This Hawaiian meatball recipe is a fun and flavorful twist with a delicious sweet and sour pineapple sauce.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: These Hawaiian meatballs are the perfect mix of sweet, tangy, and savory, with juicy pineapple and a delicious sticky sauce!
- Swaps: Swap beef for ground turkey, use honey instead of brown sugar, or try apple cider vinegar for a little twist.
- Time-Saving Tip: Grab frozen meatballs and pre-cut veggies to make this meal even faster!
- Freezing: Meatballs can be frozen before or after baking. Cook from frozen with veggies and sauce in a crock pot and let it do all the work.
Ingredients For Hawaiian Meatballs
- Beef: Use lean ground beef or a mix of beef and pork for even more flavor. Ground chicken or turkey work too. To save time, you can use frozen meatballs in this recipe.
- Vegetables: Bell peppers and onions add tender-crisp crunch and a pop of color to this dish.
- Sauce: The sauce is a sweet and tangy combination of brown sugar, pineapple juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and fresh ginger and garlic.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve them from a crockpot with a side of rice, on egg noodles, or even zoodles.
- Make Hawaiian sliders! Pile meatballs onto Hawaiian rolls with a little extra sauce.
- These Hawaiian meatballs make great appetizers! Serve with toothpicks and extra sauce for dipping.
Storage and Leftovers
Leftover Hawaiian meatballs can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to four days or frozen in zippered bags for up to two months.
More Amazing Meatballs
Did you enjoy these Hawaiian Meatballs? Leave a comment and rating below.
Hawaiian Meatballs
These Hawaiian meatballs are a sweet and savory dish with tender meatballs in a tangy pineapple sauce and fresh bell peppers.
Equipment
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup finely diced onion
Veggies
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
Sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup brown sugar packed
- ⅓ cup white vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 14 ounces pineapple tidbits 1 can with juices
Instructions
Meatballs
- Combine ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, garlic powder, and diced onion and mix well. Form into ¾" meatballs and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake meatballs at 350˚F for 20 minutes.
Sauce
- Whisk garlic, ginger, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce and set aside.
Assembly
- Cut the vegetables into 1-inch chunks, set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook onion with olive oil until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add peppers and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the pineapple with juices, meatballs, and sauce mixture along with ¼ cup water. Simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to combine.
- Create a slurry with the cornstarch and water and add just enough to thicken as desired. You may not need all of the slurry. Serve over rice.
Notes
Leftovers Hawaiian meatballs will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 2 months.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 372 | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 373mg | Potassium: 519mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1045IU | Vitamin C: 51.9mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 3.5mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Beef, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Asian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This is a yummy recipe when you want something Chinese, economical that everyone loves . Made a big batch with rice and noodles , lots to freeze too. Holly would you do a pineapple chicken recipe with not too much sugar?
thankyou
sami
Glad you loved it Sami! This Hawaiian Chicken might be just what you’re looking for.
I signed up for your recipes quite a while ago and when the pop up to sign up appears and STAYS ON COVERING YOUR RECIPE for over a minute, I’m apt to not wait and just delete. Please fix this annoying feature please.
Hi Judy, there is an X on the top right of the pop up box that you can click on to immediately close the pop up. I hope that helps!
Wonderful recipe! Thank you so much for this. Had all ingredients except had to use ground ginger and fresh pineapple. Love loved it
Am new to your site and to your meal plan membership. Have loved all 3 recipes I have tried so far.
I am so happy to hear you are loving the recipes so far Patti!
Really good recipe, only problem was it was veeeeerrrry acidic. I tried to balance it out with more soya sauce and sugar, unfortunately it didnt quite work. I think next time about half the vinegar will do. I also think a mixture of pork and beef will make a tastier meatball. Dont forget to salt each step!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it! I have some meatballs in my freezer that I’d love to use up. May I use frozen meatballs with this recipe and combine with the other ingredients? Thank you for all the wonderful recipes on this site :-)
Yes frozen meatballs will work just fine in this recipe Karen. Enjoy!
I just introduced my husband to your website. I have enjoyed cooking for years. My husband loves to cook, but he is not the best at it! He made this to a t. I have learned to just eyeball. He measured everything exact to your recipe! It turned out amazing! After this, he did the Beef Stroganoff! Haven’t tried it yet, but smelled awesome! During this pandemic, your recipes keep us busy on the weekends. Thank you!
You’re welcome Janet, that’s so wonderful to hear! Glad you are both enjoying the recipes!
Awesome
Can you use premise meatballs and just add the ingredients for the sweet and sour part?
I’m sorry Kim, are you looking to skip the meatballs (or premake them)? If you’re looking to premake them, yes you sure can! If you’re looking to skip them, you might like to replace them with chicken or another protein as the dish will be quite saucy. I hope that helps!
If I didn’t answer your question, please let me know and I’ll do my best to help you out!
Holly, in the ingredients you list pineapple, juice reserved. And in the directions you list undrained pineapple. Please clarify
Hi Terry, keep the juice in the pineapple, then add the undrained pineapple including the juice. Enjoy!