These delicious sweet and sour meatballs are just the ticket for a day when you are super busy and don't have a lot of time to spend on cooking. In short, perfect for a mid of the week meal. I always keep ready made meatballs in my freezer. Not store bought ready made, but my own homemade ready made. This is the recipe I use here. It makes a lot, but these are really handy to have in the freezer ready to use when you need them.
I confess, I have also used ready made Swedish Meatballs in this recipe in the past and it has worked beautifully. The only kind of ready made meat ball I would not use would be Italian ones as the ingredients in Italian meatballs would jar somewhat with the flavours of the sweet and sour sauce.
In a pinch you can also use cubed ham, or Spam. Yes, I did say that word. Spam. We happen to like Spam. I have also used sausage meat, which I have removed from the skins, rolled into balls and browned. Let me just say, they are superdy duperdy good.
But do try making your own bulk meatballs and keeping them in the freezer for just such a day as this. You will find they are really a great ingredient to have on hand.
This sauce is fabulous. Not too sweet. Not too sour. With the perfect balance of both, and plenty of crunch from the carrots, color from the peppers, and then there is that sweetness from the pineapple. We love pineapple. Well, altogether we love these meatballs! There you have it!
*Pineapple Sweet & Sour Meatballs*Serves 6Printable Recipe Simple to make and delicious. A real family favorite. A bit of a cheat in that you use ready made meatballs, but sometimes one must needs do what one needs do!
100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup, packed)120ml rice wine vinegar (1/2 cup)65g tomato sauce (1/4 cup tomato ketchup)1 TBS soy sauce590ml pineapple juice (2 1/4 cups)1 TBS corn flour (cornstarch)1 (435g) (14 ounce) tin of pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice for above)1/2 TBS olive oil1 medium onion, peeled and chopped1 small carrot, peeled and chopped1/2 red pepper, choppedsalt and black pepper to taste25 ready made meatballs
To serve:steamed rice
Preheat the oven to 190*C/365*F/ gas mark 5. Place the meatballs and pineapple chunks into a large casserole dish which has a lid for covering.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot and red pepper. Cook, stirring, until they have softened.
Whisk 2 TBS of the pineapple juice together with the corn flour to make a paste. Set aside. Whisk the brown sugar, vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce and remaining pineapple juice together and pour over the vegetables. Bring to the boil. Whisk in the pineapple/corn flour mix, stirring constantly. Cook until bubbling and thickened. Pour this over the meatballs and pineapple in the casserole dish. Cover tightly.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until well heated through and nicely thickened. Serve hot with some steamed rice.
In the summer months, you can also simmer the meatballs in the sauce in a pan on top of the stove. You won't get that nice golden color on the meatballs, but what the heck, they are still delicious irregardless of the color. I hope you will give them a go! Bon Appetit!
