This dish of whole grain rice and black beans has a rich flavor and can be eaten vegetarian or with any type of meat as an addition. If preferred, any type of rice mixture (brown, wild, long grain, or red) may be used. Any type of mushroom may be substituted for shiitakes.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 120 meatballs |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ground beef
- ⅓ cup dried onion flakes
- 1 ½ cups dry bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 tablespoons mustard powder
- 1 cup water, divided
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- To make meatballs: In a large bowl, combine beef, onion flakes, bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, eggs and milk.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Shape mixture into 1 inch balls, and place into a 9×13 inch baking dish; bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Lower heat in oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- To make sauce: In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix vinegar, sugar, mustard and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Mix cornstarch and 1/2 cup water; add to saucepan, and boil for 1 minute more.
- Add sauce to cooked meatballs, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, basting occasionally.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 533 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 60 g |
| Cholesterol | 140 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 917 mg |
| Sugars | 46 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made these meatballs more then once and they are my favorite. I also make them for the senior center and they ask for them every month. I do make extra sauce when making them because I pretty much cook the meatballs in the sauce and when I go to plate them I have rice, meatballs and add more sauce.
This is pretty good. The sauce is a bit too sweet for us, but I could see some people really liking it. It’s a very simple recipe with few ingredients. After the initial 10 minutes, I only had to cook for 20 minutes more, and they were done, so I didn’t leave them in for the additional time. I made ⅓ of the recipe and got 24 meatballs.
Love this recipe, I did them in teriyaki sauce instead of the sweet and sour sauce
REALLY tasty, y’all! Made it exactly as the recipe called for with the one exception of using minced onion (half of what the onion calls for). Over a bed of brown rice… delicious! I had planned on being shy with the sauce, but then I tasted it. DAAAAAAANG it made those meatballs something special. Will definitely keep this recipe for frequent use. Thanks for posting!
Easy to make and very good
Loved this! I’m originally from Northern Wisconsin so my meatballs have all, to this point, been Swedish. I was ready to try something new and this recipe was excellent! Followed it exactly and wouldn’t change a thing.
Made and stuck to the receipt with one exception.. The market didn’t have the onion flakes.. So, I used the equal amount of garlic flakes.. Came out AWESOME!!!! Everyone loved it…
These meatballs are so good! My kids beg me to make these; in fact I am making them again tonight for dinner!
Different and delicious
it was ok…will go back to my “go to” recipe.
These were a BIG hit at a potluck.
Big hit with my family!!! Especially the kids who kept trying to get more meatballs and sauce. Made a double portion of the sauce and froze for later use.
Family taste test – red sauce (grape & chili sauce) vs. your white sauce. Hands down, your white sauce WINS!! Leave the heavy red sauce to the cocktail weiners
Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great! Even my 2 & 4 year olds liked it.
Super easy and great taste.
I made half the recipe and the only change that I made was I used diced onions instead of the dried ones everything else was as stated. They were good but next time I will cut the sugar down. Thanks for recipe Pam Somers
Little too sweet for me, but my kids loved it as is.
This is my go-to sweet n sour meatball recipe! I follow the recipe almost exactly, except I scale the recipe to 6 servings to use 1 lb ground beef. Fills a 9×13 pan and is perfect for dinner for a family of 5! The only change I make to this recipe is that I use a bit of finely chopped fresh yellow onion in place of onion flakes. Don’t worry, the sauce will sound and smell nasty at first but as it bakes with the meatballs the flavor really mellows out into a delicious sauce. I make these with the nutmeg, but I’ve left it out before and it turned out perfectly fine. Honestly, i cant taste a difference… But i use it anyways! : )These meatballs passed a 6 and a 9 year old, so it has to be good!! 😉 Serve over cooked brown rice for a delicious and hearty meal.
These were delicious! Here are the changes I made: 1 onion instead of onion flakes, no nutmeg or mustard, homemade breadcrumbs, and for the sauce I put everything in together.
Made this tonight. Used a little less sugar as other reviewers suggested, only had vinegar, used Kellogg’s boxed corn flake crumbs in place of bread crumbs(son’s wheat allergy), and omitted the eggs(kids allergic to them). Turned out great! Was sooo tasty!!!! Definitely will make again!
This recipe is very similar to a family recipe we have been making for years. Except we don’t have cornstarch and the amount of each ingredient is slightly different. Just a note to others, if you are in a hurry to make, you can use frozen meatballs and a crockpot. We have made it in the oven and crockpot and have used any kind of meatball all with the same taste.