This is my Canadian grandmother’s sweet and sour meatballs recipe. She used to make a big batch of these for us for Christmas Eve dinner back in the 80s and 90s and I don’t believe there were ever any leftovers. This recipe won’t be winning any healthy food awards due to the massive quantity of sugar in the sauce, but it’s an awesome recipe from my childhood and I’m delighted that all three of my own children love it. I don’t make it very often, but it’s nice for an occasional treat.
I don’t know what she used to put in the meatballs themselves, as my recipe only calls for ‘meatballs’ so the recipe I’ve included for those is my own.
Since this recipe uses store-cupboard ingredients and it is a very inexpensive meal to make I am sharing the recipe with Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All’s Credit Crunch Munch, hosted this month by Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen. Credit Crunch Munch asks us to share our frugal food recipes and it’s a blog hop too, so scroll down and see what other food bloggers have been cooking.
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- 600 grams lean ground beef
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 egg, beaten
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea salt
- 330 grams dark brown sugar
- 125 ml white vinegar
- 175 ml water
- 1 tsp dry mustard powder
- 125 ml ketchup
- 2 tbsp cornflour
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: Serves 4-6
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Sam Williams says
That’s a really good idea – I’ll have to try it myself
Heather Haigh says
This looks like a great recipe for those ‘dunno what to make tonight’ days – normally have most of these things in the store cupboard and it looks very tasty.
Heather Haigh says
These sound really tasty – love meat balls and the sauce sounds great.
Elizabeth says
It is a fab sauce – really high in sugar but it’s got that nostalgia/childhood thing going for it. I do love it so!
Camilla @Fabfood4all says
These sound very tasty but I think I’d be tempted to cut down on the sugar. Thanks for entering Credit Crunch Munch again with another tasty and frugal dish:-)
Elizabeth says
There’s an astonishing quantity of sugar in this recipe, isn’t there! This is why I don’t make it very often (ie: MAYBE once a year!)
Gary says
The photography is fantastic
Elizabeth says
Aw, thanks Gary, I really appreciate that 🙂
Janice Pattie says
Fab sauce recipe, love the picture with the sauce smooshec into the rice, that is SO right! Thanks for joining us for Creit Crunch Munch
Elizabeth says
Thanks! I tried to make the first photo look really nice and professional and then when it came time to eat it (I’d waited until the next day to photograph the leftovers) I poured over lots more sauce (because that’s the best bit!) and thought it looked much more appealing! I just had to include that photo 🙂
Anneli (Delicieux_fr) says
These look so lovely in that shiny sauce. What a lovely idea – I would not have thought of sweet & sour meatballs but now I have seen them, I crave them! Bookmarked x
Elizabeth says
Oh I do hope you like them! It’s a really easy recipe to make, and leftovers freeze really well (so my grandmother says). 🙂
Victoria Lee says
I’ve never had meatballs with anything other than a classic tomato sauce, although sometimes I stuff mine with a cheese centre. But I really like the sound of them with the Sweet and Sour sauce, thank you so much for sharing such a treasured family recipe 🙂
Elizabeth says
I think that this was the only way I had meatballs during my childhood, that and out of a can with gravy (oh gosh we loved those canned meatballs!) It wasn’t until I was an adult and cooking for myself I tried the classic meatball sauce. Jamie Oliver has a fantastic recipe. I hope you try the sweet and sour sauce and I hope you like it as much as we do. 🙂
Aara Shaikh says
Yummy recipe and wonderful clicks!! Made me drool the combination is excellent!!
Elizabeth says
Thank you 🙂