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hot_biteEasyPolynesian-American

Pineapple Glazed Meatballs

Sweet and savory meatballs glazed with pineapple, brown sugar, and soy

⏱️ Prep: 25min🍳 Cook: 20min⏰ Total: 45min👥 Serves: 40🌡️ hot
✓ dairy-free
⚠️ Contains: 🌾 Gluten, 🫘 Soy, 🥚 Egg

Ingredients

  • 2 lbsground pork(or beef-pork blend)
  • 0.5 cuppanko breadcrumbs
  • 1 largeegg
  • 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
  • 1 tspfresh ginger(grated)
  • 0.5 tspsalt
  • 20 ozcrushed pineapple(with juice)
  • 0.5 cupbrown sugar
  • 0.25 cupsoy sauce
  • 2 tbsprice vinegar
  • 1 tbspcornstarch(mixed with 2 tbsp water)
  • 2 tbspgreen onions(sliced, for garnish)

📝 Make Ahead

Meatballs can be baked and frozen up to 2 months. Sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Combine and reheat before serving.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line baking sheet with parchment
  2. Mix ground pork, panko, egg, garlic, ginger, and salt
  3. Form into 1-inch meatballs and arrange on baking sheet
  4. Bake 15-18 minutes until cooked through
  5. Meanwhile, combine pineapple with juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in saucepan
  6. Bring to simmer and cook 5 minutes
  7. Stir in cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened
  8. Add baked meatballs to sauce and toss to coat
  9. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with green onions
  10. Serve warm with toothpicks

💡 Pro Tips

Ground pork has more flavor than beef for this recipe. Don't overmix the meat or meatballs become tough. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon. These hold well in a slow cooker on warm for party service.

📜 History

Sweet and sour meatballs became a fixture of mid-century American entertaining, with the pineapple version particularly popular at tiki-themed parties. The combination of pineapple and soy sauce became shorthand for "Polynesian" flavor in American cuisine.

🍸 Pairs Well With

Also pairs well with:

mai-tairum-punchpina-coladabeer