Crockpot Sweet and Sour Meatballs

So ever since I made Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, I've been wanting to make Sweet and Sour meatballs. I found some recipes for sweet and sour meatballs online and most called for chilli sauce, grape jelly and lemon juice.

Well, we bought Sweet Chilli Sauce which after reading reviews online is not the same as regular chilli sauce. So, I kind of just kept throwing stuff in there and the result was the best sweet and sour sauce I've ever tasted. I am going to use this sauce for everything from now on, so good.

As usual, I'm still not mastering the art of a one pot crockpot meal because I browned these meatballs in the oven on a baking sheet for about ten minutes. The reason for this was I read online that most people had issues with meatballs falling apart in their crockpot. The solution offered by a lot of the people was to brown them in a skillet or in the oven prior to putting them in the crockpot to finish cooking.

Hope you guys like it!

Meatballs:

1.235 lb package of Italian sausage, casing removed

2 cloves garlic, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 cup carrot, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 cup onion, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup breadcrumbs



Only 5 Ingredients? Score!



Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup Sweet Chilli Sauce

1 cup grape jelly

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start crockpot on low. In crockpot, whisk together ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, jelly, lemon juice and pineapple juice until well combined.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for meatballs until well combined. Form meatball about the size of a golfball. Place on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil about one inch apart. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes just to lightly brown outside and allow to hold meatball shape.

Once browned in oven, place meatballs in crockpot, covered in sauce. Cook on low for 2-3 hours.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

My last few posts have been chicken based so I figured I should maybe switch it up. I was watching the Food Network the other day and they had one of those quick recipe commercial type things. Melissa what's-her-face was making meatballs with Italian Sausage. I always had made ground beef or ground turkey meatballs, so I was curious to see how they'd turn out with the sausage. My mom makes these delicious meatballs stuffed with mozzarella. So, I stuffed some mozzarella inside the Italian sausage meatballs and they turned out AH-mazing! I served them up with some whole wheat spaghetti, marinara sauce and parmesan garlic bread. It was the perfect Sunday night dinner.





1.235 lb package of Italian sausage, casing removed

2 cloves garlic, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 cup carrot, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 cup onion, hand grated or finely minced

1/2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup mozzarella cheese, chopped into cubes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients besides mozzarella cheese until well combined. Take meat about the size of a golfball. Press into patty form. Place mozzarella cheese on it and form meatball around it until cheese is fully covered and sealed in. (See picture below) Place on baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes.