Mom's Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Submitted by brandt34
Sweet and sour meatballs simmered in a tangy cranberry-tomato sauce. A classic Jewish-American holiday and Shabbat dish that turns pantry cans into a glossy, crowd-pleasing dinner over rice or challah.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThese sweet and sour meatballs are pure Jewish-American comfort food, the kind that shows up on Shabbat tables, holiday buffets, and family potlucks across generations. The sauce is the magic: equal parts whole and strained cranberry sauce plus tomato paste, simmered until the cranberries break down into a glossy ruby coating with a tang that cuts through the rich beef.
Brown the meatballs first in the pan with diced onion. That fond at the bottom of the skillet is flavor you don’t want to skip. Once they hit the sauce, they finish cooking and absorb the cranberry-tomato glaze.
Use just enough breadcrumbs to bind the meatballs. Too much and they turn dense and bready; too little and they fall apart in the sauce. Aim for tacky but not wet.
Low and slow is the rule for the simmer. Tomato paste plus cranberry sauce both scorch fast at the bottom of the pot, so stir often and keep the heat gentle.
Serve over rice for a weeknight dinner or challah for a proper holiday meal.
Pro Tips
- Wet your hands lightly before rolling the meatballs. The mixture won’t stick to your palms.
- Don’t crowd the pan when browning. Steam kills the crust. Work in batches if needed.
- The sauce thickens as it cools, so pull it off the heat when it coats the back of a spoon.
Variations
- Swap ground beef for ground turkey for a lighter version.
- Add a splash of pineapple juice and a pinch of ginger for a Hawaiian-style twist.
- Make it slow-cooker friendly: brown meatballs, then transfer everything to a Crock-Pot on low for 4 hours.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix ingredients together and form little meat balls, using enough bread crumbs to hold Dice 1 onion into a frying pan. Drop balls in to brown all over.
In a pot, put 2 cans whole cranberry sauce, 2 cans strained cranberry sauce, and 2 cans tomato paste. Let it all dissolve and cook or simmer on low. Wash cans out with very little water into pot.
As meatballs brown, drop into sauce mixture with a slotted spoon. When all meatballs are in sauce, let simmer til it cooks down. Don’t let bottom scorch.
Serve over rice or challah if needed.
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