This year, I decided to develop a kosher for Passover Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe. A while back, blog reader Susan Fedrow submitted her family’s delicious Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe to me. It’s a popular recipe on my site; I often get emails from readers saying how much they love it. I decided to use it as the inspiration for my Passover meatball recipe.
To make the recipe Passover friendly required some tweaking. One of the main ingredients in the recipe is chili sauce, but the most popular brand (Heinz) has corn syrup in the mix. Corn is considered kitniyot, which is not Passover friendly for Ashkenazi kosher Jews. I’m not a big fan corn syrup in general, so I was excited to recreate the sauce from scratch without the added syrup. I experimented till I came up with a sauce that has a similar flavor. Then I replaced the breadcrumbs in the meatballs with matzo meal, and made a few other minor tweaks.
Presto! Passover Sweet and Sour Meatballs. You’re going to love this one. 
There seem to be dozens of variations on the Sweet and Sour Meatball theme out there. Different ingredients are used to capture the “sweet” flavor, as well as the “sour”… grape jelly, cranberry sauce, tomato juice, frozen lemonade, sour salt, lemon juice… the possibilities are endless. I happen to like this version because of the pineapple juice and chunks– they add so much wonderful sweetness and texture! They can be served as an appetizer with toothpicks, as a side dish, or even as an entree choice. Pour them over quinoa or mashed potatoes for a more complete entree. This is a fabulous dish. You and your Seder guests will kvell… promise!
Do you have your own version of Sweet and Sour Meatballs? Let us know how you make it in the comments section below!
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Passover Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 large cans (20 oz. each) pineapple chunks in their own juice (no sugar added)
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar (or sub white vinegar)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or sub white sugar)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder, divided
- 3/4 lb. lean ground beef
- 3/4 lb. dark meat ground chicken
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3-4 tbsp matzo meal
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne (or more to taste-- add carefully, it's very spicy!)
- Note: I live in an area with a lot of great kosher markets, so I've never had trouble finding any of the items in this recipe with kosher for Passover certification. However, I'm told that in some places brown sugar and cider vinegar can be tough to track down with a KFP hechsher. If that is true in your area, feel free to swap cider vinegar for white vinegar, and brown sugar for white sugar.
- Drain your two cans of pineapple chunks and reserve the juice.
In a medium pot, mix together tomato sauce, ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and the juice from the pineapple cans. Stir together and turn meat to low to let the sauce slowly warm.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl use a fork to mix together the ground beef and chicken, egg, 3 tbsp matzo meal, paprika, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne. I like a little heat in the meatballs, so I add a heaping 1/4 tsp of cayenne. If you don't want them spicy, you can omit it completely-- or just add a pinch for depth of flavor.
Form the meat mixture into small 1-inch meatballs. If the mixture seems to moist or stick, add another tablespoon of matzo meal to the mixture. Place the meatballs into the warming sauce.
When all the meatballs are formed, bring the mixture to a boil and stir to cover the meatballs with sauce. Lower the heat to a low, even simmer and cover the pot. - Let the meatballs cook for 40 minutes, stirring frequently, till sauce thickens and meatballs cook all the way through. If the sauce seems to be reducing too fast or losing too much liquid, lower the heat and add a little water to thin it.
After 40 minutes, add the pineapple chunks to the sauce and stir to coat. Let the chunks warm in the sauce for 5 minutes.
Serve. You can serve this as an entree with a Passover-friendly starch, as a side dish, or with toothpicks as an appetizer. Enjoy!
Thanks for this recipe. I have made these meatballs for years, the only difference being that I use ground turkey. I also used the chili sauce and this is a great made-from-scratch way to eliminate that high fructose corn syrup! As always, I love your recipes!
Tori, my mom made the best Sweet & Sour Meatballs…really, it was all in the sauce…pretty basic tomato sauce, but she’d add “Sour Salt” (Citric acid) to make you pucker, then sweeten it up with plain old sugar, until you found the “perfect” sweet & sour…I’ve made many variations through the years, experimenting with the meatballs and such, but I’m leaving the sauce alone…I guess it’s just the flavor I grew up with, and it still can’t be beat…most of my non-Jewish friends and of course my family BEG me to make this…I’ll share the recipe with you and you’ve got to try it…SO GOOD!!!!
Jack, would you consider sharing your recipe with me? I love family recipes and yours sounds delicious! I plan to try both of them! My email is: sallygee@aol.com. Thank you!
These would definitely be popular at our house.
Really enjoying the Potluck Tori!
LL
Can I use all ground meat, or does it have to have the chicken in it? Would have to look for dark ground chicken…
My grandma made the best sweet sour meatballs….must try these and compare!!
Hi Anita! You can use all ground meat, if you’d like. I like the flavor of mixing the chicken with the meat, plus it’s a little lower in fat that way, but it’s great with all meat too. Enjoy!
Tori, this is making me hungry! (And it’s bedtime!)
Dear Tori
this looks like a great recipe . I was getting tired of all the brisket i’ve been eating lately and this is just the right recipe. I love sweet and sour combinations.
thank you
I love the flavors in this recipe – especially the pineapple. That sounds heavenly!
Sweet and Sour MEATBALLS?! Brilliant! I love that sort of food and it’s perfect for Passover or any time!
I love family sweet and sour meatball recipes! They always have the weirdest sounding ingredients in them and come out insanely delicious. Great idea to use matzo meal in place of bread crumbs! I just made my mother-in-law’s sweet and sour meatballs, which she makes with tomato sauce, cranberry sauce, and shredded cabbage. I’m posting it on my blog tomorrow night, I hope you’ll stop by and check it out! I’ll have to try this recipe next time
Good morning I was looking over at your recipe for sweet and sour meatballs, my family is of middleeastern descent we have a complete different take on this recipe and it does not require any matzo meal , let me explain..
first you have to mix two cans of tomato paste , and two cans of water, after you add lemon juice (aprox 2 lemons) then add sugar (white or brown) whatever you prefer
I prefer white granulated sugar this way I stay true to my grandmothers recipe. after you mix it up real well and add allspice make sure it turns into a nice blend, you should have a sweet and sour base now.
put it to boil and add the finishing touch 2 cans of pitted black cherries in heavy syrup. (let it simmer)
the meatballs only need to be rolled and fried until golden and tender inside
after the sauce is simmered, drop the meatballs in the sauce and let the meatballs and the sauce come together.
Its a real crowd pleaser and its best served with white rice garnished with almonds, your family will love it!
Typical Question….Will these still be tasty if made in advance and frozen? What about the pineapple? Thanks…Love this blog!
Hi Loreli, I do seem to get that question a lot! Perhaps I should freeze a little of every dish I post to see how it comes out. I have a feeling this would work just fine to freeze, but I can’t promise since I’ve never tried it. Let us know if you do and you have a strange result. Based on the ingredients, I think you should have no problem.
Great recipe. Can i use balsamic vinegar instead of the ones noted in the recipe?
Thanks
Hi Judy, I would not use balsamic in this recipe– the flavor would not work to create the proper sweet and sour tang it needs. Regular white or cider vinegar works best.
Have you ever tried to make these ahead and freeze them?
Sandi, please read my comment reply to Loreli (above) to answer your question.
I just discovered your website and an thrilled! But since I am gluten free, do you think this will work without the matzo meal? Tia!
Hi Rita– absolutely! Just omit the matzo meal. It makes the meatballs more tender, but they will still taste great without the gluten. I also have a Gluten Free category if you need more ideas: http://theshiksa.com/in-the-kitchen/recipes/recipes-gluten-free/
I just made it for dinner tonight. It was amazing , everyone loved it even the kids, but they put the pineapples aside.
Hi again. I did make the sweet and sour meat balls with the pineapple and they are now resting in my freezer until Passover Seder. I was wondering…the pineapple was a little tough and fiberous. Do you think once I defrost it, I can separate out the pineapple and try to saute/grill them up a little bit to soften and carmelize them and then add back to meat balls? I’d hate to have them passed over as another person mentioned, when they seem to be a nice addition. Incidentally, I used a combo of extra lean beef and turkey in lieu of chicken…Nice consistencey. Loreli
Hi Loreli, that’s interesting– I’ve never had that problem with canned pineapple, it’s usually quite soft and tender. As to the saute/grilling idea, it sounds like a good plan… if you’re looking to soften, I’d go the saute route. Grilling will add flavor, but may dry it out a bit which will make it tougher. Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
Meatballs and pineapple…where have you been all my life???
Made it for our Passover dinner and oh, my! Simply DELISH!
The family loved it. Todah for sharing this recipe with us.
I made these yesterday for my mother in law’s 70th birthday party, and they were a HUGE hit! I made the sauce in the corck pot on high, browned the meatballs and then put them in the crock pot with the sauce, put it on low for about 5 hours and they came out perfect, and a great way to serve them at a party. Thank you for a keeper recipe!
This is a follow-up to an earlier post I submitted re freezing the meatballs and pineapples in advance and what to do with the pineapples because they were a little dry/tough out of the can. I am happy to report that I froze a triple batch, made from chopped meat and chopped turkey and they are all gone. They were very tasty, sauce was perfect consistency and pineapples softened up on their own!
These sound perfect!! I was going to use a regular beef meatball recipe and sub in half ground turkey…but I love that your recipe uses both chicken and beef. This sounds like a keeper for sure
I can’t wait to try them out tonight.
Do you think it will work ok if I use matzo cake meal instead of matzo meal?
Hi! I am planning a Shabbat dinner on Friday and would love to try this recipe. How would I turn this appetizer into an entree meal? I have to feed about 15 people. This recipe sounds delicious but I just want to make sure that my meat and sauce ratio is enough for everyone. Also, can I make this the day before? Thank you!