Sweet & Sour Meatballs

 Tidbit:

Ground turkey or pork can be substituted in place of the ground beef. If you're short on time, you can use a bag of frozen meatballs by following their package directions, and then starting this recipe at step 4.

 With a sticky, sweet, delicious sauce, this dish requires that you have plenty of napkins handy! Though typically an appetizer, you could also serve these meatballs as a main course over fluffy steamed rice. - 

 

Ingredients

• 4 slices white sandwich bread
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the sliced white bread in a dish of cold water for 5 minutes to moisten.
2. Remove white bread from dish and squeeze bread to drain water. Crumble the moistened bread into tiny pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Cover with ground beef, eggs, soy sauce, green onions, ground ginger, salt and pepper.
3. Using your hands, combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and form into walnut-sized balls, arranging them in a single layer along the bottom of a 4- or 5-quart baking dish. Bake 30 minutes or unto meatballs are firm.
4. While the meatballs are cooking, drain the juice from the canned pineapple chunks into a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and ketchup to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer. Mix the cornstarch with 1-2 tablespoons of water and add to the sauce, simmering until thickened.
5. Use tongs to transfer cooked meatballs to a 2.5-quart  baking dish. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, add the canned pineapple chunks and red bell pepper strips, and stir all to combine. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling hot. Garnish with additional sliced green onions.