Adventures in Cooking :: Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

I mentioned these in my Quick Takes earlier, and as promised...here's the recipe!  These might be the best meatballs ever!  I'm sorry - that's not very humble of me, but they are SO fantastic!  When I make them for parties, I can never. make. enough.  When I make them for my family, I can never have enough!

They're bold and a little spicy and tangy and sweet and they have kick!  They're wonderful and totally homemade (unless you skip making the actual meatballs) and well...then they're somewhat homemade.  Either way... you should make them a.s.a.p!

If you like meatballs, that is.  If not, forget I mentioned it =)

So, at the request of my husband, I put these on our menu for this week, and well, since I had that impromptu freezer cooking day afternoon, we had half the work already done (the meatballs, that is) and waiting for us in the freezer!

So, without further ado, here's the recipe for the meatballs, and the superb sauce.  Wait, on the subject of the meatballs, when I'm in a pinch, or having a large party, or just being lazy I have bought pre-made frozen meatballs at Walmart or Sam's Club and they work just fine for this recipe...just skip the first part and go straight to the sauce.

But most of the time...I use my Make Ahead Meatballs out of the freezer.  I actually freeze them in Tupperware then dump them in a 9x13 when I'm ready to cook (as seen here)...or dump them in a pot if I use them for Spaghetti!  Here they are frozen and ready for Sweet & Tangy Meatballs Sauce (below)...

Make Ahead Meatballs

Ingredients:

3 lbs lean ground beef

1.5 cups quick oats

2 eggs

¼ cup minced onion

3-4 cloves minced garlic

½ Tbsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly with your hands - I don't know any other way to get it all mixed up really good! Scoop out into balls - I use a my medium cookie scoop scooper thingy onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Cool and freeze.  It should make around 50-60 meatballs, if you make them the size I do.

When ready to use, reheat (in the microwave) and toss with spaghetti sauce.... OR if you're going to make Sweet & Tangy Meatballs, then follow the instructions below! 

Sweet & Tangy Meatball Sauce 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped or minced
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. pepper (or to taste)

Stir all ingredients together...

 
(I don't know why a couple of these pics are so hazy)...and pour over frozen meatballs (which area already spread out in a 9x13 dish like pictured up top).

Be sure to toss them around and get them coated well...

**This is enough sauce for about 2-3 lbs. of meatballs...the perfect amount for the above Make Ahead Meatballs.  This recipe can be cut in half or doubled if you have more or less meatballs.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400° for about 30 minutes, uncover and cook for about 15-20 more minutes. Then hurry and grab as many as you want before they're gone!!

Enjoy!

You can find all of my recipes on my Recipe Page listed by category!   So...do you like meatballs?  If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear your opinion!!

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