These are the best easy Hawaiian meatballs with a simple homemade Hawaiian BBQ sauce and pineapple chunks. They’re made in the slow cooker with frozen meatballs and require minimal effort, but they have maximum flavor.

Hawaiian Meatballs

These Hawaiian meatballs with pineapple are great to serve as an appetizer for game day, or to bring to a potluck. They also make an easy, quick, and delicious meal on busy weeknights.

This recipe uses frozen meatballs for convenience, but it’s smothered in an easy homemade Hawaiian BBQ sauce.

The sauce has a ketchup base to give it a tangy kick, dark brown sugar to give it the sticky molasses flavor and texture, soy sauce to add the saltiness and umami, pineapple chunks and juice to add a fruit element, fresh ginger and garlic to add to the Hawaiian vibe, and a little red pepper flakes to add just a little zing without too much heat.

I’ve made these Hawaiian sweet and sour meatballs with both the beef and Italian meatballs, and I preferred the Italian meatballs because the seasoned meatballs tasted better and didn’t change the flavor of the sauce. I would also recommend using a good quality meatball so that they don’t break apart and get too mushy while slow cooking.

I also tried cooking them on both HIGH and LOW and preferred the way they turned out cooked on HIGH for a shorter time, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this as a recipe to cook all day on LOW.

One of my favorite parts about this recipe is that there’s lots of extra sauce in the Crockpot once it’s done cooking. That’s perfect if you’re going to serve these pineapple meatballs over rice or pasta because there’s plenty of sauce to drizzle over your meal.

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Ingredients

Meatballs: You can use chicken, turkey, pork, or beef meatballs in this recipe. I like using frozen cooked Italian meatballs because they add a nice layer of flavor to the finished dish.

The only really important thing is to make sure that you’re using meatballs that are safe to cook in the slow cooker. Frozen meatballs that are already cooked are safe to cook in the slow cooker because they’re essentially reheating. Raw meatballs that aren’t frozen are safe to cook in the slow cooker because they’ll cook fast enough to get out of the danger zone in time. Raw frozen meatballs are NOT safe to cook in the slow cooker because they’ll spend too much time in the temperature danger zone.

Canned Pineapple Chunks: Canned pineapple (both the pineapple chunks and the pineapple juice) is what brings the “Hawaiian” flavor element to this recipe. It adds a sweet, fruity, tangy, bright, and slightly acidic flavor that balances out the other flavors super well.

Ketchup: Ketchup is so great to use as the base of the sauce because it’s already relatively thick, making it super easy to create a nice glaze out of it. It also adds a delicious tomato flavor and some sweetness.

Dark Brown Sugar: This sweetens the sauce, and the molasses content in dark sugar creates an almost caramel-like flavor element. Using dark brown sugar also creates a thicker sauce than light brown sugar does. You can swap this for light brown sugar, but it won’t have the same depth of flavor or thickness.

Soy Sauce: Soy sauce adds salty, savory, and umami flavors to this dish. It adds such an incredible amount of depth of flavor for being just one ingredient. Feel free to swap this for coconut aminos if that’s what you keep on hand.

Rice Wine Vinegar: This helps cut through the sweetness of the recipe, balancing the overall flavor and making it taste lighter with that tang. Feel free to use apple cider vinegar if that’s what you have on hand.

Garlic, Ginger, and Red Pepper Flakes: Garlic is aromatic and savory. Ginger is warming, fragrant, and helps cut through the sweetness in this recipe with its subtle spice. It’s also great when paired with pineapple, and definitely adds to the “Hawaiian” flavor profile here. Crushed red pepper flakes add a little bit of heat that also balances out the sweet flavors. Feel free to swap the red pepper flakes for some Sriracha or leave it out if you’re serving little kids.

How To Make Hawaiian Meatballs

Add the Meatballs: Spray the sides of a Crock-Pot with cooking spray, then add the frozen meatballs and drained pineapple chunks. (See the recipe card below for the full printable instructions.)

Make the Sauce: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the reserved pineapple juice, ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes until fully combined.

Cook: Pour the sauce over the meatballs, cover with the lid, and cook, stirring halfway through.

Rest and Serve: Once done, give everything a good stir, remove the lid, and let the meatballs rest for a bit to allow the sauce to thicken slightly before serving. See the recipe card below for the full written instructions, including ingredient amounts, cooking times, and helpful tips, etc.

Pro Tips

• Rest Before Serving: The little bit of rest time at the end before serving the meatballs makes a big difference. It lets the sauce thicken up a bit, which turns it into a beautiful glaze.
• Stir Halfway Through Cooking: Stirring halfway through cooking helps the meatballs cook evenly and ensures they’re all coated in sauce. If you don’t stir the meatballs, some of them at the bottom can end up darker, while the ones on top won’t be as saucy.

What Is The Main Flavor In Hawaiian Meatballs?

The main flavor is a sweet tangy flavor from the combination of ketchup, brown sugar, pineapple, and rice wine vinegar. There’s also an element of savory elements to balance it all out from the soy sauce, meatballs, garlic, and warming ginger.

What Kind Of Meat Is Best For Hawaiian Meatballs?

A 50/50 blend of ground pork and ground beef will give you the best combination of the rich pork flavor and the hearty beef flavor. That combination also makes perfectly tender meatballs.

What To Serve With Hawaiian Meatballs?

I normally serve them as an appetizer, so I just serve them with toothpicks for easy eating. I also love serving these over rice or fried rice for an easy dinner. They also taste great with noodles, in a sub roll as a sandwich, or served with Hawaiian macaroni salad or with pineapple coleslaw.

What Vegetables Go With Meatballs?

For Hawaiian meatballs specifically, vegetables that can hold up well to the tangy sweet sauce work best. Veggies like roasted broccoli, sauteed snap peas, steamed edamame, bell pepper strips, or bok choy are great.

Storing And Freezing

After the leftovers have cooled, transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, heat them gently over medium-low heat on the stove (with a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much).

Keep In Touch

I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime

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Dinner Recipes

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out all of our other dinner recipes. Some reader favorites are:

• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Cajun BBQ Meatball Sliders
• Teriyaki Chicken Bites
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast
• Turkey Sliders
• Cajun Rice
• Roasted Baby Potatoes
• Frozen Chicken Thighs in Air Fryer
• Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

These Hawaiian meatballs make such a great main dish or easy appetizer that’s sure to be a family favorite in no time!