. Arrange the meatballs in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.

Bake the meatballs for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are cooked through. While the meatballs bake, make the sauce.

Make the sauce:

Add the olive oil to a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat. Once the oil it hot, add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, until golden brown.

Whisk in the pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes.

Transfer the cooked meatballs to a large bowl then add the diced pineapple. Add the prepared sauce and toss to combined. Serve immediately.

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