Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Looking for the perfect meatball recipe? Look no further! These sweet and sour meatballs are tender, perfectly seasoned, and amazingly delicious!
This is a favorite meal of ours that I have been making for years.
On Sunday evenings when I am planning our weekly menu, I’ll ask Brian to give me at least one meal suggestion.
No fail, he either comes up with this dish or his other fave, Sweet and Sour Chicken.
By the way, I usually veto his suggestions, though, because I have so many recipes to try that I don’t like eating the same thing week after week.
Rude, I know, but how will I ever try all these recipes before I die if I am making Sweet and Sour Meatballs or Chicken every week?
These meatballs are also a huge winner with my kidlets.
The meatballs are tender and perfectly seasoned, especially after baking in the simple sweet and sour sauce.
For me, this is definitely a perfect weeknight meal – and we enjoy it often (but clearly not as often as Brian would like)!
Update Nov. 2014: After five or so years living on the blog, this recipe needed an update (mostly the photos). I also gave a few additional tips and instructions in the recipe.
I cut the milk down to 1/4 cup to make the meatballs sturdier (the original was 1/2 cup if you want to stick with that) and I usually scale back the sugar to 1/4 cup as well (1/2 cup in the original).
And of course, I always double the sauce since we like it on the saucy side.
Read the notes below the recipe title for another cooking variation that is speedy and oven-free.
What to Serve With This:
Baked Brown Rice
Fresh, seasonal fruit
Spinach Strawberry Salad with Homemade Creamy Poppyseed Dressing
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground meat, see note
- ¾ cup quick oats or old-fashioned oats that have been lightly pulsed in a blender
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Sauce:
- ¼ – ½ cup brown sugar, depending on how sweet you want the sauce
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- ¼ cup barbecue sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Hot cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the meatballs, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Form into about 12 meatballs (right around 2-inches each). Place in a lightly greased 9X13-inch pan.
- For the sauce, whisk together the ingredients until well-combined.
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs and bake for 30 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened.
- Serve over hot, cooked rice, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Lion House Recipes
218 Comments on “Sweet and Sour Meatballs”
I love this receipe. I am lazy, so I use frozen meatballs. I triple the sauce and I add garlic powder, onion powder and siracha to the sauce. I cook it all in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low. I don’t even precook the meatballs. Turns out great!
This is a family favorite! We make it exactly as the recipe calls for except we double the sauce..we might even triple it next time. It’s delicious over white sticky rice!
I doubled the meat portion of this recipe and ended up with 31 meatballs. I quadrupled the sauce, using the lower amount of sugar that was written in the recipe. 3 out of 5 of us felt like the acidity of the vinegar took over the flavor, making these meatballs hard to eat. I do wonder if that would be different had I used more sugar?
I’ve made sweet and sour meatballs for 43 years but we just had this new recipe and it was hands-down, the best meatball and sauce recipe we’ve ever had. I made roughly 24 to 30 meatballs so I’d have leftovers tomorrow. I quickly made another batch of it and double was was just right for us.
I’ll be making this often.
I tried this sauce with some precooked meatballs and I would suggest the vinegar needs to be halved or even less. It came out quite sharp and vinegary
I have made sweet and sour meatballs for years and was in the mood to try a new recipe. This was a HUGE hit. I made the bbq sauce as well. I agree with all the reviews that you need to triple the sauce – but it was scrumptious.
So easy to make and good version of sweet and sour. Great recipe!
Amaze-balls! I doubled my sauce 4x and used ground turkey for the meatballs, served mine over quinoa Kids and hubs had rice definitely a hit and will be added to our menu
Thanks for the recipe
Amazing recipe! I doubled my sauce 4x and used ground turkey for the meatballs, served over quinoa
Thank you ❤️
These meatballs and the sauce are amazing! Family favorite, including 3 young kids!
I love these. Made them again tonight with ground turkey and they came out even better than before, I think bc the oats were pulsed finer. Hubby raves 🙂 Thank you!
To quote my hubby, “These are so friggin’ good. Definitely my new favorite. You have to make these again!” Thank you, Mel. I now have my two daughters hooked on your blog as well. We are better cooks and bakers thanks to you. Many blessings coming your way!!
These meatballs with rice make an amazing meal!! Even my picky 5 year old loved it. I made a double batch and brought some to a friend who recently had a baby. I am usually nervous to cook for others but felt confident this time! I used about 2/3 cup of sugar for the doubled amount. Thanks for a great recipe Mel!
I love this recipe! We have mostly used the sauce with frozen meatballs, but it still tastes delicious! Do you think I could cook this in the crockpot for a crowd? Or is the oven the way to go?
Yes, that should work great with frozen meatballs!
This was very good! The whole family liked it, which is hard to do. I did modify by using frozen meatballs, I baked the meatballs for a little bit first (made the sauce in the meantime), then left it in the oven while making rice.
These were so delicious! I loved the sauce so much! I used Rudy’s bbq sauce, but the other stuff added so much flavor. I only had 1 lb of meat so I used slightly less of the meatball ingredients. We loved this with rice and broccoli!
We have been making your recipes while at home during this crazy COVID-19 time. Made the banana muffins this morning, and they are all gone! and tonight made this for dinner. Used dehydrated onions, worked great. My kids said, “Mom, I think this needs to be a go-to meal.” So, it is a definite, easy winner. Thanks for making bellies happy in our home.
Glad to hear you are staying safe and cozy (and eating well) right now!!
Looks great! There is no link for the homemade bbq sauce. Can you add one please? 🙂
Sorry about that! I got it added.
This is the BEST meatball recipe in the history of ever. Thank you. I mean this when I say that what you do positively impacts the everyday lives of your readers. I’m not sure how long it takes to post one recipe, but I imagine it takes much longer than it took me to prepare this day-changing meal. May you be blessed abundantly for every ounce of effort you pour in.
Thank you so, so much! Your comment was so heartfelt and SO kind. It’s words like these that keep me going!
My whole family loved this recipe! My 3 and 8 year-olds helped make it, and it was simple enough that they didn’t need much help. We doubled the sauce and it made the perfect amount for us. There are six in our family and we had no leftovers. We might have to double as our kids get bigger. Simple+delicious=happy family. Thanks Mel!
I couldn’t find the homemade bbq sauce recipe so i just used sweet baby rays. This recipe is way to vinegary. Will b adding more sugar next time, if there is a next time.
I also thought this was a meh…the flavours were really harsh and not well balanced. This may just be our personal taste though. Mel never disappoints with her baked goods. Several of her recipes are in our home rotation, bagels, Greek Pita, rolls. It was worth a try.
Just tried the sauce yesterday as I had some meatballs in the freezer that I made last week. The sauce is excellent! So good that I am making it today and putting it over a roast pork that I have in the crockpot.
Made these last night. It was absolutely delicious! Both my kids, one of whom is quite picky, loved them. Will definitely be making it again.
Oh my goodness! This recipe is amazing! I thought it was good the first time I made it, but I made a double batch, both with double sauce. It heated up great with your instructions! This is definitely going into our weekly rotation! Thanks!
Hi Could I make this ahead of time? How would you do that if can?
Yes, you could make the meatballs and sauce and store separately in the fridge until ready to bake.
I made this tonight and it was a hit with all three kids (ages 13 to 2 years). My reccomendation is to summer the sauce on the stove while the meat balls are cooking. Then toss the balls in the sauce afterwards. Next time I am going to x3 or x4 the sauce recipe as there wasn’t nearly enough for everyone.
Can you put this in a slow cooker ?
I haven’t tried, but you could definitely experiment!
double the sauce! excellent!
Next time I will double the sauce
I made this tonight for dinner. You were right about doubling the sauce. I liked it a lot. I actually made the meatballs in the morning and let them sit in the fridge until dinner. I also didn’t cook them in the sauce, I was afraid with so much sugar in it that it would stick to my pan and I’d never get it clean. Instead I warmed the sauce on the stove and added the meatballs when they were cooked through.
I also added minced garlic, fresh parsley and cayenne pepper to the meatballs for extra flavor.
What can i use instead of flour or oats? My husband is sensitive to oats and i am gluten free right now.
You could try subbing in gluten free flour or bread crumbs.
We used bobs red mill old fashioned rolled oats (yes they are gluten free!!) and it worked great!
Yes, these are terrific. I didn’t have lean ground beef, so I half-baked the meatballs in a foil-lined Pyrex baking dish for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Then, I removed the meatballs to a bowl with the sauce mix. I discarded the grease and the foil, and put the sauced meatballs back into the same baking dish and continued baking until the meatballs cooked through and the sauce got bubbly. This way, you can use a less expensive meat with delicious, non-greasy results.
I don’t know why, but these taste so much better when they are simmered in the pan than baked in the oven. So so yum. My favorite meatballs!
I love this recipe! I usually add canned pineapple and diced peppers and the juice from the pineapple can in with a double batch of the sauce and it turns out delicious and a little less plain. We love it so much I always make a double batch so there’s one in the freezer for another day.!
Soooo good, super simple
OHHH I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!!! I actually make meat loafs instead of balls! Same process, but bigger ovals! I have made these for company and dinner for my husband and I and we are big fans!!! Thanks for sharing! I love new recipes.
I browned the meatballs in a skillet then added the sauce (doubled) and simmered for about 15 minutes. Took them, along with rice, broccoli, your French bread rolls and Andes Mint Cupcakes (their request – they’ve had them before and loved them!), to a family whose mom hasn’t been feeling well and was just diagnosed with lymphoma. This one will stay in my rotation for “take-in” meals…SO yummy!
Thanks for the review, Sharri – and what a sweet thing to do for that family.
So yummy
My family love this recipe made me print it out to make another time
I made this for supper for my boyfriend and I – it was a huge hit and super easy! I baked the meatballs first and then threw the sauce on them and baked them for another 10 minutes and they came out perfect.
Do the meatballs have to be browned before placing in oven?
I don’t brown them first but you could
Delicious and so easy. A big winner.
These meatballs were a huge hit in my house! All the kids, the grandparents and the spouse were all very impressed! The taste was amazing and the recipe was easy! This will definitely be added to the rotation!
I made this last night with your oven baked brown rice. Delish! I made it completely in the skillet and doubled the sauce but might triple it next time so we can have some more for the leftovers. Thanks. I know if I find a recipe on your site my family will love it!
Made this tonight for dinner, I did not double the sauce even though it seems everyone said I should. I have not tried it because I have an insane cold and can’t taste! My husband did say he found the sauce a little sweet… I even used the 1/4 cup instead of the half cup of brown sugar. Will have to tweak it in the future I guess. Otherwise it was a success 🙂
I made these for my sisters baby shower, but I subbed in pre-made frozen gluten free meatballs. It was a huge hit!
Have you ever made your sweet and sour meatballs in your instant pot? I am trying to adapt as many recipes as possible for my son for when he goes to college and have purchased him an instant pot. Everything is just so much faster and easier to clean up. Would love your advice.
What a great idea for your son! I haven’t made this meal in the IP mostly because I’m not sure how the meatballs would hold up (afraid they’d fall apart somehow) and that there isn’t enough liquid to bring it up to pressure.
Love this recipe but I double the sauce mix.
No wonder your husband wants these for every other Sunday dinner! Delicious! We tried them tonight and everyone gave them a thumbs-up! Thanks for the awesome recipe. It will be in regular rotation around here, from now on.
(also, I used a cookie scoop to form the meatballs. I’ve never tried that before but it worked really well. And yes, doubling the sauce is a MUST.)
These Sweet & Sour Meatballs over Rice were a real winner w the fam tonite. They were fun to throw together & bake in the sauce. I loved how the sauce thickened a little during the baking process. I only had one egg on hand, so halved the meatball ingreds, yet it still made enough for three adults. (I added some summer squash, we still had hanging around, to the rice.) I used ground turkey, & every one loved it!
Love this recipe!! I’ve probably made it 8-10 times. Great on day one but leftovers are soooooo delicious!
I’ve used this as our go to Dutch oven recipe when camping for the past few years, and it’s always a hit. Just prep the meatballs and sauce in a Tupperware and store in a cooler until it’s time to cook.
If using quick oats do I have to blend in a blender? Also could I substitute with breadcrumbs if needed? I plan on making these either tonite or tomorrow and need to gather up a list of ingredients I need to buy. Thank you!
Yes, you can definitely sub bread crumbs (will probably make a slightly sturdier meatball). And if you use quick oats, you may not need to blend, but I personally still would a bit so that the meatballs bind together well.
This looks delicious! Can you make this up ahead of time and throw it in the crockpot for 4 hours to simmer? Or could that burn the flavor?
I haven’t tried that, but I think it sounds like a good idea!
We loved then! But next time I’m gonna double the sause!!
AMAZING!!! THIS RECIPE IS PICKY KID APPROVED:)) AND DELICIOUS FOR THE PARENTS TOO! SERVED WITH A CAESAR SALAD AND RICE. IM IMPRESSED! THANKS YOU:
I can’t do dairy right now so I subbed bbq sauce for the milk in the meatballs. I haven’t had it the other way, but this way is fabulous! I left out the Worcestershire sauce too (figured the bbq sauce would make up for the flavor–it did). In case anyone else is dairy free and wants to give them a try. 🙂 Thanks Mel!
Glad those subs worked out!
Absolutely delicious but the only thing I would change is doubling the sauce, thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I will make these again for sure.
Absolutely delicious but I would double the sauce next time, thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
I recently needed to prepare a gluten free meal. I finally settled on S&S meatballs over rice it was a hit. Still the recipe was lacking a nice blend of seasonings as I could not use the soup mix which was called for. This may be the perfect solution to perfecting my gluten free menu. Thank you.
Worcestercire sauce contains barley so I would just leave out it you want this to be gluten free
Lee and perrins Worcestershire sauce is gluten free so you can use that.
I made these for my wedding and they were a huge hit! So many people have asked for the recipe and I’ve shared it on my Facebook page. Thank you! They’re truly amazing and a regular meal at our house.
I never do this for recipes but I just have to leave a note here! This is a regular in our house, even my picky 4 and 5 year old boys eat this!! We absolutely LOVE this recipe!
Glad to hear it, Brook!
If you like an extra kick I HIGHLY recommend trying this meatball recipe with the firecracker sauce from “firecracker chicken”. Its my go-to guest recipe. 🙂
Can I use regular white vinegar instead of apple cider
I haven’t tried it but you could definitely experiment!
These meatballs are delicious! I follow the recipe to a “T”. Perfect every time. We’ve made them twice in one week, they are just that good!!
Tried these today and my husband couldn’t stop eating them! Really great recipe!
We love these! Curious if you know how they freeze after being fully cooked? I want to make them for a friend and I’m not sure if they will eat them immediately or stick them in their freezer for another time. Thanks! PS We had your sweet and sour chicken last night for about the 100th time. Our favorite!!
Hi Lindsay – these freeze well after they are cooked, I think. The trick is to reheat on low instead of cooking them fully again.
These meatballs have been a family favorite for a long time. Last night I tripled the batch (some for dinner, some for the freezer) and was feeling good and then remembered my son had to leave for scouts early – yikes! He needed dinner fast! My Instant Pot was out to make rice, but I switched things up and put a single layer of Meatballs and sauce in with the saute mode, to speed things up, but it also browned the bottom of the meatballs for even more tastiness! I set manual pressure cook for 7 minutes and did a natural 10 min. release. They were absolutely fabulous!!! And my boy went to scouts with a full belly!
I love this!
I just received my Instant Pot (haven’t event taken it out of the box yet) and my first request from the family was sweet and sour meatballs. I’m not much of a cook, so this may be a silly question, but when you say you put the meatballs in with the sauce on saute mode, are these pre-cooked meatballs or uncooked? Does the sauce thicken up enough or remain watery (this is another IP question I’m wondering about – I make alot of meals that have sauces that need to “thicken” so I wonder how they do that in the IP)? Thanks in advance!!
HI Jeni, I haven’t made these in the Instant Pot so you’ll have to experiment – these are uncooked meatballs (I bake them in the oven). I’m not sure how the sauce would fare in the IP – sorry!
My 8 year old made these meatballs tonight for dinner! He had a great time doing this (mostly) on his own and was so proud when we all rated this a 10 out of 10 for dinner.
Way to go 8-year old! 🙂 That’s impressive.
Do these meatballs work as a party food? using toothpicks, they’ll need to be pretty firm. Would love your opinion on this. Thanks!!
I think these meatballs are a bit too soft for toothpicks.
I made these meatballs the other night, they were delicious! And they’re husband approved which makes them even better! Thanks for sharing the recipe! =)
Made it, doubled the sauce so we’d have some for on the rice. Sweet ‘n’ tangy! Yum!
These are delicious!! Only tip I would add is to not overcrowd the skillet (like I did) if you are browning first, as this makes it difficult to turn them these are definitely picky kid friendly!
I make this recipe at least monthly for the past 3 years! It is one of my favorites and the leftovers taste just as good as fresh!
Mel, Excellent recipe. I had my boys 8 and 10 make this recipe tonight. What a blast watching them mix the burger with their hands! Thank you for sharing.
I love the fact that your boys made this so, so much!
This recipe is amazing! It’s a staple in my house now (like a lot of your recipes) and it never fails. I’ve used every kind of BBQ sauce you could think of and it always turns out great (My favorite to use is Stubbs sweet heat). Thanks Mel!
fantastic! and bonus–my kids loved them! thanks, mel!
After I saw these on Facebook, I knew I had to make them tonight. They were a huge hit. Seriously, the best meatballs I’ve ever had. We had them with roasted root veggies because I had way too many from a crop share this week, but they went awesome with the sauce. Thanks for another great recipe!!
I made your meatball sub recipe last weekend and it was the first-and-only meatball I’ve ever made that my fiance and I both loved. It was perfect and I don’t know if I want to experiment with another recipe… but I’d love to try this sauce.
What do you think about using the meatballs from your meatball sub recipe with this sauce?
I think that would work just fine if that’s a meatball recipe you already prefer.
Have you ever used all ground turkey?
Yep, works great.
These are so good! I wanted a crockpot recipe so
I baked the meatballs in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes
I doubled the sauce recipe and dumped all the ingredients in the crockpot and added the cooked meatballs to the crockpot
cooked on low for 2hrs
the Best!!
Just made this for supper, using ground chicken instead of ground beef. To be honest, I wasn’t sure about it while it was cooking – the smell of the apple cider vinegar was a bit off-putting (my 6yo even said “what’s that smell?!?”), but it tasted really good. Next time I’d triple the sauce though – doubled wasn’t saucy enough for my sauce-loving family.
I made these tonight for the second time, they had been in the freezer and in an effort to speed up the cooking process I put them on the stove. I seared them on all sides then added the sauce and let simmer on the stove. AMAZING!!! This will be my method of cooking these from now on! Thanks Mel for another great recipe!
These were a hit. Definitely double the sauce.
My husband has a gluten issue, so I used almond flour instead of oats. Not that oats are gluten, but grains in general bother him. All of my condiments- mustard, ketchup, etc etc were gluten free. (Vinegar can be an issue for gluten, and vinegar is in ketchup, mustard, etc etc.)
Thanks, Mel!
This recipe is fantastic. I have made it several times. The amount of sauce in this recipe is perfect, imho. It is my go-to recipe for meatballs and, on occasion, I have also used different sauces. The only consistent difference I find necessary from the written instructions for me though is that I prefer to cook the meatballs for an hour at 350, not 30 minutes. Maybe it is the way that I put them side by side in the casserole dish, but I leave them there for an hour.
The meatballs are great but we didn’t like the sweet and sour sauce but I think thats mainly because we prefer gravy or tomato sauce with meatballs
Hi Mel,
These are sooooooo good! I used dry mustard by accident and they were still delicious. If you haven’t yet you should do this recipe on the “recipes the world forgot” series.
What kind of bbq do you use
do you think they would be just as good without the worstershire?
Susan – you’ll have to experiment; I think they should be fine – you might want to add a dash of hot sauce or something else to kick it up a bit.
Absolutely love this recipe. Thse meatballs look wonderful!
My kids love pineapple, can I add a can and when?
Lynda – I have a recipe for pineapple meatballs here:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/06/pineapple-meatballs.html
Made these for dinner tonight-oh my!! My most favorite meatball ever!! Super easy and sooo delicious; my husband really loved the sauce and wished that there was more, even though I had doubled the sauce prion of the recie, as suggested.
We also ready enjoyed your slow cooker Greek chicken recie this weekend; another repeater, for sure!!
WOW! So delicious!!!! Thank you!
I tried this recipe recently and it was delicious and so easy. Pretty much foolproof. I’ll double the sauce next time, but other than that it was perfect! Thank you so much for this site.
I made the sweet and sour sauce last night to go on meatballs we have. It was really easy to put together and we’ll definitely make it again. Thanks!
I have tried this recipe and just wanted to tell you how much we loved it!!!the meatballs have a great taste and texture and the sauce is easy-peasy and oh so good. and the leftovers (if any) make really yummy sandwiches. Thank you for this recipe
Awesome recipe! I have a recipe from a friend I got years ago that has the same ingredients, just a few in different amounts. I am a big fan of these….so filling.
Joy – I’ve never baked them on a rack inside of a baking sheet but it’s worth a try!
I use lean ground beef and there is not too much fat pooling on the bottom of the dish. You could try the rack and see. My kids don’t like sauce, so I make the meatballs plain and they’re good (they dip them in ketchup). The texture is okay after cooking without sauce.
Could you bake these on a cooling rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet without the sauce to eliminate that grease factor? Then add them to the sauce? I haven’t made them yet and am wondering if cooking them like that would ruin the texture.
I made these meatballs last night without the sauce. I tucked a cube of cheddar inside each meatball and baked them as the recipe directed. Delicious and both kids ate one! Thank you for all the recipes!
So I have had a bag of frozen meatballs from costco sitting in my freezer and didn’t know what to do with them (besides something obvious like spaghetti..) – and since we love the sweet and sour chicken I figured I’d give this a try. SO good and SO easy! Seriously this was great and the fact that I didn’t have to make the meatballs made it that much easier. Thanks!
My family really enjoyed – but even though I bought lean beef it wasn’t lean enough because there was lots of fat in the bottom of the dish. Ick !
HI,
LOVED THEM!!!
I was stuck for a yummy dinner idea and too lazy to go shopping. All the ingredients I had on hand, and the kids (5 and 7) loved helping me make them.
The flavors were sensational, and everything came together so quick.
I came across your recipe when I search Pinterest for sweet and sour meatball recipes. Pinterest is next in line as my Google 🙂
Lynn – do you mean serving them as an appetizer? These are very soft, tender meatballs and probably won’t fare too well if you want to serve them on a toothpick or something like that. I’d suggest using a sturdier meatball if you want to serve them like that.
How would you modify this recipe to serve them as cocktail meatballs (besides doubling the sauce)?
Trina – I use a 9X13 pan to cook them in. The meatballs aren’t touching but aren’t super spread out – probably half an inch to an inch apart. I just loosely set them in there and pour the sauce over the top.
Hi Mel, can you confirm what type of dish you cook these in? They didn’t fit in a single layer in a corning dish I have (without being tight together) so I cooked them in a 9″ X 13″ pan. Are your meatballs spread out or are they close together? They were very good but think I need a different pan for cooking them. I used a bbq sauce that has very little sugar and think the sauce could have been a tad sweeter. I’ll use another sauce or add more sugar next time. Thanks! I’m working my way through many of your recipes.
Holy smokes…these were good! My husband exclaimed, “We have a winner!” My kids couldn’t have agreed more. I doubled the sauce, glad I did, and transferred the meatballs to another dish after baking to get rid of the leftover fat. I used the leanest beef at my store (not to exceed 7%), but there was still gunk on the bottom of the pan when I took them out of the oven. These are fantastic, and I’ve been thinking of them all morning. Can’t wait to have leftovers for lunch today. They’re SOOO good! Thanks for the EASY recipe! We’ll be eating these often. It’s my favorite recipe so far from your site.
I made these tonight with ground turkey and they didn’t look so great but they taste awesome! There was a cloudy pool of fat around each meat ball but that didn’t scare my husband! I think next time I’ll set aside a little bit of the sauce to add before serving… I just really like sauce! 🙂 Thanks so much for your website!
Your recipes never fail me. Thank you so much! I made these tonight with frozen meatballs and they were yummy! I’m sure they would have been much better had I made the meatballs from scratch but I was in a time crunch.
We all loved these! Some of us had them on rice, some of us had them on a bun. Perfect and easy. Thanks.
I have to tell you — I made these the other night and EVERYONE in the family ate them. Happily, even. My so-picky-I-usually-cry kids gobbled them up. THANK YOU!
I love you!!! You saved me tonight when I went to make tacos and had no taco seasoning and instead made this yummy recipe!=) Now, please tell me some tricks for photographing food. I love cooking and would love to try a food website, but not sure where to start. Any tips you had would be great.=)
These were so good! The kids ate them right up. Thanks for another Fabulous recipe!!!
Thanks, Jennifer!
The sauce was a bit to strong for my husband’s taste, but I thought these were fabulous! Then again, I also grew up drinking warm water with apple cider vinegar and honey when the weather got cold and my throat got dry, so I’m used to that strong vinegar taste. I’ve also been looking for a plain meatball recipe and these meatballs (by themselves) are just what I’ve been looking for! Thanks!
Kat – glad you found a good all-purpose meatball. Sorry your husband wasn’t a fan of the sauce but at least the meatballs saved the day!
These were a huge hit. I’ve been on a bit of a meatless kick lately, and my husband was hankerin’ for some meat. These were perfect. BTW between these and your grilled pork chops, you may be solely responsible for getting some protein into my ever-picky 3-year-old! That puts you right up there with Mother Teresa in my book!
Danielle – glad these meatballs helped everyone out of the meatless route and I’m happy your three-year old is ingesting a little protein in the process!
These were delicious! Another no fail go to recipe from you…everything I make of yours is wonderful. Thanks for going through the trial and error process for your readers!
Stephanie – I’m glad that you had great success with this recipe! My husband is reading over my shoulder and saying he is jealous we didn’t eat that tonight. Oh well….maybe tomorrow!
Thanks, Nicole – now I’ll be curious to know how many others cook with elk meat!
This one works with elk meat too just like the teriyaki ones. I thought elk meat would be crumbly and not hold together with meatballs, but not so- they turned out great! I make these a few times a month, so I wanted to add my 2 cents in- I never have cooked my sauce beforehand, so if anybody is short on time, just mix the sauce ingredients together, pour over meatballs and bake. I also use a baster and baste the meatballs with the sauce about 10 minutes before I take them out just to get them nice and covered.
Helen – the mustard in this recipe is plain old yellow mustard, not dry. Like the mustard you would put on a sandwich.
question about the sauce – is it dry mustard or something else? thanks.
The Three Amigos – glad to see your comments on here and I’m really glad that these meatballs were a hit! Thanks for letting me know (now go fill your pregnancy craving and eat your heart out!).
Wow. That’s all I can say. I am a huge meatball fan, and am even more that I’m pregnant. I just made these and I’m seriously about to eat the entire pan. BUT, I won’t, because I have self control… Anyway, yet again I’m blown away by the flavor and how EASY this was. They are juicy… and oh so amazing. Thanks!
Hi Diane – thanks for your comment! As for the mustard, I use plain old French’s yellow mustard in the bright yellow plastic bottle. Hope that helps!!
First let me say how much I enjoy – and trust! – your recipes. You and Aunt Marilyn have never let me down. Thanks so much!
My question is, what type of mustard do you use? Is it dry, like Coleman’s in the yellow tin, or is it prepared, like Dijon or ballpark yellow?
Thanks again for your terrific blog!
Diane
Hey Allison – thanks for letting me know you liked these!
Okay, these are soooo delicious! I made them earlier in the week and I can’t stop thinking about them! THANK YOU!!! I’ll have to make them again!
Jenni and Christian – I’m thrilled that your in-laws are so impressed with your cooking skills! That’s awesome. Thanks for letting me know you liked this recipe – it is a favorite of my husband’s as well.
I’m really just learning how to cook and my in-laws happened to drop in the night I cooked this and they think I’m a master chef now! they turned out so good, and were delicious for lunch the next day too! These are now one of my husbands favs too!!! And we love sauce on our rice as well so I deifnitly doubled the sauce and it turned out perfect! 🙂
Anonymous – wow, with liquid smoke and BBQ sauce, Cowboy Meatballs is an appropriate name. Interesting combo! I’m glad they still turned out alright for you. Thanks for letting me know.
I used liquid smoke instead of worstershire, totally by accident! They were pretty good. I used BBQ sauce instead of the sweet and sour and called them Cowboy meatballs.
These are so yummy! I made these tonight, and they were a BIG hit with everyone, especially my 17 month old daughter, who had refused food all day! Thanks so much, they are very easy, and taste great.
Anonymous – thanks for your comment. I’m glad you liked this. It sounds like from several comments that maybe doubling the sauce is the answer for those that like things a bit saucier. I’m not sure what to tell you on the sauce question. I haven’t tried watering it down because I like the flavor but you might try adding a bit of chicken broth – although that would make it more watery and not as thick.
Do you think these would work with ground turkey? We’re not beef eaters in my family. Yummers!
Aaron.Shara.Abby – I’ve never done this in a crockpot so I don’t have any great advice. I’ve never cooked meatballs at all in a crockpot because I’m always afraid they’ll get mushy. I suppose you could bake these beforehand and keep them warm in a crockpot. Sorry I don’t have a good answer!!
Looks so good. This might be dinner next week. I’ll return and give you a full report if so. I love it when people do that with my food. I am self-centered like that.
I just wanted you to know that I love your blog. I use at as my new recipe book. I also send my friends and sisters to it all the time. Your sugar gem recipe is the BEST. So is your sour cream roll recipe. I think you rock.
mmm..yummy..I love sweet and sour meatballs!!
umm….. YUM!!! Can’t wait to try this one out!!!!
Thanks for this recipe. I made it with ground chicken and it turned out so good!
Hey Mel- I made this tonight for dinner and just wanted to add something if I may….David and I loved the sauce and had thought that it needed some more. So I would suggest that if you LOVE sauce I would double or even triple it! We LOVE this dish!!
You know, I have wondered about that recipe for a long time. Now I’ll have to try it! Your meatballs sure do look great!
Julia – I definitely think you could use ground turkey for these. I haven’t tried it before but I’ve used ground turkey for other recipes and it seems to do pretty well as a substitution for ground beef. Let me know if you try it!
Have you ever tried to re-make Great Harvest’s Fruit Bars? I’ve been looking for a recipe online and can’t find anything. (I went to GH this afternoon and they were all sold out). REALLY not a healthy choice, but delicious!
Awesome, Rebecca! Thanks for letting me know the result with turkey. Glad that even after three days of eating the meatballs you aren’t tired of them!
this is exactly how i like my balls o’ meat–the mustard is such a key player. bravo!
ooh these sound divine!!!
Jessica – thanks for letting me know you tried this recipe and liked it. I’m so glad they were a hit with your little girl – that is always good news!
Rebecca – I’m so glad you liked it and thank you for checking back and detailing your changes…that is helpful to anyone who might want to make it. Thanks!
Think I will have to make this tonight!
Woodbury Family – thanks for letting me know your family liked these! I appreciate you checking back in to let me know.
I would love to make this for our Sunday dinner, but was wondering if I could do it in the crockpot. Have you tried it before?
Sounds like a great recipe can’t wait to try. Thanks for sharing you recipe.
I made this Sunday for my large family. I doubled the recipe and it was a really good thing because we were literally fighting over the last meatball. Everyone raved about them. So delicious! Thanks for another great recipe.
These were so yummy. I am a sauce kind of girl, so I automatically doubled the sauce and was glad I did. It was my favorite part! I, too, may try it next with ground turkey just to cut down a bit on fat.
I love sweet and sour meatballs, Cody on the other hand, not so much! But, I think I will slip it into our menu here soon and see if he tastes it!
Lauren – I like my meatball sandwiches more with a tomato-style sauce, so for me, these wouldn’t make great meatball sandwiches with the given sauce. However, if you made the meatballs and changed sauces to a tomato sauce, they would be great. I actually have another recipe on this site for wonderful meatball sandwiches if you want it: http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2007/12/marianns-meatball-subs.html
Christine – your comment was so appreciated – it made my day. Thank you! I’m so glad you liked the sugar gem recipe and the rolls. Thanks for letting me know!
Yong-Sook – it was so fun to see your comment on here. I’m glad you liked the meatballs! Thanks for letting me know.
Looks so yummy!I like the the fact that the meatballs cook in the sauce; a real time saver.
haha my husband is the same way. he always wants the same thing. lucky for him during my first trimester he got his wish!I have a sweet & sour recipe from my father, but I will have to try this one out as well. yum!
These sound so good! My mom always used to make sweet and sour meatballs for company whenever we had family gatherings or dinner parties. This recipe is slightly different from hers but sounds like it would be a fun one to try. Your photos look great!
Liz – your comments are awesome. Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think about the recipes you’ve tried. And don’t forget to keep sending me some of your great recipes.
Oh your picture is really making me hungry! I am so going to have to try this out! It looks like a hubby tempter!
blakeley – glad you liked these! Several people have mentioned that doubling the sauce is a good idea so I’m glad you liked it that way!
Mmmm, I might make those tonight! My husband’s a little different – I can’t even get him to make requests! He just says he’s good with anything and that he’d rather have a back massage. 🙂 If only food were his love language…
I wish I had the same problem…my so doesn’t request anything I make, except my crockpot meat sauce…he will eat whatever, it’s all good to him. It’d be nice to hear some kind words of encouragement, especially since I just started cooking almost a year ago…I got damn good too imo…but I get no appreciation. A backrub would be nice in either direction.
Definitely gonna try these. I don’t like spaghetti and meatballs, but this is a totally different ball game. YUM.
I love this recipe I haven’t made them in ages yours look yummy.
Please Please PLEASE make a cookbook. I am now starting to get on your blog daily to get a recipe for dinner. I have printouts of your recipes I’ve copied and pasted laying around my kitchen and would love nothing more than to have them organized. And lets be honest, I’m not going to be the one to do it. So if you had a cookbook I could have that be my organization method. No more print outs:) Do what Chris Davis said. Something about amazon only printing out so many copies or something? You’d bank on it!
That’s so funny, my husband is the same way! He requests sweet and sour chicken every week and I just have to veto it every so often! Anyways, these look fabulous! I KNOW my husband would love them!
Hey I posted this last week on my blog and I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it at least every month for the last year now since I got it from you! THanks! Oh and your picture is 10000 times better than mine!
Sooooo …I’m giving up blogging for LENT… But that doesn’t mean I can’t ‘look up’ recipes online……. I’ll be making all your recipes since I”ll have so much time on my hands !THe chili was fabby ….
I love the idea of using quick oats as a binder instead of breadcrumbs!
I made these again the other night, and substituted turkey for the beef. I used lean turkey (I assume it was the 93%) and they were delicious. The only thing I noticed was there was more fat pooling around the meatballs than when I made them with beef. I’m not sure if its due to the turkey, or b/c I doubled the recipe. The baking dish at the bottom of the stove had more fat than the one on top. I doubled the recipe which gave me around 27 balls and I quadrupled the sauce. We’re on day 3 of eating these!The first time I made them my husband ate so fast and kept saying how much he loved them, and then he kept going back for more!
My husband LOVES these. He also LOVES the sweet and sour chicken. It’s funny that your husband requests them often too. Seriously, he could not stop saying how good they were. Isn’t that what every wife wants to hear?
I cannot say how much I appreciate the time you take to cook and post all of these recipes. I am sure with 4 little kids that it cannot be easy. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! -Liz K.
Wow.. this is awesome. I love meatballs. Thnaks for the recipe, let me try.
Loved it! I substituted soymilk since my youngest has a dairy allergy. Also, since I used almost 2 lbs of meat, it made 18 meatballs so I doubled the sauce.I’d love to try it with ground turkey next time.
YUM! I was looking for a good meatball recipe!
Meatballs are my favorite ever since i was a child. Your recipe looks really yummy!
i love meatballs and your recipe looks so yummy!
I have fallen in love with your blog. Like Christine (above) I too share it with my sisters and others I know. I’ve tried so many of your recipes and have loved all of them. I tried this recipe tonight. I followed it exactly, but found that there wasn’t much sauce. I think it could use more. Also, the flavor of the sauce was very strong… it tasted as though it needed to be watered down. Any suggestions?
I’m going to be making these tonight. I was wondering instead of serving them with rice, would they make a good meatball sandwhich??