Sweet and Sour Meatballs
A sweet and sour sauce coats tender meatballs that can be made ahead of time and frozen until you’re ready to serve them.
Hubby and I have really been enjoying our new house here in Cincinnati. Specifically the fact that it’s great for entertaining and can accommodate more than 4 guests for a party. Back in Boston, it took us a few years to figure out how to entertain in our tiny condo. Once we figured it all out, we were able to host a few get togethers, but we always had to keep a close eye on the guest list and make sure it wasn’t growing past our max capacity in the condo.
We didn’t realize how much we missed entertaining until last summer when we threw our first big party at the house. It was to celebrate my birthday in June. Hubby manned the grill, we had a great spread of food (including Funfetti Oreo Cupcakes), and everyone had a good time. Since then, we try to have people over on a regular basis. Whether it’s a small group hanging out by the firepit, a dinner party for 6, or a legit party.
So when the holidays rolled around and we realized we didn’t have New Years Eve plans, we decided to throw a party. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this. The party was a huge success. We had about 20-25 people over and the last guests left at 4:30am. It was a blast.
AND, I got to wear a little bitty hat.
I love little hats. Not sure why, but I guess why do I need a reason? They’re cute and festive and basically awesome.
These meatballs are one of the appetizers we made for our NYE party. They were great because we had made them a couple weeks earlier and froze them until the party. We defrosted everything in the fridge overnight, then threw everything in a the crockpot a few hours before the party. Since we both had to work that day, it was great to have an appetizer which required very little effort the day of the party.
It’s no surprise these meatballs were great. They’re from America’s Test Kitchen. Those guys really know what they’re doing. The sauce is sweet and sour and exactly what you’d expect in a party meatball. So if you’re looking for a snack to take to a Superbowl party next weekend, give these a shot. You can make them this weekend and then just reheat them the day of the game.
Two Years Ago: Mini Roast Beef, Goat Cheese, and Radish Sandwiches and Amped Up Rice Krispies Treats
Three Years Ago: Oatmeal Chocolate Cinnamon Cookies and Mini Whole Wheat Bagels
Four Years Ago: Butternut Squash and Spinach Casserole
Six Years Ago: White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
A sweet and sour sauce coats tender meatballs that can be made ahead of time and frozen until you're ready to serve them.
Yield: ~80 meatballs
Ingredients:
For the Meatballs
4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces
1/2 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 lb 85% lean ground beef
For the Sauce
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, minced (~1 cup)
1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Directions:
For the Meatballs
Preheat oven to 450 degF.
Using a fork, mash the bread, milk, and egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth. Add the pork, parsley, garlic, pepper, and salt. Mix until incorporated. Add beef and gently knead until combined.
For the mixture into 1 1/4 inch meatballs. Bake meatballs on 2 rimmed cookie sheets until cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through.
Let the meatballs cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm. If freezing, throw meatballs into a large Ziplock bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
For the Sauce
Heat the oil in a dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the tomato sauce, preserves, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. If freezing, transfer to large airtight container and freeze for up to one month.
If meatballs and sauce are frozen, defrost meatballs and sauce in the fridge overnight before you want to serve them.
Add sauce and meatballs to crockpot and set on low for 2+ hours until completely heated. Alternatively, heat in a large pan on the stove top.
Recipe from The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’ll take any leftovers! They sound amazing. I keep saying dessert recipes with bacon and bookmarking them, but I haven’t tried any yet. Adding this one to the list now too. 🙂
These look so terrific. I love the flavor combinations!
I’m intrigued!
interesting! I have a recipe for chocolate bacon fudge or maybe pb bacon fudge but I’m afraid to try it
The frosting sounds amazing. I honestly still can’t bring myself to get behind bacon in desserts. Maybe someday I’ll try a bacon cupcake if I’m given one though. 🙂 I can only resist so long.
YUM! These look so good! I haven’t tried the bacon / sweet combo yet, but I’m sure I would love it!
This looks delicious but I’ve got to ask….what is a pirate party?
Fun and Fearless – It’s exactly like it sounds… Everyone dresses up as a pirate (or something related – Hubby and I went as Treasure maps last year). They even hire this guy who looks like Captain Jack Sparrow to come and there’s a prize for best costume. One of the best parties of the year!
Sounds great! The problem I’ve seen with bacon is that sometimes it is chewy in cupcakes. That’s not good. I like that this recipe says to cook until crispy. Extra crispy for me!
My favorite candy bar is bacon chocolate!!! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
Wow, those look and sound amazing!
oh yum. after putting bacon in last years cookies this might need to be next 🙂
I’m so curious to try bacon in baked goods, but do you think turkey bacon would work?
Corrine – I’m sure turkey bacon would work if you could get it nice and crispy. I’ve heard that if the bacon isn’t super crispy, it has a really weird chewy texture in baked goods.
Thanks Jen! I’m going to give it a try!
This has just about everything that I would want to go together. Awesome recipe!
This is certianly a unqiue mixture of tastes and textures, but it comes together nicely. Definatly a must try!
Chocolate..caramel…bacon…PERFECTION.
I am infatuated with the perfect smoky/salty addition of bacon into sweet baked goods. So delicious. Of course, I’m kind of a fan of adding bacon into just about anything.
Great pics, def wanna try these out!
Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out like you wanted. Have you ever tried the bacon/chocolate cupcake at Cherry Bomb Bakery in Brighton? They are fantastic!