Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs
If you love sweet and sour chicken, you will adore these Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs! The meatballs are mixed with crisp stir-fried veg and tossed in a glossy, tangy-sweet sauce that’s just the right balance of sticky, savory, and delicious. The meatballs are made with ground chicken and a few pantry staples, keeping them tender and juicy.
Serve these Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs over rice for a dish with all the flavors of your favorite takeout meal.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken (see note 1)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs (see note 3)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
To cook meatballs
- 2 tablespoon oil skillet (see note 4)
- spray oil air fryer (see note 4)
For the stir fry
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 2 bell peppers chopped (see note 5)
For the sauce
- ¾ cup tomato ketchup
- 3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 6 tablespoon brown sugar (see note 6)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (see note 2)
- 1 can pineapple chunks in juice (see note 7)
Instructions
Make the Meatballs
- Add all the meatball ingredients into a bowl and mix until just combined.1 lb ground chicken2 cloves garlic1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine1 teaspoon soy sauce⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs½ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon white pepper
- Measure out a heaped tablespoon of mixture and place it on your chopping board. Repeat with all the mixture.
- Wet your hands with cold water and roll each tablespoon into a ball. Wet your hands between each meatball.
To cook the meatballs in a skillet
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook for 8 minutes, turning regularly.2 tablespoon oil
To cook the meatballs in the air fryer (in batches)
- Preheat the Air fryer to 400F.
- Spray the air fryer basket with cooking oil and place your meatballs on it, leaving space between them.spray oil
- Air fry the meatballs for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Remove and cook the next batch of meatballs.
To make the sauce
- Add the oil to a large frying pan/skillet or wok and heat over medium-high heat.1 tablespoon oil
- Add the chopped onions and bell peppers and cook for 3 minutes until just cooked but still quite crunchy.1 onion2 bell peppers
- Add the tomato ketchup, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine and stir. Then, add the tinned pineapple with its juice and stir gently.¾ cup tomato ketchup3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar6 tablespoon brown sugar1 teaspoon soy sauce1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine1 can pineapple chunks in juice
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the meatballs and cook for 2-3 minutes until everything is hot and the meatballs are cooked through.
Notes
- I like to buy ground chicken that combines thigh and breast meat, which gives a juicer meatball. But not all grocery stores sell it or label it as such. So use what your local store has.
- Chinese Cooking Wine is also known as Chinese Rice Wine, Shaohsing Rice Cooking Wine, Shaoxing Wine, or Shaoxing Cooking Wine. You can find it in most grocery stores in the Asian section, on Amazon, or in your local Asian grocery store. Use dry sherry or sake if you can't find Chinese Cooking Wine.
- You can substitute the panko with regular breadcrumbs.
- If you cook the meatballs in a skillet, you will need 2 tablespoons of oil. Using the air fryer, you can spray the basket with oil.
- We like a mixture of bell peppers; red and green look pretty, but red and yellow would also be great. Or use two red bell peppers if you like.
- You can substitute the brown sugar with white if you prefer.
- Ensure you buy the canned pineapple chunks that come in juice, not syrup. The juice is used in the sauce. You want to buy the chunks as they are the biggest; don't go for pineapple tidbits (USA) or pineapple pieces (AU), as they are smaller and are more prone to fall apart in the sauce. As the can size of pineapple differs from country to country, go for a can that is between 17oz-20oz or 435g-550g.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Nutrition
Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 610mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 2169IU | Vitamin C: 94mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition is per serving
For more great recipes follow me on PinterestFollow @sprinklessprout
