Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs (Gluten Free)
These Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs are the perfect easy weeknight meal! They’re gluten & soy-free, and made with a homemade sweet and sour sauce.
My husband recently texted me a photo of sweet and sour chicken that he had for lunch out during work and I was immediately jealous! Sweet and sour chicken is such a comforting classic with it’s red sauce, tender chicken and burst of flavor.
I was inspired to make my own version with hidden veggie chicken meatballs, and a soy and gluten free sauce that tastes just as yummy as the real deal.
Why you’ll love this Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs
- Sweet and sour flavor made allergen friendly! Sweet and sour chicken is typically made with gluten and soy, but these meatballs have all the flavor without the allergens.
- Hidden veggie meatballs! I love adding some hidden veggies in the meatballs that add nutrients.
The Ingredients for Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs
- White Onion, Garlic, and Carrot. These add flavor and nutrients to meatballs making them a hidden veggie meatball packed with flavor.
- Ground Chicken. You can sub ground turkey.
- Coconut Flour.
- Avocado Oil, Salt, and Pepper.
- Pineapple Juice, Chicken Broth, Rice Vinegar, Coconut Aminos, Coconut Sugar, Ketchup, and Arrowroot Starch. You’ll need these ingredients to make the sweet and sour sauce.
How to make Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs
- Step One. Saute the onions and garlic and set aside.
- Step Two. Add the ground chicken, carrot, coconut flour, salt, pepper, along with the remainder of the avocado oil and onion and garlic mixture.
- Step Three. Form the mixture into meatballs and bake in the oven.
- Step Four. Make the sweet and sour sauce.
- Step Five. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce.
- Step Six. Remove from stove and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Simmer the sauce until it’s thick! You really want the sauce to be thick so it can coat the meatballs well, so make sure it coats the back of a spoon well before adding the meatballs.
- Adjust the thickness of the sauce with more or less arrowroot starch. If you wind up over-simmering the sauce to where it’s too thick, add a splash of chicken broth and stir to thin it out. If you want it even thicker, add a slurry of 1 tsp arrowroot starch and 2 tsp chicken broth.
Storage and reheating instructions
You can store the meatballs in the fridge for 3-4 days or freeze for up to a month. To reheat, I highly recommend adding it to a pan and reheating on low heat on the stove. Add a splash of chicken broth to thin out the sauce if it’s too thick.
What to serve with sweet and sour meatballs?
- Steamed rice
- Cauliflower rice
- Steamed or roasted broccoli
- Noodles
- Etc!
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Sweet & Sour Chicken Meatballs (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- For the meatballs
- 2 tbsp avocado oil divided
- ¼ white onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup carrot finely shredded
- 1 lb ground chicken sub ground turkey
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper omit for AIP
- For the sauce
- ½ cup pineapple juice drained from canned pineapple
- 3 tbsp chicken broth
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp ketchup use this for AIP
- 2 tsp arrowroot
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside
- Using a medium pan, heat 1 tbsp of avocado oil over medium-low heat. Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes or until lightly translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
- Add the ground chicken, carrot, coconut flour, salt, pepper, along with the remainder of the avocado oil and onion and garlic mixture. Mix well to combine.
- Form the mixture into meatballs and place on the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, flipping halfway through. The internal temperature should read 165 F. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- To make the sweet and sour sauce, combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Preheat a large, deep pan over medium-low heat and add the sauce. Bring to a low simmer and lightly stir. The sauce should be thick and shimmering.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the meatballs to the sauce. Rotate the meatballs to coat in the sauce and allow the flavors to combine.
- Remove from the heat and top with green onion. Serve with a side of rice or cauliflower rice and veggies of your choice.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 342kcalCarbohydrates: 28.9gProtein: 20.6gFat: 16.4gFiber: 1.3g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
