These Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs are a family favorite and a super easy recipe that's perfect for a holiday side, potluck, or any time evening dinner. Put it all in the slow cooker, set it, and forget it!
These slow cooker meatballs are popular any time of the year, but especially around the holiday season and big game days. Crockpot meatballs are a great side dish for any holiday meal, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, and make a tasty appetizer as well!
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When I first moved away from home, I couldn't wait to be back there with my family, eating that special, traditional Christmas dinner. The roast turkey, prize pumpkin pie, old fashioned turkey stuffing, the cabbage rolls (with ground beef and rice), the Ceasar salad (minus the chicken, Granny buns, butter tarts, and THE best Slow Cooker Meatballs!
My Auntie Carol made this sweet and sour slow cooker meatball recipe every year, along with her Green beans and Mushrooms and Carrot Casserole. Traditional family recipes are the ultimate comfort foods!
Why This Recipe Works
- Hands-Off Cooking with a Slow Cooker. The set-it-and-forget-it method allows you to prepare a delicious dish with minimal effort—just mix, dump, and let the slow cooker do the work! No need for stirring.
- Perfectly Tender Meatballs. Slow cooking ensures that the meatballs stay moist and tender, absorbing all the sweet and sour flavors as they simmer.
- Perfect for Meal Prep & Make-Ahead You can prep the meatballs ahead and freeze them or cook them early in the day and keep them warm for serving. Great for busy schedules, potlucks ,and parties! And they'll stay warm for hours!
- One Pot Convenience = Less Cleanup. Cooking everything in the slow cooker means fewer dishes and less kitchen mess—just rinse and go!
- Versatile Serving Options. Enjoy these meatballs as an appetizer with toothpicks, a side dish for holiday meals, or a main course over rice or mashed potatoes.
- Family-Friendly & Kid-Approved. The mild yet flavorful sauce makes these meatballs a hit with kids and adults alike—no overpowering spices, just delicious comfort food!
🥘 Ingredient Notes
These crock pot meatballs are easy to make with ground beef and simple ingredients from your pantry.
- Extra lean ground beef. Using extra lean ground beef (or at least lean ground beef) is crucial. Ground beef with a greater percentage of fat (like regular) will make your sauce greasy as the fat cooks off and stays in the crockpot.
- Bread crumbs. You'll want to ensure you are using fine bread crumbs. Larger breadcrumbs such as panko bread crumbs won't help the meat stick together as well and can make the meatballs lumpy.
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Meatballs - You can use a mixture of ground pork and ground beef or use ground chicken or ground turkey instead.
- Parsley- You can use fresh instead of dried parsley. In the winter, I use my dehydrated parsley from the previous summer. Learn how to dehydrate herbs in the air fryer HERE.
- Onion - You could use green onions instead of white onions
- Spicy - You can spice it up by adding a little chili sauce or some crushed red pepper flakes
🔪How to Make Crockpot Meatballs
PREP: Spray the inside of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Step 1: MAKE THE MEATBALLS: In a large bowl, mix meatball ingredients together. 2 lb extra lean ground beef, 1 onion, finely chopped, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¾ cup fine bread crumbs
- Step 2: Form into balls (1.5 inches approximately.) You should get about 30.
- Step 3: Then place meatballs in the slow cooker. It's okay if you have to pile some of top of each other.
- Step 4: MAKE THE SWEET & SOUR SAUCE: Whisk sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl. 1 ½ cup water, ⅔ cup white vinegar, ⅔ cup ketchup, 2 tablespoon soya sauce, 1 cup brown sugar
- Step 5: Mix cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl and add to sauce. 2 teaspoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoon cold water
- Step 6: Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the sauce.
- Step 7: Pour sauce over meatballs in the slow cooker. Cook on low in the slow cooker for 8 hours. * If the sauce is still a little runny when done (it should be the consistency of gravy), add 1 more teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with ½ teaspoon of water. You can keep adding more until you reach the desired consistency. Meatballs are ready when a thermometer inserted into the centre of the meatballs should read 165 degrees F/74 degrees C. Garnish with parsley and sesame seeds.
Expert Recipe Tips
- Don’t Overmix the Meat. When mixing the meatball ingredients, be gentle! Overmixing can make the meatballs dense and tough instead of tender and juicy.
- Keep Meatballs Uniform in Size. For even cooking, make sure all meatballs are roughly the same size (about 1.5 inches). Using a cookie scoop helps with consistency.
- Use a Cornstarch Slurry for the Perfect Sauce. To avoid lumps, always mix cornstarch with cold water before adding it to the sauce. This ensures a smooth, thickened consistency.
- Cook on Low for the Best Texture. While you can cook on high for 4 hours, the meatballs turn out more tender and flavorful when cooked on low for 8 hours
- Make It Ahead for Easy Entertaining. Prepare and freeze the meatballs ahead of time, then just dump and cook on the day of your event—perfect for stress-free hosting!
- Add a Tangy Twist with Pineapple. For extra sweetness and a tropical touch, toss in some pineapple chunks during the last hour of cooking.
- Avoid Overcrowding the Slow Cooker. If doubling the recipe, ensure your slow cooker is big enough (at least 6-7 quarts) to allow the sauce to coat the meatballs evenly.
- Enhance the Flavor with Fresh Ingredients. Freshly minced garlic, ginger, or a splash of rice vinegar can elevate the sauce’s depth of flavor.
- Garnish for a Finishing Touch. Top with sesame seeds and chopped fresh parsley or green onions for a pop of color and added texture before serving.
🥗 What to Serve with Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
This is a side dish we have every year with our Christmas dinner. I love that you can set and forget it with slow cooking. You have enough going on when you're trying to make a big holiday dinner, so having a slow cooker dish (or something you can make ahead and freeze) is ideal! It's great to serve alongside a roasted turkey or Picnic Ham and Old fashioned Scalloped Potatoes (no cheese).
And they are an excellent potluck dish! I also serve these crock pot meatballs with sweet and sour sauce for an easy weeknight dinner over chipotle mashed potatoes or white rice (jasmine rice is my fave!)
Serve a salad or veggies on the side! My Mandarin Orange Salad Recipe, Spinach salad or (shown) Kale Salad with Cranberries and Feta all pair well with these slow cooker meatballs.
🌡️Storage
Store these meatballs in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead: These meatballs can be made and frozen ahead for up to 3 months, but you'll want to thaw this dish before you warm it up.
👪 Serving Size
This saucy meatballs recipe makes 30 (1.5 inch) meatballs. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
These meatballs are Weight Watchers friendly @ 2 WW points each (with sauce) on my plan. However, you can lower the points by using ground turkey or chicken and serving it with cauliflower rice.
❔ Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can use store-bought frozen meatballs. I recommend defrosting them first - it will reduce cooking time. Then, just add them directly to the slow cooker and proceed with the recipe as written. The cooking time remains the same.
If the sauce is thinner than you’d like, mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with ½ teaspoon of water and stir it into the sauce. Repeat as needed until you reach your desired consistency.
Absolutely! You can prepare the meatballs and freeze them raw or fully cooked for up to 3 months. Thaw before cooking for best results.
Yes, you can cook the meatballs on high for about 4 hours, but for the best flavor and texture, low and slow (8 hours) is recommended.
So if you are looking for a side dish, an appetizer, or an easy dinner the whole family will love, try this one - it's our family's favorite meatballs recipe, and I hope it will become yours as well!
This Turnip n' Apple Casserole is another traditional holiday side dish that I have added into the mix (and it's Weight Watchers Friendly)!
🥘More Appetizers!
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📋 Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 lb extra lean ground beef
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¾ cup fine bread crumbs
Sweet & Sour Sauce
- 1 ½ cup water
- ⅔ cup white vinegar
- ⅔ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoon soya sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon cold water
Garnish (optional)
- sesame seeds
- parsley flakes
Instructions
- Spray the inside of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
Meatballs
- In a large bowl, mix meatball ingredients together and form into balls (1.5 inches approximately.) Then place meatballs in the slow cooker.2 lb extra lean ground beef, 1 onion, finely chopped, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¾ cup fine bread crumbs
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Whisk sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl.1 ½ cup water, ⅔ cup white vinegar, ⅔ cup ketchup, 2 tablespoon soya sauce, 1 cup brown sugar
- Mix cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl and add to sauce.2 teaspoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoon cold water
- Pour sauce over meatballs in slow cooker
- Cook on low in slow cooker for 8 hours.* If sauce is still a little runny when done (it should be consistency of gravy) add 1 more teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with ½ teaspoon of water. You can keep adding more until you reach the desired consistency.Meatballs are ready when a thermometer inserted into the centre of the meatballs should read 165 degrees F/74 degrees C.
Garnish:
- Garnish with parsley flakes and sesame seeds, if desired.sesame seeds, parsley flakes
Notes
-
- Don’t Overmix the Meat. When mixing the meatball ingredients, be gentle! Overmixing can make the meatballs dense and tough instead of tender and juicy.
-
- Keep Meatballs Uniform in Size. For even cooking, make sure all meatballs are roughly the same size (about 1.5 inches). Using a cookie scoop helps with consistency.
-
- Use a Cornstarch Slurry for the Perfect Sauce. To avoid lumps, always mix cornstarch with cold water before adding it to the sauce. This ensures a smooth, thickened consistency.
-
- Cook on Low for the Best Texture. While you can cook on high for 4 hours, the meatballs turn out more tender and flavorful when cooked on low for 8 hours
-
- Make It Ahead for Easy Entertaining. Prepare and freeze the meatballs ahead of time, then just dump and cook on the day of your event—perfect for stress-free hosting!
-
- Add a Tangy Twist with Pineapple. For extra sweetness and a tropical touch, toss in some pineapple chunks during the last hour of cooking.
-
- Avoid Overcrowding the Slow Cooker. If doubling the recipe, ensure your slow cooker is big enough (at least 6-7 quarts) to allow the sauce to coat the meatballs evenly.
-
- Enhance the Flavor with Fresh Ingredients. Freshly minced garlic, ginger, or a splash of rice vinegar can elevate the sauce’s depth of flavor.
-
- Garnish for a Finishing Touch. Top with sesame seeds and chopped fresh parsley or green onions for a pop of color and added texture before serving.
Terri Gilson
These Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs bring back such warm memories of our family Christmas dinners. My Auntie Carol's recipe has been a holiday staple for years, and now I love making it for my own family. It's so easy to throw together in the slow cooker, perfect for busy days or when I'm preparing a big holiday spread.