Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Not your typical frozen meatballs
Now, I sometimes hear from some folks that just do not like the flavor of frozen meatballs. I get that. In the past, frozen meatballs could be a crapshoot. But Johnsonville has taken frozen meatballs to a whole new level with these Homestyle Meatballs.
Yummy glaze
When I first put all these ingredients in the slow cooker, I had my doubts that the sauce would thicken up properly. After a couple of hours, the sauce was still pretty liquid-y. So I decided, for the last hour of cooking, I would switch the crock pot over to high. That was the trick right there. It needed to get up to a high enough temperature to thicken the sauce. Within 30 minutes, I could already tell it was getting thick, which is how you want your sweet and sour sauce to be. So good, y’all! This is the perfect swap-out for the usual sweet and sour chicken or pork.
Ingredients:
Crock Pot Easy Glazed Party Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz bag Johnsonville Frozen Homestyle Meatballs
- 1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in 100% juice save juice
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- First, drain the juice from your can of pineapple into a medium bowl (you'll need that later for the sauce.)
- It should give you about a cup of pineapple juice.
- Place frozen meatballs into your 4-6 quart crock pot.
- Then top meatballs with pineapple chunks and green peppers.
- Add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and cornstarch to the pineapple juice you set aside.
- Whisk it all together well.
- Pour sauce over meatballs.
- Cover and cook on low for 2 hours.
- After a couple of hours, switch your crock pot to high and cook for an additional hour.
- Doing this will thicken the sauce.
- The sauce should be thicker and bubbling around the edges.
I am making this right now… I tasted sauce after mixing it all up and I am thrilled already… I know it will be delicous!
Hey Veronica – Hope it was a winner for you!
I am going to try this tonight, I'm using turkey meatballs instead. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Can I cook this for 8 hours instead of 2 hours?
HI Jennifer! You could. Just keep it on the lowest setting you have. If you have a digital one, you can set it to cook then just set to warm after the cooking time 🙂
I made this last night for my company, we all loved it. I used turkey meatballs. Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
I bet you looked like a rock star! So glad it was a hit with the guests.
I can only eat fish chicken or turkey due alpa-gal tick disease. where did you buy your meatballs? thank you in advance
Hi Kathleen, you could certainly use chicken meatballs for this! I purchase mine at either Kroger or Walmart. 🙂
I'm eating it RIGHT NOW! It's so yummy. Great ratio tang/sweet. Though mine didn't turn out as thick as yours did. Oops!
No time for crock pot right now. How could I do this on the stove?
Made this recipe tonight. It was a hit with the family. The sauce is so good. I will definitely be putting this recipe on the meal plan more often.
It is in my crockpot right now! I added white onion to mine.Can’t wait to get home from church and eat it! Soo easy. My kind of recipe!
Hope everyone loved it!!
If I double the recipe using 2 bags of meatballs and 2 cans of pineapples what are the cooking times?
Has anyone made this with Italian meatballs?
I want to try this recipe as appetizer meatballs for a party in a couple of weeks. What are the cook times if you double the recipe?
Christine, well, to be honest, I’ve never doubled this recipe so I can’t say for absolute certain but my guess would be to add on an additional hour or two (depending on your model of slow cooker).
I made this a few weeks ago and doubled the recipe. I did add an additional hour. Turned out great. I’m making it again this weekend. Only change, I added red peppers and onions.
Are the frozen meatballs cooked already??
Yes the meatballs are already precooked and flash frozen.
I’m a little confused. Cooking time states 4 hrs but your directions only state 3, unless I’m reading it wrong? Like are you cooking it for another hr after the hr?
I agree. I’m confused but I’m going to cook for 2 hrs then 1 hr and cross my fingers that it is long enough!
Sorry for the confusion. It is three hours total. Two on low and one on high.
Do you the white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
So excited for this recipe! I’m making it right now and I will not be home to turn it up to high after two hours, is that going to mess it up?
I only have a 7 quart crock pot will this change the recipe at all? Or do the times need to be altered?
Just keep an eye on the timing – it may cook a bit faster in the larger pot. 🙂
what kind of vinegar? If these are cooked a day ahead…can they just be heated up in crock pot?
Excellent recipe! This was last minute for me so i cooked it on top of the stove instead of crock pot and used what I had. I made the sauce first using apple cider vinegar and started it cooking on a low heat. I added onions and my meatballs were from Costco. The sauce was the best sweet and sour ever. The family loved it and I will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe!
How do I cook this for a longer period of time? I want it done when I get off work. I work 7-3.
I made these today for my employees and they liked them. They said the flavor was good. Only thing is the sauce wasn’t thick at all it was like water! Any idea why that could happen?
Hi Stacie! So glad everyone liked them! The sauce always turns out thick for me because of the added cornstarch. It’s really hard to say. Did you make sure to switch them to high for two hours? That extra step helps to thicken the sauce. 🙂
Omg! These meatballs were a hit on Christmas! Very easy to make . The family enjoyed them so much they went back for seconds and thirds (I doubled the recipe). Only thing I had to do was thicken the sauce with a little more cornstarch than what the recipe said.
Great appetizer!
I’ve got this in the crock pot now. I didn’t have cornstarch so I used flour. Same amount. Hope it comes out ok. Can’t wait to taste it tonight.
This is delicious! The white vinegar was a little tangy the first time, so I am using plain apple cider vinegar this time to see how that is. On my six quart Crockpot, the low (4) was too low, so I use medium low (6) for 2 hours and then switch to medium high (8)
for a little over an hour. Just watch the thickness like Brandie said. It will bubble and get thicker. Maybe add a tad of cornstarch if it’s not thick enough for you.
Thanks for the recipe, my picky son loves it!
I am trying this today! I am unable to find my old recipe of handmade meatballs, cooking them, draining them , then you get to the real dish and cook in electric skillet for a bit. This sounds just like my old recipe. Since kids are older and gone I can make smaller portions
Hope you love this one!!
Do u use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar?
Hi! So I doubled the recipe. I used IKEA meatballs as that’s what I had in my freezer. I had a hard time getting the cornstarch to dissolve so I heated it on my stove while I whisked it. It began to thicken even before it began to boil so I just quickly poured it on top of my meatballs and peppers and pineapple. I’m excited. It will be a hit for sure!
This was the delicious.. I followed the recipe exactly, but I did add some chunks of white onion. Big hit with my family and my grandsons demanded I double my recipe and make it the next day! I did and they loved it…thanks for a great, quick and easy recipe.
These are great and so easy I make them at least twice a month
I’m always so thrilled to hear when a recipe is on repeat!! Best compliment ever! Thank you Michele!
Awesome!!!!!!
These were so easy. And so tasty. I took them to work for an Appetizer Cook-off and won!
We loved these – thank you!
Made this today and it was so good and easy. I’ve passed this recipe on to my daughter in law.
I love hearing that!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!