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Sweet and Sour Meatballs

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Sweet and Sour Meatballs - The best tangy meatballs ever with homemade sweet and sour sauce, good for an appetizer or pairing for a great meal!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - the best meatballs ever with sweet and sour sauce. These meatballs are so good you'll want them everyday! | rasamalaysia.com

Delicious homemade meat balls covered in a sweet and sour sauce and onions in a bowl.

I Love Meatballs!

Come to think about it, I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love meatballs.

Ground meat of your choice seasoned with your favorite spices or flavorings, and then slathered in your favorite sauce. What’s not to love?

How to make Asian sweet and sour meatballs dish, perfectly in a bowl.

How to Make Sweet And Sour Meatballs

In my family, our sauce of choice for meatballs is sweet and sour sauce. The meatballs I make is seasoned with five-spice powder and the sweet and sour sauce pretty much escalates the taste to the next level.

Imagine sweet, sour, sticky Chinese sauce that coats every inch of the meatballs, on top of a steaming bowl of white rice…ahhh, the best!!

For the meat, I prefer to use ground pork or ground chicken, but I have to say that ground pork tastes better. Ground chicken is great, too.

If you use skinless and boneless chicken thighs, the meatballs will always be juicy and moist. The sweet and sour source is addictive, made of ketchup, Thai sweet chili sauce, a bit of soy sauce and vinegar to bring out the perfect balance of sweet, sour and savory.

This dish is a winner. Double up on this recipe and make a big batch. Trust me, the meatballs will be gone in no time!

Chinese juicy sweet and sour meatballs with ketchup served with rice, being poked with a fork.

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Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe

Sweet and Sour Meatballs - the best meatballs ever with sweet and sour sauce. These meatballs are so good you'll want them everyday!

Course Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Servings 3
Calories 216 kcal
Author

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Combine the ground pork or chicken with ginger, garlic, five-spice powder (if using), sesame oil, pepper and salt. Stir to combine well. Wet both hands with some water and shape into 24 meatballs. Set aside.
  2. Heat up a wok or skillet with some oil, pan-fry the meatballs until they turn light to golden brown. Drained them on a plate lined with paper towels.
  3. Clean the wok or skillet. Heat it up with a little bit oil. Add the onion and do a few quick stirs. Add the sweet and sour sauce and cook it until it's thickened, then add the meatballs. Stir to coat well with the sauce. Dish out and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe
Amount Per Serving (3 g)
Calories 216 Calories from Fat 50
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5.5g 8%
Saturated Fat 1.6g 8%
Cholesterol 93mg 31%
Sodium 347mg 14%
Total Carbohydrates 9.5g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0.3g 1%
Sugars 6.8g
Protein 30.2g 60%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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44 COMMENTS... read them below or add one


  1. Excellent as has been every other recipe from this site that I’ve made. We live in Singapore and have easy access to tons of Chinese and Malaysian food, most of it amazing, yet my family loves your dishes more than eating out. This has quickly become my primary go-to recipe site. Thanks!

    Reply


  2. Thankyou. No seriously. THANK YOU!!! The sauce is A-MAZE-ING! So so so yummy! It has to be said – it tastes better than my local Chinese Restaurant. This is going on the “must make again and again” list because it’s heavenly.

    Reply

  3. I’m planning to make it tonight. Was wondering if I could make the meat balls n sauce ready n toss in sauce befr I serve. Wud that b okay? Wud the sauce thicken much if done prior?

    Reply

  4. Does Thai sweet chili sauce have any heat to it? i CANNOT eat anything spicy. Could i substitute brown sugar for it,and if so how much would you recommend?

    Reply

  5. Love this! And love so many of your other recipes as well. The recipes are easy to follow, with ingredients I usually have on hand and the flavors are amazing. We live in a farm community surrounded by small towns. Find a good, Asian restaurant is hard to do but with your recipes…I don’t need to worry! Thank you so much! I look forward to trying even more fabulous dishes!

    Reply

    • Hi Pamela, awww, thanks so much for your sweet comment. You can open an Asian restaurant with my recipes, LOL. I am so glad that you are able to make Asian food in your home. :)

      Reply

  6. Hello from Australia. I made this dish for dinner tonight. I added re& green capsicum and served it over jasmine rice with a sprinkling of sesame seeds on the meatballs. i will freeze the leftovers for nights when I’m too tired to cook after work. Thx for the recipe! I am keen to try out more of yr ideas soon.

    Reply

  8. Hi, I happened upon your website today and would like to try them out. My kids don’t like them spicy. Is Thai Sweet Chili Sauce very spicy? If it is, can you tell me what’s a good substitute? Thanks.

    Reply

  9. Hi can the meat balls be baked? I want to make triple the recipe and don’t want to have to fry them all. If so do you know for how long and how many degrees Celsius? thanks

    Reply

  11. I made this for dinner tonight. The sweet & sour sauce is fantastic! Absolutely PERFECT. I did make a few changes, like adding minced water chestnuts to the meatball mixture, and some slivered green, red & yellow bell peppers along w/ the onion. So delicious served with steamed white rice. Thanks so much!

    Reply

  13. Of course I am missing one ingredient, the cider vinegar. Can I use another kind of vinegar? Rice wine vinger? Or something else?

    Reply

  14. I made this twice – the first time it tasted too much like ketchup, so the second time I replaced half the ketchup with honey and it was perfect :) Definitely going in my recipe book!

    Reply

  18. Hi

    Would using ground beef work just as well for this recipe? I tend to have ground beef on hand. Would you do anything different or add anything to ground beef versus the ground chicken or pork you suggested.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  20. These look incredible–I will definitely have to try the recipe! I have always loved spaghetti and meatballs, but this recipe looks like it will beat the traditional Italian recipe any day!

    Reply

  21. Hi,
    It looks so delicious!
    But, I doesn’t like vinegar or Apple cider vinegar. Can I replace it with plum sauce? Or do you have a better alternative?

    Thank you.

    Reply

  22. I LOVE making meatballs and this is a variation I haven’t tried yet, I’m putting this one on the list ASAP! :)

    Reply

  25. your recipes are so easy to follow..being of oriental background, but raised in the Caucasian culture. I am now learning to cook the delicious meals on your site. thank you

    Reply

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