Waikiki Meatballs

These meatballs are delicious and pretty easy to make. This was one of my favorite dinners growing up, and last night this totally hit the spot. Hope you like it! Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Waikiki Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2/3 cup cracker crumbs

1/3 cup minced onion

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 cup milk

1 TBS. shortening

Sauce:

2 TBS. cornstarch

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vinegar

1 TBS. soy sauce

Juice from 1 can (15 oz.) pineapple (reserve pineapple)

Mix beef, cracker crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger, and milk. Shape into meatballs. Brown meatballs in skillet with shortening. For the sauce, mix cornstarch and brown sugar, and then add pineapple juice, vinegar, and soy sauce. Mix until smooth. Pour sauce over meatballs, stirring until mixture thickens. Add the pineapple. Serve over rice. 

Tips and Tricks:

• If you don't have cracker crumbs, seasoned breadcrumbs will also work. I didn't even have enough of those to get the full 2/3 cup, so I used cornmeal to make up the rest, and I couldn't even tell the difference!
• If you end up using seasoned breadcrumbs, you can get away with using less salt. You can probably use less salt regardless--I added just under 1 teaspoon instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. 
• You can use pineapple tidbits, pineapple chunks, or crushed pineapple. I usually only use about 1/2 of the pineapple. (But you will need all of the juice for the sauce.)
•  Use low sodium soy sauce--you can't even taste the difference!
• Like the directions say, mix the brown sugar and cornstarch together very well before you add the liquids. This will save you from having little white clumps of cornstarch in your sauce.