Happy Tuesday! Wow what a fun filled Monday in zestyland. Work is crazy busy and I have been spending a lot of time on a new e-book for zestycook.com that will be released soon. In addition, I am working on a whole new design for the blog. I am moving to a new layout to allow you to visually see more recipes and posts in an easier format. Stay tuned for all that excitement.
Back to the dish at hand – Super Simple Meatballs! This is a great dish that is hearty, filling and can really be done with any meat or even non-meat product. Whether it be turkey, pork, beef, you name it… a meatball can be made.
This dish is really quick and easy. I take a two step approach to the meatballs. First, I cook them under the broiler since it is so fast, prepare the sauce and then add the meatballs to the sauce in a casserole dish. I served it over some dirty rice with soy sauce and mushrooms.
Too easy…. here are the more detailed instructions
I really enjoy the sweet and sour flavor on a variety of foods (pineapple and nutmeg just go together well especially with vinegar and sugar).
Ingredients
MEATBALLS
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 2/3 cup cracker crumb
- 1 egg
- 1 Tsp. nutmeg
- 1 Tsp. grated fresh ginger
- 2 Garlic cloves ( minced)
- 1 Tsp. seasoning salt (Lawry’s recommended)
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
- 1 (13 1/2 ounce) can pineapple chunks
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Method
- Preheat oven on broil.
- Combine the first seven ingredients, mix well, but lightly.
- Shape into meatballs.
- Place meatballs in roasting pan and broil in the oven until cooked through (turning a few times).
- Drain pineapple (set aside)- reserve juice.
- Add water to the juice to make 1 cup liquid.
- In a pot over medium heat, blend cornstarch in the juice, then add vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce, cook until clear.
- Add the pineapple and pour over the meatballs and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- ENJOY!
ZestyTip: To enhance the flavor of meatballs, I always like to add a hint of ginger and nutmeg as well as really focus on browning the outside of the meatballs to lock in the flavor. The brolier works great for this.
I hope you have a great Tuesday.
Take care
zesty
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Happy Tuesday!!
These would be a good entry to the Super Bowl Recipe contest that I’m having!! Submit!!
Wow! Those look so perfect for a football party or just a quick dinner. I love how easy they are to put together. Yum!
I think I will try these for the Super Bowl instead of my usual Italian style.
I love these and used to eat a lot of these growing up. I have such a hard time perfecting the sauce though. I’ll give your recipe a try.
Those meatballs look great!
I’m making meatballs for dinner tonight – weird
Those look delicious! That picture made me have a huge meatball craving!
These look awesome! I’m totally getting a craving for these, bookmarking it and going to make soon!!
Definitely have to make this for the husband. Excited to see the new layout Zesty!
I wonder how this would work in the crockpot? Love crockpot meatballs!
@HeatherMcD – These are amazing in the crock pot…. if you have the time…crock pot is the way. Just brown them, drop them in and cover with the sauce. YUM!
Pineapple meatballs? MM!
Sweet and sour meatballs rules! I wish I could get my girlfriend to eat sweet and sour, but she just doesn’t like it. Ah well, I can always freeze them and eat it all myself!
Amazing looking meal. Can’t imagine anyone not wanting to try that recipe.
Mmmmm, I love sweet & sour meatballs. I have a recipe for them from my Foods 9 (as in grade 9) that I still use.
my broiler is broken
!! Damn 1950′s kitchen appliances! That pineapple addition sounds amazing!
This may be on the menu for my next meat meal. Sounds and looks great – the dirty rice looks like a great complement to the meatballs.
sounds creative and looks super delicious!
Mmmm..I love all of the flavore you got going on in the Balls of meat!!!!
Those meatballs look tasty and so does the dirty rice that they are on. I like using pineapple in dishes like this.
These look really delicious…with rice..yum!
Zesty, what would be a good substitute for the 1/2 cup brown
sugar or reduction. My daughter has type I diabetes since second grade and we try to keep the carb count, sugar count
low, what do you suggest without overly affecting the flavor?
@Wolffie – You could try brown sugar splenda as an option or you could even substitute stevia in there. It should not drastically affect the flavor per say. Let me know how you get along
I am craving meatballs after seeing this recipe. My mouth is actually watering.
Yum! I love meatballs, and this sauce sounds great. I’m a big fan of sweet and sour flavors! I bet this would be great with bell peppers and onions over rice… my stomach is growling as I think about it!
Love the spices in the meatball mix and the offset of the sweet sauce..good one!
Man, my grandmomma was from Sicily and she made the most incredible meatballs I ever tasted, like you wouldnt believe. Sadly, she died last year and she didnt leave a recipe for us so I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own… slowly working my through the meatball recipes here, I still cant figure out what her secret ingredient was though!!!