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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!
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 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!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 363 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Sweet And Sour Meatballs
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ingredients
- 12 oz (350g) ground pork , or ground chicken
- 1/2 inch (1cm) ginger, peeled, 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 cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the ground pork or chicken with ginger, garlic, five-spice powder (if using), sesame oil, pepper, and salt. Stir until well combined. Wet both hands with water and shape the mixture into 24 meatballs. Set aside.
- Heat a wok or skillet with some oil and pan-fry the meatballs until they turn light golden brown. Drain them on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Clean the wok or skillet and heat it with a little oil. Add the onion and stir quickly for a few moments. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce and cook until it thickens, then add the meatballs. Stir well to coat the meatballs with the sauce. Dish out and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fantastic! I will never buy – take out – sweet & sour again.
Awesome, thanks so much Sherrie. :)
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.
No, it’s sweet with a very mild heat. You can skip it and add some sugar.
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
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.
Wow! I’m going to try this! I love your blog by the way.
Thanks for your support. :)
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!
Hi Mairzie, thanks for trying my sweet and sour meatballs recipe. :)
Silly me i just read the recipe again…..I see rice wine listed. Sorry!
Of course I am missing one ingredient, the cider vinegar. Can I use another kind of vinegar? Rice wine vinger? Or something else?
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!
Great idea for using honey! :)
Have you tried these in the crockpot? If so, are there any adjustments.
I haven’t and I am not sure without actually trying.
This recipe is easy to make and super yummy.