Baked Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Sweet and sour meatballs are a quick dinner recipe that you can make ahead and freeze. You will love the homemade 3 ingredient sweet and sour sauce!
These healthy baked turkey meatballs are tender and flavorful! A few simple ingredients, including hoisin sauce and ginger, add a lot of flavor to these sweet and sour meatballs. They are so good served over rice or noodles! Try my easy Instant Pot brown rice.
Meatballs are a kid-friendly dinner that the whole family will enjoy. These baked sweet and sour meatballs are quick to prep and bake. You can have them on your table in 30 minutes from start to finish!
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If you think making homemade meatballs is time consuming or difficult, put those worries aside. This sweet and sour meatballs recipe has just a few simple steps.
The key to making meatballs the easy way is to bake them. Baking your meatballs on a baking sheet in the oven is a hands-off way to cook them. Have you ever tried to cook meatballs in a skillet? Talk about hassle. You have to deal with oil splatters, cooking them in batches, and meatballs that break apart when you try to flip them. Not to mention the time you’ll spend standing at the stove watching the pan and turning the meatballs so they cook evenly. No, thank you!
Just pop your meatballs in the oven, set the timer, and go about preparing the rest of your meal (or playing with your kids). Your baked meatballs will turn out perfectly browned, no flipping required.
These sweet and sour meatballs
- are baked so they are healthy and easy to make.
- can be a made ahead and stored in the freezer. You can freeze the meatballs either before or after baking. I’ve given instructions for both methods below.
- are delicious with my simple 3 ingredient sweet and sour glaze. The meatball sauce recipe requires no cooking – you’ll just whisk the ingredients together. You won’t believe how easy and tasty this sauce is!
- are perfect served with my Instant Pot brown rice and some sauteed or roasted vegetables. I sauteed some carrots, broccoli and bell peppers in a bit of olive oil in a skillet to serve with our meatballs.
If you love the sweet and sour sauce on these meatballs, you will also love the flavors in my teriyaki chicken! Be sure to also try my traditional meatball recipe, turkey meatballs, Instant Pot Meatballs, and these chicken meatballs.
How to Freeze Sweet and Sour Meatballs
You can freeze meatballs before or after baking, depending on your preferences. I’ve done both with good results. The meatballs bake or reheat well if you follow the instructions and tips below.
To freeze raw meatballs (before baking):
Place the uncooked meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet or baking dish. The meatballs can be spaced closely together but should not be touching. Place in the freezer for 2 hours, until frozen through. Transfer the frozen meatballs to a zip-top freezer bag and seal airtight. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Label the bag so you’ll remember what’s inside and when to use it by!
To bake frozen raw meatballs, defrost them in the refrigerator and then bake according to recipe instructions.
To freeze cooked meatballs:
Let the meatballs cool completely. Place in a zip-top freezer bag and seal airtight. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To reheat, first defrost in the refrigerator. Then wrap the meatballs in a piece of foil. (You can wrap all of the meatballs together, no need to individually wrap them.) Wrapping the meatballs helps to keep them from drying out. Warm in a 350 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes, until heated through.
Tips for making sweet and sour meatballs
- Do not overwork or overmix the meat mixture. You’ll first mix up all of the meatball ingredients except for the meat. Once you have the ingredients well mixed, mix in the meat with a fork or your hands until just combined.
- If the meat mixture sticks to your hands when you shape the meatballs, use slightly wet hands.
- I like the flavor that green onions add to these hoisin ginger meatballs but you can substitute 1/4 cup of finely chopped yellow onion.
- Baking the meatballs at a high temperature makes for the best meatballs. The high temperature causes the meatballs to brown quickly and seals in their juices. Plus, your meatballs will be ready faster!
Baked Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger, or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 green onions, white and light green parts only, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup Panko or other breadcrumbs
- 1 pound ground turkey
Sweet and Sour Glaze:
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, or other white vinegar
Instructions
- Make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
- Combine all meatball ingredients except for the ground turkey in a large bowl. Stir with a fork until well mixed.
- Add the ground turkey and mix with a fork until just combined.
- Form the mixture into 1 ½-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. (If the mixture sticks to your hands, try forming the meatballs with damp hands.) You can space the meatballs fairly close together, so long as they aren’t touching. You will make about 20 meatballs.
- Bake for 14-18 minutes, until cooked through. The center of the meatballs should register at least 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Make the sweet and sour glaze: Combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Serve meatballs with glaze for drizzling or dipping.
- Serve meatballs with brown rice or noodles and vegetables, as desired.
To freeze raw meatballs (before baking):
- Place uncooked meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet or dish. They can be spaced closely together but should not be touching. Place in the freezer for 2 hours, until frozen through. Transfer frozen meatballs to a zip-top freezer bag and seal airtight. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- To bake a frozen raw meatball: Defrost in the refrigerator and then bake according to recipe instructions.
To freeze cooked meatballs:
- Let meatballs cool completely. Place in a zip-top freezer bag and seal airtight. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- To reheat, first defrost in the refrigerator. Then wrap the meatballs in a piece of foil. (You can wrap all of the meatballs together, no need to individually wrap them.) Warm in a 350 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes, until heated through. (Wrapping the meatballs helps to keep them from drying out.)
These meatballs were absolutely delicious! Basted the meatballs with the sauce instead of using as a dipper (shook in a mason jar, worked out perfectly). Did the last baste followed by a quick blast from the broiler for a sticky top to the meatballs. Thank you for sharing such a tasty recipe!
THANK YOU for letting me know what you thought! That is a great idea to shake up the sauce in a mason jar and baste the meatballs. I’m going to try that next time!
Awesome, meatballs! My family inhaled them.
Delicious meatballs! The kiddos and hubby really enjoyed these. Will definitely be making again.
I’m so glad your family loved these!
Delicious meatballs, will cook them again.