Crockpot sweet and sour meatballs

Name: Crockpot sweet and sour meatballs
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 235 min
Total time: 255 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 can canned pineapple chunks; ½ cup ketchup; ⅓ cup brown sugar; 3 tbsp rice vinegar; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 lb 8 oz frozen meatballs; 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 tbsp cornstarch; 2 tbsp water; 2 cups long-grain white rice; 3 cups water; ½ tsp salt

Meatballs, pineapple and peppers in a shiny sweet and sour sauce, a takeout favorite that mostly makes itself.

255 min total
20 min hands-on
Follow-a-recipe easy
Serves 6
About $1.92 a serving
690 calories
Good the next day

Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

For 6 servings.

1 can canned pineapple chunks
½ cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb 8 oz frozen meatballs
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups long-grain white rice

From your pantry

⅓ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
3 cups water
½ tsp salt

Each serving has about 690 calories, 22 g protein, 95 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $1.92 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.

Missing something?

No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.

Steps

Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.

the pineapple over a bowl, saving ½ cup of the juice.
the pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and garlic together in the slow cooker.
Add the frozen meatballs and pineapple chunks and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for 3½ hours or high for 1½ hours.
Timer: 210 min
the cornstarch into 2 tablespoons cold water, then stir it into the slow cooker with the pepper pieces.
Dolly’s tip: Adding the pepper late keeps it bright and a little crunchy.
Cover and cook on high 30 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are hot all the way through.
Timer: 30 min
Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
While it finishes, the rice in a strainer until the water runs mostly clear.
Put the rice, 3 cups water and the salt in a medium and over high.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Let it sit covered 5 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Fluff the rice and spoon the meatballs and sauce over it.