Gluten-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs

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These sweet and tangy gluten-free sweet and sour turkey meatballs are perfect as a weeknight meal or sn easy game-day appetizer.

Prep Time15

Cook Time18

Total Time33

Course: Appetizer, Dinner

Cuisine: American, Asian, Italian

Keyword: asian meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs, turkey meatballs

Servings: meatballs

Calories: 60kcal

Author: Jenny Levine Finke

Equipment

1 9x13 casserole dish
1 large sauce pan

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil or avocado cooking spray

Meatballs

1 pound lean ground turkey
¼ cup onion blended in a food processor or finely chopped
½ cup gluten-free panko breadcrumbs
1 egg large
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Sweet and Sour Sauce

½ cup ketchup
½ cup water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons chopped parsley for garnish - optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish with oil or avocado oil spray.
Mix the turkey, onion, panko, egg, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl by hand, then form the mixture into 20 1-1.5” balls. Place the meatballs in the prepared baking dish in a single layer.
Bake the meatballs for 12 minutes or until they're lightly browned all around. They won't be fully cooked when you remove them from the oven.
Whisk all the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat until the mixture bubbles, then add the cooked meatballs to the sauce. Turn the meatballs frequently to coat them with the sauce. The sauce will thicken, and the meatballs will continue to cook for about 5-7 minutes. Check for doneness by cutting into a meatball and ensuring it's fully cooked (no pink).

Notes

Ground Meat: You could use any ground meat, including ground beef, pork, chicken, or turkey. I like using turkey because it's lean. However, ground beef would make a more savory and crowd-pleasing choice.

Breadcrumbs: I used gluten-free panko breadcrumbs from Kinnikinnick for this recipe. You could use any gluten-free panko breadcrumbs you can find or use plain breadcrumbs instead. If you can't find gluten-free breadcrumbs, you could also substitute brown rice flour.

Onion: I love the taste of fresh onion inside my meatballs, but to save time, you could omit the onion and add one teaspoon of onion powder instead. The meatballs will be slightly smaller without the chopped onion.

Egg-Free Option: An egg is necessary to bind the ingredients together and add fluff to the meatball. I suggest using it. Alternatively, you could use an egg substitute or flax egg. To make a flax egg, mix one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with three tablespoons of warm water. Mix and allow it to sit for five minutes at room temperature to gel. You could also omit the egg, but if you do, you may want to cut the breadcrumbs in half to avoid having hard meatballs.

For more tips, see the full article above.

Nutrition