Sweet and Sour Meatballs

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 24 meatballs
  • Total: 30 min
  • Active: 30 min
These perfect little meatball poppers are equal parts sweet and sour. Sliced pineapple rings add a pop of color to the finished meatballs skewers and extra sweetness that will keep you coming back for more!
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Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

1 pound ground pork

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 clove garlic, grated

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground cloves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

One 20-ounce can pineapple rings

1/3 cup ketchup

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

Directions

  1. Position the oven rack in the top third of the oven and preheat the oven to broil. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat the foil with cooking spray.
  2. Mix the pork, cilantro, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl until just combined. Use a 1-ounce ice-cream scoop to shape the mixture into 24 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Broil until golden brown and firm, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through broiling.  
  3. Meanwhile, drain the liquid from the can of pineapple into a large skillet (you should have just over 3/4 cup juice). Quarter each of 6 pineapple rings (for a total of 24 pieces) and set aside.  
  4. Add the ketchup, vinegar, honey, soy sauce and a generous amount of pepper to the skillet with the pineapple juice, whisking until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about a quarter and thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the meatballs and toss until well coated.  
  5. Skewer 1 pineapple piece and one meatball with a food pick or toothpick and place on a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining pineapple pieces and meatballs and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Spoon any remaining sauce left in the skillet into a bowl and serve alongside the meatballs.  

Let's Get Cooking!

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Kat

I made these for our New Years Eve dinner and omg they were so good!! I used a pork/beef meatloaf mix which worked perfectly. Unfortunately I had to sub parsley for the cilantro and forgot to buy fresh ginger (I used a tiny bit of ground) so I can only imagine how much better they would be without the substitutions. <br /><br />I will definitely be making these again!!

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