30 Minute Healthy Sweet & Sour Pork Meatballs {GF, DF, Nut & Egg Free}
I was looking through my draft folder wondering what I should post this week and I realised I have two meatball recipes waiting to be posted. I must have gone meatball mad over the past few weeks. Truth be told I can’t remember the last few days or weeks and a month ago seems like a life time ago. It's this motherhood thing I tell you it does your brain in!!! One thing I can remember is this time last year I was halfway through being pregnant with Little Miss. I think I was just getting through the awful stage of morning sickness. My morning sickness lasted from week 4 to 25 weeks!! It felt like a lifetime!
She is now 7 months old and I shake my head at how fast time has flown since she has graced us with her presence. I am still getting use to raising a little girl. They are so different to boys and I noticed this pretty much straight away with her. She’s a sensitive little soul and gets upset quite easily and takes some time to settle her down. She is not as resilient as her brother is and requires a little extra TLC in life. I guess that's normal for girls! :-) J.D was an independent kid from the moment he started crawling and did so quite early at around 5 ½ months. Little Miss is not quite as inquisitive and independent and she likes to have somebody always around and lets us know if she wants some company….. quite loudly. She can’t crawl yet but kind of pushes herself backwards and ends up wedged under chairs and tables. Much to her disgust! She is my cuddly baby though and I enjoy our post nap snuggles as she nuzzles her head into my face and tries to suck my nose. I think it's her little way of saying I love you.
People constantly ask me if we want another one. I say yes sometimes because I do but the “having to be pregnant” factor kind of puts me off. I only miss being pregnant for the fact I don’t feel the cold so much in winter and feeling the baby wiggle and move inside. Everything else about pregnancy I can leave it at the door. So with winter approaching again and I don’t have an internal heater to keep me warm I rely on good hearty comfort food and many many layers of clothing. This hearty and delicious Sweet and Sour Meatball recipe is a great winter warmer. It was my goal to create a sweet and sour recipe that didn’t use copious amounts of sugar. Some of the recipes I found had up to a cup or so of sugar in the sauce. I think I created a nice lightly sweetened sauce without having to add cups of sugar. I used pork in these meatballs but you could try any other type of mince. Maybe not lamb as it has such a strong flavour and could overpower the dish.
I oven bake my meatballs as I find it less fiddly than trying to cook them in a pan and have them all fall apart on you. Trust me you don’t want crumbly meatballs it equates to meatball disaster. While the meatballs are cooking you can jump to making the sauce. It doesn't take long to make and once the meatballs are cooked I add them to the sauce and simmer for a few minutes to meld the flavours together. I can make this dish in around 30 minutes so it’s a simply and easy weeknight meal for the fam. Try and double the recipe and freeze the leftovers for a lazy meal another night. That’s the way I get through some weeks is living on my stash of leftovers.
30 Minute Sweet & Sour Pork Meatballs
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 500g pork mince
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon ground linseed
- 1/2 tin pineapple pieces, drained (Keep the juice)
- 1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 large red capsicum, sliced
- 1/2 large green capsicum, sliced
- 3 large roma tomatoes, roughly diced
- 1/2 tin pineapple pieces (from tin above)
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice (from drained tin above)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Pork MeatballsPreheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Heat a small saucepan over a medium heat and add in a little olive oil. Add in the garlic and spring onions. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the onions have softened and the garlic has cooked. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl add the pork mince, carrot, pepper, linseed, egg, basil, salt and pepper, worcestershire sauce, pineapple pieces and cooled garlic and onion mix. Mix the ingredients together with your hands until it is all combined. Roll the meat mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and place onto the lined tray.
Spray the meatballs with a little olive oil and place into the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. While the meatballs are cooking get the sauce started.
Sweet & Sour SauceHeat a large fry pan over a medium heat and drizzle in a little olive oil. Add in the onions and garlic and saute` until the onions are translucent and slightly caramelized. Add in the capsicums and pineapple and saute for a further minute or two until the capsicums have softened slightly. Add the tomatoes, salt & pepper and all spice.
In a small jug add the pineapple juice and cornflour. Mix the cornflour in until it has dissolved. Add the water, tomato paste, honey, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Briefly mix together and gently pour over the capsicum and tomato mix. Bring the mixture to the boil and lower to simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Add in the cooked meatballs and gently simmer for a further 5-10 minutes to infuse the flavours.
Serve with brown or basmati rice and garnish with parsley.
