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These Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs are a delicious and easy recipe. Meatballs, pineapple chunks, and bell peppers slow cook in a tangy, sweet sauce. A great recipe for busy weeknights!
A Fan Favorite for Weeknight Meals
Here are just a few raving reviews we’ve received for this recipe since sharing it online in 2013.
“I LOVED these. I never eat leftovers, but there’s no way I was going to let these go to waste. This recipe is definitely going in my favorites! And it was easy too!” – Lauren
“Tried these for dinner last night. This is a “do again” recipe! Very easy and very yummy.” – Wendy
“I’m not sure, if 5 stars, is enough for this recipe. It’s freaking amazing. ❤️❤️❤️❤️” – Barbie
I couldn’t agree more! This Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs, aka Hawaiian Meatballs, is one my family has enjoyed for years – especially on busy weeknights. The recipe came from the Williams Family way back when our blog began. Cooking the meatballs in the crock pot gives the meatballs time to soak up all the sweet and sour flavors.
I doubled the sauce recipe in the recipe card. This is because my family loves to eat the sauce over rice and we love lots of sauce. If you aren’t a big sauce fan, feel free to halve the sauce part.
Ingredients for Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
MEATBALLS: Ground beef is the base ingredient for the meatballs. Ground turkey or Impossible ground beef can be used for a healthier meatball. You will add cracker crumbs, finely chopped red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, chopped onion, milk, kosher salt, black pepper, an egg, and ginger to the beef for the meatball mixture.
PEPPERS AND PINEAPPLE: In addition to the meatballs, pineapple tidbits are added to the crock pot. Purchasing canned pineapple tidbits is convenient and cost efficient, but fresh pineapple can also be used. For the peppers, make it colorful! Green and red bell peppers not only add color, but also crunch and flavor.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE: The sweet and sour sauce is the star of the show in this dish! It is absorbed by the meatballs as they slow cook and creates a tangy topping for rice or noodles. The sauce starts with mixing cornstarch and brown sugar together, then whisking in pineapple juice, soy sauce, white vinegar, and ketchup. The sauce is poured over the meatballs, chopped green bell pepper and red bell pepper, and pineapple tidbits in the crock pot.
Homemade Meatballs vs Frozen Meatballs
This recipe for meatballs is delicious with the sweet and sour sauce, but I will admit I have substituted the frozen turkey meatballs at Costco on days I’m short on time. You can also use the frozen Italian meatballs from Costco. They also taste great. I just feel less guilty eating the turkey meatballs and my kids don’t even know the difference! I just pour in the meatballs with the sauce, veggies, and pineapple and dinner is DONE. It is one of those great fix it and forget it Crockpot meals.
What to Serve on the Side
Of course these delicious sweet and sour meatballs go great with rice on the side, but there are other options to consider. A slightly healthier alternative to white rice is quinoa. While still carrying carbohydrates, quinoa packs high protein and fiber into every bite, while decreasing the calorie count by 40 per cup. If you want to go even healthier, consider cauliflower rice, which has roughly 2.5 grams of carbs per cup (compared to 45 grams of carbs per cup for white rice).
Questions About Sweet and Sour Meatballs
We like to brown them on the stovetop or in the oven to get that crispy outside, and then cook them the rest of the way in sauce for flavor!
The cornstarch mixed with the wet ingredients in the sauce will thicken as the crock pot heats the sauce. If the sauce isn’t as thick as you want it to be after cooking, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water in a small bowl. Make sure the cornstarch is completely dissolved in the water. Stir the slurry into the sauce in the crock pot, replace the lid, and let it cook for 15-20 more minutes.
The key to keeping meatballs from falling apart in a crock pot is browning the meatballs before adding them to the crock pot. You can brown the meatballs in a skillet on the stove top, or bake them in the oven.
Store leftover meatballs and sauce in an airtight container. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a sauce pan on the stovetop. The sauce and meatballs can also be frozen and kept in the freezer in a freezer safe container or resealable freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator, then reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
More Meatball Recipes
So many great dishes feature meatballs! Here are a handful of our favorite meatball recipes:
Instant Pot Meatballs
Crock Pot Swedish Meatballs
Party Appetizer Meatballs
Air Fryer Meatballs
Danish Meatballs
Meatballs in Cream Sauce
How to Make Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- ⅔ cup cracker crumbs
- ½ red bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- ⅔ cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons ginger
For the Sauce and Vegetables:
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 14 ounces pineapple tidbits divided into juice and tidbits
Instructions
- Mix meatball ingredients together in a bowl.
- Roll into meatballs with hands or I like to use a cookie scoop and place on lined baking sheet. Bake 425 ℉ for 20 minutes. (Or you can brown and cook over medium heat in large skillet until cooked through)
- In a small mixing bowl, mix cornstarch and brown sugar. Drain pineapple juice into brown sugar mixture with soy sauce, vinegar and ketchup.
- Add meatballs, peppers, and pineapple tidbits to crock pot and pour sauce over.
- Cook on low for 2-4 hours or until sauce is thickened.
- Serve over rice.
I made this and it was so yummy! Exactly what the hubs and I wanted. Before making a recipe from the internet I tend to look at several different versions to see what the ingredients are doing in the recipe. I have some food allergies (corn, rice, and tomatoes) so here is what I used for the sauce:
Flour
Brown Sugar
Soy Sauce
Vinegar
Red Chile Mango Preserves
Green and Red Bell Peppers
Pineapple
Then for the meatballs I just heated frozen. I served this over “ancient grains”. It was delicious and has earned a spot in my weekly meal rotation! Thank you for the recipe!
These were very good! Grated the onion and used bread crumbs since I couldn’t find the crackers. The sauce is the perfect sweet and sour and can probably be used on other meats! Will make this again.
These were so delicious, perfect dinner over some rice! Big hit with my family.
these turned out amazing, perfectly cooked and the flavor was spot on.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but this definitely exceeded ALL of my expectations! These meatballs are delightfully delicious and we loved the sauce! Definitely a good call to serve it over rice!
Do you think this would be good with chicken instead of the meatballs? I’m not sure my picky italian family will be able to stomach meatballs any other way besides in spaghetti sauce.
Yes I think it would be delicious!!
Made this for the first time tonight, my family loved it, now I can see how it can be a family staple. Will be saving this one
What size bag of meatballs should you use for the recipe size sauce?
If you are using frozen, you can use 2 pounds. This will coat the meatballs. If you want extra sauce to put over rice you will probably just want to use 1 pound. Hope this helps!
Made these last year.. They were a big hit!! Couldn’t find cracker crumbs, made crumbs from saltines. Cut down on the ginger, thinking about using the full amount this year. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thanks for the five-star rating!!
Can this be done as a stove top recipe instead of in the crock pot?
Yes, you can just bring it all to a simmer until the meatballs are heated through. Hope this helps!
It’s funny that I see this on here because I have been making the meatballs, doubling the sauce recipe, and then sticking in my crockpot for YEARS! Cheers to adding it to Pinterest!
In the ingredients list, it states 1/4 white vinegar. Is that supposed to be 1/4 cup of white vinegar?
Yes, white vinegar. 🙂 Sorry, will clarify on the recipe
Hi – question about the cornstarch. It’s still an ingredient I’m not very familiar with … what does it do for this dish? I’d like to cut it out or substitute it for something less carb-y if possible. Thank you!
Corn starch thickens liquids. It makes it so the sauce sticks to the chicken better. Hope this helps!
I buy the Italian meatballs at Costco also. Can they go in the crockpot frozen?
Yes, they can.. we do it all the time!
Looks great! What size of can of pineapple do you use? I’m planning on making these tonight!!
Just the “typical” size can.. I think it is around 15-20 oz? I don’t have any in my pantry right now so I can’t tell you exactly lol. Sorry I’m not a huge help with this one!
I made these for lunch today. Oh my, are they amazing! Next time I am adding sliced carrots to up the veggies. But these meatballs are absolutely amazing!
Thank you for sharing.
Tried these for dinner last night. This is a “do again” recipe! Very easy and very Yummy.
My mom has been making this since I was a child, and now I make them for my kids. Exact same recipe! So delicious. I make a huge pan, and we eat them all!
I am retired but I still love ciokong in my CrockPot. recipes are endless and so good. I make a beef roast in mine and use three seasoning packets, Ranch, Peppercorn and Italian. Out of this world taste.
Do you use fresh ginger or powdered?
I used powdered in this recipe!
Can these be frozen after everything is cooked, if so how do you reccomend doing so? Thanks 😊
Yes, they can be frozen. Place the cooled meatballs in a freezer safe bag and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating. They can be reheated in the microwave, stove top, or in the crock pot again. We recommend adding a little water to the sauce when reheating.
I need to make Waikiki Meatballs for approximately 20 people. Any idea how many servings this recipe provides?
I LOVED these. I never eat leftovers, but there’s no way I was going to let these go to waste. This recipe is definitely going in my favorites! And it was easy too 🙂
Can I use fresh pineapple in this recipe? I don’t have canned at this time. The pineapples are from my garden.
Sure! That sounds delicious!