Sweet + Sour Meatballs

Ya ever just wake up and NEED to have something certain to eat? All day yesterday I was craving sweet and sour meatballs. How weird is that? I was pleased to hear that when Frank got home, he was into it too. About 30 minutes later we were chowing down on these babies. Tangy, spicy, and sweet, the marinade for these meatballs would be just as great on seafood, or to marinate chicken. I also think it'd be just as good with turkey meatballs - although ground beef was all I had last night. Check it out.

If you haven't made my traditional meatballs yet, then you'd know they are pretty easy to whip up. Ground beef or turkey, an egg, some breadcrumbs and seasonings and your meatball mixture is ready. In this case, I made the meatballs with just breadcrumbs, salt and pepper since I knew the flavor of the sauce would take over.

In a small bowl I combined orange juice, sriracha, mustard, my favorite BBQ sauce, garlic, and dried minced onion. I also added some fresh chopped cilantro into the sauce as well as on top after they were done cooking. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and roll out your meatballs. Then, over medium/high heat in a cast iron pan, drizzle a little EVOO and sear the meatballs, a few minutes on each side. When browned, turn off heat and baste the meatballs with the sauce and place in the oven. I cooked for about 20 minutes and basted every 5-7 minutes until all my sauce was gone.

The sugar in the BBQ sauce caramelizes and the tangy-ness from the mustard really shine through. If you prefer a more vinegary flavor, use apple cider vinegar instead of the mustard (or add it too) Enjoy!

Sweet + Sour Meatballs

Prep TIme: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey

• 1 egg

• 1 cup breadcrumbs

• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon dried minced onion

• 1 teaspoon sriracha

• 1 teaspoon brown mustard (I used Eden's)

• 1/3 cup orange juice (I used blood orange by Natalie's)

• 1/3 cup your favorite BBQ sauce (I love Stubbs Original)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a bowl, mix together meatballs and roll out to desired sized meatballs - I like mine a little smaller for this.

3. In a second bowl, whisk together all ingredients for sauce.

4. In a cast iron over medium high heat with a little EVOO, sear each meatball all around, a few minutes per side. Turn the heat off and baste each meatball with the sauce and place in oven.

5. Bake meatballs for about 20-30 minutes until cooked through, basting every 5-7 minutes until all the sauce is used up.

6. Serve and enjoy.

xx

Rita