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Jewish Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Classic easy recipe for sweet and sour meatballs with pineapple. Perfect appetizer or entree for Jewish holidays including Passover, Rosh Hashanah, or Hanukkah.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
1 hr
Servings: 14 servings
Calories: 169 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Ingredients

  • 40 ounces pineapple chunks in their own juice (no sugar added) (2 cans)
  • 3/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar (for Passover use a KFP vinegar)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
  • 3/4 pound lean ground beef
  • 3/4 pound dark meat ground chicken
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3-4 tablespoons matzo meal or breadcrumbs (use matzo meal for Passover, or omit breadcrumbs to make gluten free)
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 pinch cayenne (or more to taste-- add carefully, it's very spicy!)

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Drain your two cans of pineapple chunks and reserve the juice.
  2. In a medium pot, mix together tomato sauce, ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and the juice from the pineapple cans. Stir together and turn heat to low to let the sauce slowly warm.
  3. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl use a fork to mix together the ground beef and chicken, egg, 3 tbsp matzo meal, paprika, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne. I like a little heat in the meatballs, so I add a heaping 1/4 tsp of cayenne. If you don't want them spicy, you can omit it completely-- or just add a pinch for depth of flavor.
  4. Form the meat mixture into small 1-inch meatballs. If the mixture seems too moist or stick, add another tablespoon of matzo meal to the mixture. Place the meatballs into the warming sauce.When all the meatballs are formed, bring the mixture to a boil and stir to cover the meatballs with sauce. Lower the heat to a low, even simmer and cover the pot. 
  5. Let the meatballs cook for 40 minutes, stirring frequently, till sauce thickens and meatballs cook all the way through. If the sauce seems to be reducing too fast or losing too much liquid, lower the heat and add a little water to thin it.
  6. After 40 minutes, add the pineapple chunks to the sauce and stir to coat. Let the chunks warm in the sauce for 5 minutes.
  7. Serve. You can serve this as an entree with a Passover-friendly starch, as a side dish, or with toothpicks as an appetizer. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Note: I live in an area with a lot of great kosher markets, so I've never had trouble finding any of the items in this recipe with kosher for Passover certification. However, I'm told that in some places brown sugar and cider vinegar can be tough to track down with a KFP hechsher. If that is true in your area, feel free to swap cider vinegar for wine vinegar or Passover-approved white vinegar (not balsamic), and brown sugar for white sugar. Also, if you need to make this gluten free, use gluten free matzo meal for Passover!
  • Note:
  • I live in an area with a lot of great kosher markets, so I've never had trouble finding any of the items in this recipe with kosher for Passover certification. However, I'm told that in some places brown sugar and cider vinegar can be tough to track down with a KFP hechsher. If that is true in your area, feel free to swap cider vinegar for wine vinegar or Passover-approved white vinegar (not balsamic), and brown sugar for white sugar. Also, if you need to make this gluten free, use gluten free matzo meal for Passover!

Nutrition Information

Calories 169kcal (8%) Carbohydrates 23g (8%) Protein 11g (22%) Fat 3g (5%) Saturated Fat 1g (5%) Cholesterol 49mg (16%) Sodium 366mg (15%) Potassium 443mg (13%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 19g (38%) Vitamin A 300IU (6%) Vitamin C 9.7mg (11%) Calcium 28mg (3%) Iron 1.5mg (8%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 14servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 169

% Daily Value*

Calories 169kcal 8%
Carbohydrates 23g 8%
Protein 11g 22%
Fat 3g 5%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 49mg 16%
Sodium 366mg 15%
Potassium 443mg 9%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 19g 38%
Vitamin A 300IU 6%
Vitamin C 9.7mg 11%
Calcium 28mg 3%
Iron 1.5mg 8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.