Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Meatballs Recipe
This Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Meatballs Recipe is the perfect weeknight meal. It checks all the boxes: meat, vegetables, fruit, fast, easy, and DELICIOUS!
It goes without saying I’ve been a bit obsessed with slow cooker recipes. My sweet and spicy chili recipe, slow cooker refried beans, and slow cooker lasagna have been HUGE crowd pleasers! I mean, what’s not to love!? You place the ingredients in, turn it on, and dinner is ready when you are ready.
How to make Sweet & Sour Meatballs Recipe
Similar to my Grape Jelly Meatballs, this recipe is easy peezy!
To begin, gather some frozen pre-cooked meatballs. I know some people dislike frozen foods, that’s fine! I love frozen meatballs from Costco, so that’s what I use.
Pro Tip: If you prefer everything from scratch, pre-cook your own meatballs and use them in this recipe.
Add the meatballs to a large slow cooker. Add a large can of (drained) pineapple tidbits to the slow cooker.
SAVE THE PINEAPPLE JUICE, we will use it for the sweet and sour sauce.
Next, chop up half of a red and green bell pepper and place them inside the slow cooker.
Tip: You can use more than half of the peppers. If you’re using a particularly small pepper, chop up the full pepper and add all of it to the crock pot.
Just remember, recipes are guidelines, feel free to adapt and adjust to your liking, this is what makes cooking so fun!
Make the Sweet & Sour Sauce for Meatballs
I want to note, if you have a sweet and sour sauce that you adore, you can use it here. If you’re using the one I made, it will go as follows:
- In a medium sized bowl whisk the reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, and soy sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs, pineapple, and peppers.
- Gently stir so that the meatballs are coated in the sauce.
Cooking the Sweet & Sour Meatballs
All you have left to do is place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
When the meatballs are finished cooking and the peppers have softened, serve the sweet and sour meatballs over rice with a garnish of sliced green onions.
If you love this recipe try these:
- Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Chutney
- Slow Cooker BBQ Pineapple Meatballs – Salt & Baker
- Sweet & Sour Stuffed Shells – Chef in Training
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Sweet & Sour Meatballs
INGREDIENTS
- 32 oz frozen pre-cooked meatballs (50 meatballs)
- 20 oz pineapple tidbits (just 1 can, drain and SAVE the juice!)
- 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 cup canned (reserved) pineapple juice
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the frozen meatballs in a large crock pot. Pour the drained crushed pineapple overtop of the meatballs, followed by the red and green chopped peppers. *
- In a medium sized bowl whisk the reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, and soy sauce.
- Pour the sauce into the crockpot. Stir so that the meatballs are mixed in and covered in the sauce.
- Place lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Serve over rice and garnish with sliced green onions.
RECIPE NOTES
- The recipe says 1/2 of a red and green bell pepper. You can use the full peppers if you'd like! Especially if the peppers are really small, use the full thing.
