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?
Other Sweet and Sour Recipes:
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!
How Many Calories Per Serving?
This recipe is only 363 calories per serving.
What Dishes To Serve with this Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
5 Secrets to 20 Min Dinners
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Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Sweet and Sour Meatballs - the best meatballs ever with sweet and sour sauce. These meatballs are so good you'll want them everyday!
Ingredients
- 12 oz. (340 g) ground pork or ground chicken
- 1/2 inch (1 cm) piece peeled ginger, finely minced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
- 1 pinch salt
- oil for pan-frying
- 1/2 small onion, quartered
- Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Information
Serving Size
3 peopleAmount Per Serving Calories 363Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 82mgSodium 394mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 1gSugar 8gProtein 20g
Sherrie Russell
Fantastic! I will never buy – take out – sweet & sour again.
Rasa Malaysia
Awesome, thanks so much Sherrie. :)
KAREN TONG
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.
Rasa Malaysia
No, it’s sweet with a very mild heat. You can skip it and add some sugar.
mia
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
Rasa Malaysia
Yes you can. I think you can bake at 375F for 15 minutes? Please check doneness though I am not 100% sure without trying myself.
Samantha
Wow! I’m going to try this! I love your blog by the way.
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for your support. :)
Mairzie
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!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Mairzie, thanks for trying my sweet and sour meatballs recipe. :)
Charmaine
Silly me i just read the recipe again…..I see rice wine listed. Sorry!
Charmaine
Of course I am missing one ingredient, the cider vinegar. Can I use another kind of vinegar? Rice wine vinger? Or something else?
Adam
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!
Rasa Malaysia
Great idea for using honey! :)
Lucinda
Have you tried these in the crockpot? If so, are there any adjustments.
Rasa Malaysia
I haven’t and I am not sure without actually trying.
Sandy
This recipe is easy to make and super yummy.