Gluten Free Dairy Free Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
My kids LOVE meatballs. It really doesn’t matter how they are prepared – when they ask, “What’s for dinner, Mom?” and I say “meatballs”, it’s like a celebration. The baby even knows “meatballs”, all I have to do is tell her that’s what it is and she eats it up.
Preparing meatballs for the freezer is fairly easy, and they freeze well, so it’s always a favorite freezer-dish of mine. And, if the dish can cook in the crock pot – even better! And, for those who have dietary restrictions, these meatballs are gluten free and dairy free. These have a great sweet and sour flavor, and the pineapple that cooks in the crock pot – Mmmmmm! I served these over rice, and just as I suspected – everyone loved it!!
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Author/Source:
Heather @ Onceamonthmom.com; Adapted from Accustomed Chaos
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 0.5 cup rice vinegar
- 0.5 cup gluten free ketchup
- 0.5 cup brown sugar
- 1 can (15 oz) pineapple chunks in juice (undrained)
- 2 Tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 0.25 cup water
Directions:
Mix together ground beef, egg, chopped onion, and breadcrumbs. Form mixture into meatballs about 1 inch in size. In another bowl, mix together rice vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, pineapple and juice, and gf soy sauce. In a small bowl, mix corn starch and water.
Freezing Directions:
Prepare meatballs as directed above. Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flash freeze. When frozen, place in gallon freezer bag. In a quart freezer bag, place pineapple mixture. In another quart bag, place bell peppers, and corn starch mixture. Remove as much air as possible from each bag, seal, label and bundle together.
To serve: THAW pineapple mixture bag only. In a slow cooker, place meatballs(still frozen) on bottom. Cover with THAWED pineapple mixture. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. After 4 hours, put contents of pepper packet into the slow cooker and cook for another hour. Serve over rice or quinoa.
Servings: 6
**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann
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Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
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Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen
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Grocery Cart Challenge at Grocery Cart Challenge
- I’m Lovin’ It at Tidy Mom
Can I assume this is for 1 dinner and I would double to make enough for 2 dinners?
The recipe posted here is enough for one dinner. You can double this recipe to make two dinners. Or you can check out the printable serving cards out tomorrow and we can do the math for you!
What if I want to skip the pineapple and sugar? How much will it affect the cooking part? Would I need to add additional water? Any suggestion is helpful :). Thanks!
I think you could skip those things – I would probably add about 1/2 cup water. Let us know if it works!
Thank you Heather for responding. I did add a combination of water and rice vinegar (extra) to skip the pinapple & juice. The recipe came out great. In fact, I realized too late that I didn’t even have cornstarch. So, I had no choice to skip that as well. The sauce thickened by itself…I’m thinking a meatball or two probably crumbled while cooking. Anyway, thank you for a wonderful recipe. It tasted great and the meatballs were SO tender. My 15 mo old twins enjoyed it too.
This looks delicious! Do you think it work to cook the meatballs & pineapple mixture for 7-8 hours on low and then add the remaining ingredients when I get home? I work 9-5 Mon-Fri and would love to come home to this after a long day at work!
Yes, Jennifer, I think that would be just fine!
Is it possible to add all the ingredients at once? I’m out of the house by 7:15-5pm & the kids want to eat ASAP when we get home.
Cara, If I were you, I’d add the peppers in and wait to add the cornstarch mixture a couple of minutes before eating, turn the crockpot to high and leave the top off until you are ready to eat it. I think that will work fine!
Yes Heather that worked just fine. Wow yummy supper. Even the kids loved it! Thank you so much. This is the 1st recipe I’ve tried since signing up on the weekend. Looking forward to more now!
Great, Cara! I’m so glad it worked and you enjoyed it – thanks for reporting back!