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Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe--Key to Tantalizing Gluten Free Flavor!

The combination of tangy sauce and caramelized meat taste oh so good! For a beautiful presentation, serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with chopped scallions. | Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe

Updated October 1, 2018.

There is more to this Sweet and Sour Meatballs recipe than first meets the eye; it transforms lackluster ground beef into a delicious quick and easy to make main dish, perfect for weeknight meals and more!

So deliciously satisfying, you will want to keep plenty on hand for generous second helpings.

Frugal cooks will enjoy this meal for using up leftover vegetables; just add them to the hot sauce and stir until heated through.

Make it even quicker by baking up a batch of meatballs ahead of time, and then freeze them until ready to use.

Better yet, make a double batch of sweet and sour meatballs and freeze in single portions to heat and eat on nights when you don't want to cook.

For special social gatherings, pop sweet and sour meatballs into a slow cooker to keep warm on a sideboard.

Enjoy the key recipe and all its variations or express your creative flair to come up with an innovative variation of your own.

For a meal packed with nutrition, serve Sweet and Sour Meatballs over brown rice or whole grain noodles with a tossed green salad on the side.





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Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe--Key to Tantalizing Gluten Free Flavor!


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Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe--Key to Tantalizing Gluten Free Flavor!


The combination of tangy sauce and caramelized meat taste oh so good! For a beautiful presentation, serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with chopped scallions.

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 30 meatballs

Meatballs

Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats (breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of cayenne

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Remove the rack from a roasting pan.
3. Cover the bottom of the roasting pan with non-stick aluminum foil, and then set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients.
5. Roll meat mixture into 30 one inch meatballs and place them in bottom of prepared roasting pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until meatballs are browned with a caramelized crust.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
- 1 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits and juice
- 1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions:
1. While meatballs are baking, combine pineapple tidbits with juice, soy sauce, sugar, potato starch, cinnamon, garlic powder and ground ginger in a large saucepan.
2. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
3. Cover and remove from heat.
4. Remove meatballs from oven when done baking and place them in the hot sauce.
5. Stir until all meatballs are covered with sauce.
6. Serve hot.

 Tags:
Gluten-free, Corn-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Nut-free




Variations

Cocktail Meatballs Appetizer

Mm-mm! There is a lot to love about Cocktail Meatballs dipped in delicious sauces!Mm-mm! There is a lot to love about Cocktail Meatballs dipped in delicious sauces!


  1. Prepare as directed in key recipe.
  2. Arrange on a decorative serving platter.
  3. Insert a toothpick into each meatball.
  4. Serve with a variety of dipping sauces on the side.


Metric Measurements--Meatballs

Note:  use volume-based imperial/metric measuring spoons and dry measuring cups marked in milliliters; see Kitchen Equipment and Tools.

Ingredients

  • 450 g ground beef
  • 250 ml diced onion
  • 250 ml gluten-free rolled oats (breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs)
  • 3.75 ml teaspoons salt
  • 5 ml ground cinnamon
  • 2.5 ml dry mustard
  • 2.5 ml garlic powder
  • 2.5 ml ground ginger
  • pinch of cayenne

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C, Gas Mark 4.
  2. Remove the rack from a roasting pan.
  3. Cover the bottom of the roasting pan with non-stick aluminum foil, and then set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients.
  5. Roll meat mixture into thirty 2.54 cm meatballs and place them in bottom of prepared roasting pan.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes, until meatballs are browned with a caramelized crust.


Metric Measurements--Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 567 g can pineapple tidbits and juice
  • 15 ml gluten-free soy sauce
  • 125 ml apple cider vinegar
  • 170 ml granulated white sugar
  • 15 ml potato starch
  • 2.5 ml ground cinnamon
  • 2.5 ml garlic powder
  • 2.5 ml ground ginger

Instructions

  1. While meatballs are baking, combine pineapple tidbits with juice, soy sauce, sugar, potato starch, cinnamon, garlic powder and ground ginger in a large saucepan.
  2. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
  3. Cover and remove from heat.
  4. Remove meatballs from oven when done baking and place them in the hot sauce.
  5. Stir until all meatballs are covered with sauce.
  6. Serve hot.


Rich Sweet and Sour Meatballs

  1. Omit granulated white sugar in sweet and sour sauce.
  2. Add 2/3 cup dark brown sugar.
  3. Prepare and cook as directed in key recipe.


Slow Cookery

  1. In a large mixing bowl combine meatball ingredients.
  2. Roll meat mixture into 30 one inch meatballs and place them in bottom of slow cooker.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sauce ingredients.
  4. Pour sauce mixture over top of meatballs.
  5. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours.


Spicy Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Spicy Sweet and Sour MeatballsWow! Sweet and Sour meets Chinese Five Spice in this aromatic dish bursting with to die for taste; it's unforgettable!
  1. Omit all ground cinnamon.
  2. Add 1 teaspoon gluten-free Chinese Five Spice to meatballs ingredients and 1/2 teaspoon to sweet and sour sauce ingredients.
  3. Omit granulated white sugar in sweet and sour sauce.
  4. Add 2/3 cup dark brown sugar.
  5. Add 1/4 cup gluten-free ketchup to sweet and sour sauce.
  6. Prepare and cook as directed in key recipe.


Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Vegetables

Sweet and Sour Meatballs with VegetablesMm-mm! Colorful and tangy, Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Vegetables is wonderfully mouthwatering!
  1. Prepare and cook meatballs and sauce as directed in key recipe.
  2. In a medium skillet, stir-fry 1 cup each of diagonal cut carrots, onions and/or bell peppers just until tender crisp.
  3. Add the vegetables to the sauce along with cooked meatballs.
  4. Serve hot.






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