Vegan Waikiki Meatballs
With just 8 ingredients, these easy vegan Waikiki meatballs are a perfect weeknight meal. Packed with protein, and kid friendly, they are sure to be a hit with your entire family!
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 Tablespoon neutral cooking oil (I use avocado oil)
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 1 can (15 ounces) pineapple (juice reserved for sauce, see notes)
- 2 bags (~25 ounces) frozen meatballs (I used gardein 12 ounce bags, I also really like Trader Joe's meatless meatballs)
For the Sauce:
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a large skillet and warm over medium heat.
- Add the onions to the pan and cook for a few minutes, until beginning to brown.
- Drain the pineapples and reserve the juice for the sauce.
- Add the pineapples to the skillet and stir.
- Add the meatballs to the pan, and allow to brown on medium low heat while you quickly make the sauce.
- Mix the reserved pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and ginger together.
- Separately mix the cornstarch and cold water into a slurry. Add to the sauce and mix well.
- Pour the sauce over the meatball mixture and stir well.
- Place a lid over the meatballs and allow to simmer in the sauce for about 10 minutes, or until fork tender.
- Remove the lid from the meatballs, and give a final stir. Ensure that the meatballs are heated all the way through.
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
Notes
My can of pineapple yielded 3/4 cup of juice. If you don't have canned pineapple you can use frozen (or even fresh) pineapple. You can sub the pineapple juice with orange juice if you have that on hand!