A wooden table topped with bowls of food.
A pan of meatballs cooking in sauce.
A bowl of meatballs and rice with sauce.

How about savory meatballs dressed up with sweet and sour sauce with chunks of pineapple for dinner? Pretty good, huh? But wait…there’s more! Ladle them over a bowl of steaming pasta and you’re in for a real treat! I use Beyond Meat’s meatballs, canned pineapple, Trader Joe’s Italian artisan pasta, and home made sweet and sour sauce. Feel free to use a jar of sweet and sour if you have it on hand. And if you have fresh pineapple, by all means use that Just keep in mind you’ll need ¾ cup of pineapple juice if you’re making the sweet and sour sauce.

Prep Time: 30 minutes (add 15 minutes if you’re making the sweet and sour sauce).

Serves: 2-3 people. Expecting more for dinner? Simply double the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 package Beyond Meat meatballs
  • ½ to 1 tablespoon olive oil, DIVIDED
  • 1 package dry pasta of your choice *See Notes
  • ½ to 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 can of pineapple tidbits or chunks in 100% juice
  • 1 ½ cups of sweet and sour sauce, bottled or homemade, see recipe below
  • Fresh organic parsley

Instructions

  • In a large skillet heat ½ tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add meatballs and lower heat to medium.
  • Brown meatballs evenly by frequently turning them with tongs or a spatula while cooking. This will take around 10 minutes.
  • While meatballs are browning, heat 4 quarts of water in a large stock pot.
  • When water comes to a boil, add kosher salt and remaining tablespoon of olive oil to water, then add pasta.
  • Follow directions for al dente pasta. Remember it will continue to cook after drained and you don’t want mushy pasta with your meatballs!
  • Drain pasta well, then return to stockpot.
  • Drain the canned pineapple and reserve the sauce. Use it in your sweet and sour sauce if making that at home OR save for another recipe. Tip – it makes a great addition to smoothies!
  • Once meatballs are nicely browned, stir in the sweet and sour sauce and pineapple tidbits or chunks and cook for a few more minutes to heat thoroughly.
  • Fill serving bowls about 2/3 full of pasta.
  • Ladle meatballs and sauce over pasta.
  • Garnish with fresh parsley and dig in!

Sweet and Sour Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 3/4 cup pineapple juice
  • 2 tablespoons organic rice vinegar
  • 1/3 cup light brown or coconut sugar
  • 3 tablespoons organic ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoons water, if needed
  • Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Add all other ingredients to a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat for about 5 minutes, just until it begins to simmer.
  • Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and cook for another few minutes.
  • If sauce is too thick, add one to two tablespoons of water to thin it out.

*Notes on the pasta: I chose Trader Joe’s artisan pasta which comes in a 500 gram package (1 lb., 1.6 ounces) package. I decided to cook the entire package knowing I probably wouldn’t need all of it for this recipe. I was right! I used the leftover pasta as a delicious addition to a batch of vegetable soup…yum. Another of my favorite brands of pasta is De Cecco. Cavatappi would be perfect for this recipe. Don’t want the extra pasta? Just use half of the package/box.