A few days ago I was looking through my “organized recipe catalogue”. For those of you who believe I am a super organized type A…have a look at the “file” containing my favourite recipes!
We were in a bit of a dinnertime rut and I was craving something different from the usual pork chops, chicken, meatloaf, casserole routine.
That’s when I came across this recipe I had for Waikiki Meatballs. I used to make these delicious and different meatballs on a fairly regular basis; but we hadn’t had them in at least five years, if not longer.
I had just been to the grocery store and had picked up some ground beef, so the timing was perfect. Waikiki Meatballs were on tonight’s dinner menu.
I use a plastic ziplock bag and my rolling-pin to easily crush the crackers. No muss, no fuss, no dirty dishes!
OK, I admit to being a little obsessive! I like the meatballs to all be roughly the same size. If you use a little scoop, like the smaller one pictured below, it is simple to make them all the fairly equal in size.
These scoops don’t have sizes marked on them, so I measured them for you.
The larger of the two hold about 4 Tablespoons (scoop is 6cm in diameter) and is the perfect size for portioning muffins and cupcakes. The smaller holds about 1.5 Tablespoons (scoop is 3.5cm in diameter) and is the perfect size for portioning cookies, truffles and meatballs.
Cooking in small batches ensures nice browning. If you overcrowd the pan, the meatballs will steam.
Make sure the meatballs are thoroughly cooked, the time in the oven is not sufficient to cook the meatballs.
Thirty-two beautifully browned meatballs!
If you are wondering what that little yellow glob in the pan is, it is “kind of” thawed pineapple juice. When I use canned pineapple I always freeze the juice in little containers for future use. Like today!
These meatballs are perfect served with a little rice on the side…DELICIOUS!
- 1½ pounds lean ground beef
- ⅔ cup cracker crumbs
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp finely grated ginger (or ½ tsp powdered ginger)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 fresh pineapple cut into bite sized pieces
- ⅔ cup pineapple juice
- ⅓ cup vinegar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, cracker crumbs, egg, salt, ginger and milk.
- Using a small scoop or a tablespoon, shape mixture into balls. (Makes about 32 balls)
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.
- Working in batches* brown and thoroughly cook meatballs.
- Add cooked meatballs to a casserole dish.
- Add pineapple and peppers to the cooked meatballs and stir gently to combine all ingredients.
- Pour any excess fat from skillet. Remove skillet from heat.
- In a small bowl mix together cornstarch and brown sugar. Add to skillet.
- Stir in pineapple juice, say sauce and vinegar. Whisk until smooth with no lumps.
- Return to stovetop and cook sauce over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and boils. (About 1 minute)
- Pour over peppers and meatballs in casserole dish.
- Heat in 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes. (Can be made ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated. If reheating from cold, bake for approximately 30 minutes or until hot)
- Serve with rice.
I had almost forgotten how tasty these tender morsels of beef in a sweet and sour sauce were! I can tell you another thing, it definitely will not be five years before I make them again!
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my very best to answer.
They look good, pinned to make on the weekend, thanks!
Thank you doris, they are very tasty! Hope you enjoy them as much as we d.!
Monica Parlee recently posted…16 Favourite Kitchen Tips & Tricks
What a weird coincidence! Just this last week I also had a craving for meatballs. I just threw stuff together but this “organized” recipe is just what I needed. BTW … my organized recipe box is a drawer with scattered papers!!lol
hahaha…glad to know I am not alone. I have had the same freezer bag holding my most used recipes for years now. These are really good Pat, not sure why I had such a meatball drought, but the rain has begun and I will be making these again on a regular basis!
Monica Parlee recently posted…16 Favourite Kitchen Tips & Tricks
Look delicious Monica – what a clever idea about the frozen pineapple juice – definitely gonna remember that for the future.
Thanks Betty, I hate to waste the juice and it comes in handy more often than you may imagine. I made a Carrot Cake on the weekend and saved the juice for future use!
Hope you are enjoying this summer Betty and having a great time with family and friends at your gorgeous cottage.
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband LOVED it!! Very easy to make and didn’t take too long in the oven! We will definately be putting this into the rotation
That’s great Kendall, so happy you liked these as much as we do!
This sound fabulous! Found you at Carole’s Chatter.
Thanks so much Kris!
Hello! These are a recipe I made in the 70’s when I first got married and lost it – so thank you! I did want to bring to your attention that the milk is omitted in the actual recipe ingredients. I actually found a similar recipe on Allrecipes so I used that. Is yours a 1/4 milk?
Oh my goodness, you’re right I did forget to add the milk to the ingredient list Michelle, thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. Yes, it is 1/4 cup that I use.