One thing you NEED to know before making today’s recipe.

First things first…usually, I like my recipes to be stand-alone recipes, where one recipe does not require you to make other recipes. While this may not be the most efficient way of cooking, I reason that then people don’t have to make a recipe that they do not want to make, and it cuts back on confusion.

This recipe is different…efficiency is your friend today.

For this recipe, you will be making double the meatballs you need and saving half of the meatballs for the recipe I will be sharing tomorrow: “Rigatoni Meatball Soup.” If you do not want to make the Rigatoni Meatball Soup, you can simply halve the ingredients for the meatballs. Since meatballs take a little bit to make, I wanted to help make things more efficient for you by doubling the batch of meatballs and splitting them between recipes. I hope you find this to be helpful.

Okay, so now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about this recipe…

Meatballs, bell peppers, carrots, and pineapple are cooked into a sweet and sour sauce and served over cooked rice. The best part of this recipe is the sweet and sour sauce that uses some of the juice from the can of pineapple as one of its main ingredients. The sauce coats all of the ingredients and makes the whole recipe delish!

How to lower the points:

Take away the rice.

One serving of this recipe is 6 WW FreeStyle Smart Points. If you are looking to lower the points, you can leave out the rice and still have a great, satisfying meal! Without the rice, one serving is just 4 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.

Take away the ground beef.

Another option would be to leave out the ground beef and just use double the ground turkey. The meatballs will not be as moist, but it is an option. Swapping ground turkey for the ground beef will make 1 serving just 5 WW FreeStyle Smart Points.

Do both.

If you leave out the rice and swap ground turkey for the ground beef, one serving will be just 3 WW FreeStyle Smart Points!

Let us know what you would do, or did do, differently.

Do you have a variation of the recipe you think we should try? Let us know about it in the comments! We would love to hear your ideas! Alrighty, let’s get to this recipe…

(Quick reminder: Be sure to come back to the blog tomorrow for a recipe that uses the other 1/2 of the meatballs!)

Here is what you need:

For Meatballs (to be shared with Rigatoni Meatball Soup recipe that will be published on Meal Planning Mommies tomorrow):

1 pound 95% lean ground beef
1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Vegetables, Rice, and Sauce:

2 cups cooked rice
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 carrots, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the ingredients for the meatballs.

Scoop and shape 64-66 meatballs that are about 1 tablespoonful each. Place meatballs on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. (You will only use 1/2 of the meatballs for this recipe. Once they are cooled, refrigerate 1/2 of the meatballs to be used in the Rigatoni Meatball Soup recipe that will be shared tomorrow.)

If rice is not cooked, begin cooking the rice.

Meanwhile, drain the can of pineapples, reserving 1/2 cup of the juice.

Pour the 1/2 cup pineapple juice into a large stir fry skillet and whisk in the ketchup, ginger, vinegar, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil; add carrots and cook for 6-7 minutes over medium heat.

Mix in the bell pepper slices and pineapple; cook for 5-6 more minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch.

Mix cornstarch mixture and meatballs in with the sweet and sour vegetables. Cook 5-6 minutes, or until the meatballs are warmed and coated well in the sweet and sour sauce.

Serve 1/3 cup cooked rice with 1 cup of the sweet and sour meatball/vegetable mixture.

Makes 6 servings.
One serving is 1/3 cup cooked rice with 1 cup of the sweet and sour meatball/vegetable mixture.
One serving is 6 green, 6 blue, and 6 purple points.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Sweet and Sour Meatball Stir Fry

6 green, 6 blue, and 6 purple points per serving.

Makes: 6 servings

Calories: 278

Author: Alisha Hughes

Ingredients

For Meatballs (Use half of the meatballs for this recipe)

• 1 pound 95% lean ground beef
• 1 pound 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/4 cup fat-free milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

For Vegetables, Rice, and Sauce

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine the ingredients for the meatballs. Scoop and shape 64-66 meatballs that are about 1 tablespoonful each. Place meatballs on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. (You will only use 1/2 of the meatballs for this recipe. Once they are cooled, refrigerate 1/2 of the meatballs to be used in the Rigatoni Meatball Soup recipe that will be shared tomorrow.)
• If rice is not cooked, begin cooking the rice.
• Meanwhile, drain the can of pineapples, reserving 1/2 cup of the juice. Pour the 1/2 cup pineapple juice into a large stir fry skillet and whisk in the ketchup, ginger, vinegar, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce.
• Bring to a boil; add carrots and cook for 5-6 minutes over medium heat.
• Mix in the bell pepper slices and pineapple; cook for 5-6 more minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch. Mix cornstarch mixture and meatballs in with the sweet and sour vegetables. Cook 5-6 minutes, or until the meatballs are warmed and coated well in the sweet and sour sauce.
• Serve 1/3 cup cooked rice with 1 cup of the sweet and sour meatball/vegetable mixture.