Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I don't know about you, but I find meatballs to be a handy little protein addition to a meal. They go with all sorts of things, they can be dressed up in all sorts of different ways, they keep well in the crockpot or can be cooked up quickly in a 30-minute meal. The other great thing about them is I can use ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey.

I inherited several older cookbooks from my grandmother many years ago and one of my favorite go-to recipes is called Sweet and Sour Meatballs from the 1978 version of the Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Other than some very small adjustments to the meatball recipe, I've kept this one pretty true to the original.

Best served with rice, but I think it would rock with quinoa or even orzo pasta if it's in your pantry. Also, I used green pepper as the original recipe calls for but I think it would taste awesome with red pepper or even a stir fry veggie mix in a pinch. I can see myself doing that in the future; this is definitely a meal that needs to go into the regular rotation.


Sweet and Sour Meatballs
1 lb ground meat
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 egg

1/2c brown sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 can (13 1/4 oz) pineapple chunks and juice (I used a pint jar of home-canned pineapple)
1/3 c vinegar
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 green pepper, coarsely chopped


Mix together the first 5 ingredients and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Heat about 1 Tbs of oil in a skillet and brown the meatballs. Meanwhile, mix together the brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, soy sauce, and the juice from the can of pineapple in a bowl.
Once the meatballs have browned, but not cooked thru, drain off any excess fat. Add the liquid mix and bring it to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to keep a simmer and add the pineapple and green pepper and let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 4.