Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe
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- 74 Comments
This is the perfect recipe to throw in your crock pot and forget about it until dinner time. Your whole family will love these tasty meatballs!
This sauce is amazing.
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients:
32 oz. package of precooked, frozen meatballs (you could use turkey meatballs)
13.5 oz can of unsweetened pineapple chunks (put juice aside)
1 large green pepper, diced
1 cup of brown sugar
1 large green pepper, diced
1 cup of brown sugar
2 Tbl. cornstarch
2/3 cup of white vinegar
2 Tbl. Soy sauce
2/3 cup of white vinegar
2 Tbl. Soy sauce
Directions:
Place meatballs in crock pot and top with green pepper and drained pineapple chunks. In a separate bowl, mix reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce. Pour sauce over meatballs, pineapple and green peppers. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.
Place meatballs in crock pot and top with green pepper and drained pineapple chunks. In a separate bowl, mix reserved pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce. Pour sauce over meatballs, pineapple and green peppers. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.
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Looks yummy!
do you all know of any storebought meatballs that are gluten free? Any kind I can find have some kind of binder in them we can’t eat
You can make your own meatballs and use gluten free bread crumbs in them. I recently went GF and have adapted meatball recipes I made to be GF. =)
Jennie O makes Turkey GF meatballs and I believe Costco carries a brand that is GF as well
I think that I will try this on the weekend… but with my own meatballs (don’t like the packaged stuff)
Make it a great day!
Totally using homemade meatballs! The frozen ones are yuck-o!!! Can’t wait to try this and I am also using a dutch oven instead of a crockpot!
I LOVE THIS RECIPE! This is the same as my mother’s “Sweet and Sour Pork” although I have always wondered about the sour part… anyway~ She would just slow brown cubed pork and then follow this same recipe. I have to say I am so excited to see it with meatballs and as a slow cooker recipe! Tonight’s dinner here we come!
hmmm this sounds interesting. Plus I love my crock-pot and easy meals. Thanks!
I love that you used store bought meatballs because that is all I ever buy:-) Thanks for always sharing your great recipes!!!
What I love the most is that any recipe that has pineapples in it automatically becomes “Hawaiian something or other” (i.e. Hawaiian Pizza, Hawaiian Haystacks ~ which I had never had until I went to Japan because we don’t make that in Hawaii). We call these Sweet & Sour Meatballs in Hawaii and yes, that sauce is AWESOME!!
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Any idea how many this serves? And, if I wanted to adapt it to a freezer meal would I freeze everything together before cooking the meatballs or after? Thanks so much!
Hi Laura!
This serves 6-8 (or more depending on serving size. We usually can feed my family of 3 twice with this). I have never tried them as a freezer meal, so I am not sure the best way to go about doing it. I would maybe freeze the everything together before cooking the meatballs so they aren’t cooked twice. Let us know how it goes!
I am making this right now in my crop pot. It has been 1 hour in and so far the sauce hasn’t thickened up at all. Is it ever going to?
crock**
My sauce didn’t thicken until the last hour or so. I hope it turned out okay!
Making this right now and the sauce smells AWESOME. Can’t wait for dinner!
YAY!! We have this same recipe and I LOVE it. In fact I had almost forgotten about it until now. I’m going to have to make this next week!
Thanks for sharing at oopsey daisy!
Should I mix the corn starch with water before adding it to the sauce or do i just put in the with the rest of the ingredients?
Just mix the corn starch in with the rest of the ingredients! Thanks!
What kind of vinegar do you use? Apple Cider? White? Or doesn’t it matter?
Sorry about the confusion. Just use white vinegar!
As in white distilled vinegar or white wine vinegar?
This was great! The only thing I did differently was add in 3 carrots that I sliced. We used the Sutton & Dodge meatballs found in Target’s meat department. Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you liked it!
I made this yesterday. After 4 hours my sauce still never thickened. Any ideas?
Hi Kari!
I am so sorry about that! I am not sure why it wouldn’t have thickened. If you make them again, you could add more corn starch until it reaches your desired consistency.
I had the same issue. Didn’t thicken at all
I actually cooked the sauce on the stove first and used 3 tbsp cornstarch and made a cornstarch slurry…came out perfect….
Great recipe, even my teenage daughter who thinks that meatballs are ‘gross’ liked it!
Well I just saw you said you used white vinegar…hmm..I used apple cider vinegar and it’s in the crock pot now..hope it turns out ok..I didn’t scroll down until I actually had time to sit down, I just read the recipe.
usually it states the type of ingredient: dark brown sugar, light brown..white vinegar, apple cider 
Sorry about that. It has been fixed. Thanks!
Made these tonight. They were very YUMMY and super easy. Sharing with my FB friends and Pinterest followers. Thanks for sharing and for all the great recipes!
I am really lookng forward to making this tomorrow night for dinner.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Even my picky 2 year-old loved it. Thanks for sharing this super simple recipe with us!
It says to keep the juice off the pineapple….why? What do you do with it…??? Thanks…it’s cooking right now and smells wonderful!
I am so sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner! I hope they turned out okay! The reserved juice just gets mixed with other ingredients for the sauce. Let us know how it went!
seriously how hard is it to make balls of meat? no fresh pineapple? there’s not even the SUGGESTION of using anything fresh. Use tons of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients! This kid of so called food is why kids (and adults) are unhealthy, overweight, and have no clue about food- it basically sums up everything that is wrong with lazy, pre-bought, no effort “cooking”. bravo.
If you don’t like their recipes, get off their site and don’t make their recipes. There is no reason to post rude comments like this. Who do you think you are?
This is made to be an easy meal for people who work or have plans and need something quick. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that you can substitute for fresh ingredients. And if you don’t like it, don’t make it. It’s a simple as that.
Hey I love no effort cooking, in fact its in my crockpot right now! I happen to be putting all my effort in carpooling, PTA’ing, Cheerleading,Gymnastics and Laundry today…..I can keep it fresh and healthy tomorrow night, oh wait thats Pizza Night its Friday! Thanks Ladies for the amazing recipes! You all are awesome!
Hey, this is better for you than McDonalds! Give people credit for at least trying to keep healthy on a busy schedule! Yes, I’m all for healthy and all natural…but you are just being rude. There are better ways to get your message out than bashing people.
For the record?
Cost of premade meatballs: $2
Cost of pound of burger: $4
Cost of canned pineapple: $.50
Cost of fresh pineapple: $3
That is a HUGE deal to some of us.
I believe the green pepper would need to be fresh, no? I make my own meatballs, but can’t eat fresh pineapple so this is perfect for me.
We use this same recipe & the kids LOVE it – what a fun share – thanks for reminding me about this recipe…now I HAVE to make it this week to gather up some smiles here! xo
This was ammmmmaaaazing!!!!
I didn’t use a crock pot, but rather opted to use my plain old non-stick and the results were super.
However, i reduced the amount of sugar and increased the amount of vinegar to have a more tangy than sweet taste.
Thanks for uploading this recipe.
Twitter: @penelopekirui
I’ve had this in the crock now for about 3 hours and my sauce still hasn’t thickened. I added more cornstarch to try but all it did was turn the sauce a weird color! And suggestions?
On a side note, it still smells delicious! I just can’t imagine eating it without the thick sauce
Can you cook on high so it gets done quicker? Also, I made my own meatballs…do you think they will fall apart if I cook it on high? Thanks!
I am not sure how it would work on high because the sauce needs time to thicken up. I think homemade meatballs would be fabulous! Let us know how it goes!
Okay I will keep it on low then thank you! Im also using turkey meatballs so it will be a little healthier. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
I’m having the worst time finding frozen meatballs at any of my local grocery stores would it be okay if I made my own, would I have to brown them first and how would that change cooking time? I have all the other ingredients but the meatballs. Would any other meat work? Any easy meatballs recipe suggestions?
Hi!
I think it would be delicious using homemade meatballs! I would brown them first so they stay together and follow the cooking directions on the recipe making sure they are cooked all the way through before serving.
Great recipe. Would you be happy to link in to my Meatball edition of Food on Friday? This is the link
I was looking for a perfect recipe for my Hawaian Party & I came accross this & I have to try it because I too have 5 sisters, no brothers. We have all moved apart (accept for two of them live near eachother). I miss my sisters and all of us getting together for family meals & celebrations. Thank you!
I am making this now but the sauce is soooo watery
Just to say that I made this in a normal pan, with less vinegar and the meatballs were of cow and still in 45 minutes was donne! Delicious!!! Love it!
From Portugal!!!!! Thanks for the wonderfull site!
Tatiana
Some people may be having trouble with watery sauce because they are using a large can of pineapple which would be about 20 ounces instead of the 13.5 ounce can called for. In fact, I can only find pineapple in 8 oz. and 20 oz. sizes, so I either just use an entire small can or only part of the large can and juice. Thank you so much for this recipe – my family absolutely loves it!
This was my problem. I added another tbsp corn starch, and then cooked it in my electric wok. The high heat thickened the sauce right up.
^^^^ THAT is exactly what the problem is! (at least in my case)!!
I added about 2 1/2 tbl more of cornstarch…problem solved 
It didn’t dawn on me until I saw this…4 hours in the pot & complete water for sauce
About how many servings does one batch yield? I’ve heard your recipe is the BEST and so I’m going to make it for about 30 people… Quite an undertaking I have a feeling. I just need to know how many batches to make so no one goes hungry
Thank you!!!
Depending on how big the servings are and if you are feeding adults. A 2 pound bag should have around 64 meatballs in it. So I’m thinking around 6 to 8 servings. You may want to read through the comments. We had no problem with the sauce thickening up, but some people did. Hopefully their comments will be of help to you! They are yummy meatballs. Hope all goes well with you big gathering!!
-The Six Sisters
I’m trying to make this recipie, but I don’t have a crock pot is there an alternative for the crock pot
These should work just fine in a covered baking dish in the oven at about 325 degrees. Hope it all turns out well. Merry Christmas! -The Six Sisters
What size crock-pot is this for? I just got a 2-quart one, which I think is smaller than normal. Should I maybe cut this recipe in half?
You will definitely need to cut it in half. We used a 5 quart crock pot when we made this.
Oops. Have this in the crockpot now — before I came back to read the comments. I didn’t see a use for the pineapple juice, so I drank it. lol! I made my own meatballs and added onion and carrots to this. Super fast and easy, other than making the meatballs. I’ll be serving with brown rice. I’m not worried about the final results too much, as my large crew eats just about anything.
This is very similar to my Sweet n Sour Pork recipe only in a slow cooker. In addition to the green pepper and pineapple, I add small wedges of fresh tomato right before serving (warm for 3 min.). Oh yes, and the sauce also includes cider vinegar for a little tang. It is absolutely delicious.
Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row
http:/www.ducksnarow.com
I’ve made this several times for parties and it’s always been a huge hit. Just a quick suggestion – use crushed pineapple instead of diced. It helps the sauce thicken more easily and ensures bits of pineapple in each bite.
I have these in Crockpot now, I bought chicken meatballs. I just tried one because I couldn’t resist any long and there is still 90 mins to go. Very nice flavors, I think my family will like these!!
I am going to make this tonight with homemade venison/pork meatballs. I was looking for a recipe that didn’t require a bottle of sweet and sour sauce so this is perfect. For those of you having issues with the cornstarch not thickening, just hold that back out of the recipe and add the cornstarch with water AFTER it is cooked and stir it in until you get the desired consistency.
we added red onion and some ginger. Sounds good.