Hawaiian Pineapple BBQ Meatballs – Slow Cooker Recipe

These Hawaiian Pineapple BBQ meatballs are the perfect recipe for your next backyard BBQ or luau party! Sweet, sour, and absolutely delicious, these homemade meatballs are cooked low and slow in a glaze of BBQ sauce and crushed pineapple.

It’s all about the sauce

These sweet and sour Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs are made from scratch, then slow cooked to perfection with BBQ sauce and crushed pineapple. An easy recipe perfect for busy weeknight dinners, you can always cut more time out of the process by substituting frozen meatballs instead. This easy Crockpot meal is one of my family’s favorites! I love to serve mini meatballs with toothpicks for a memorable party appetizer, especially if it’s a Hawaiian luau party theme.

The secret is in the sauce for these tasty homemade meatballs. The Crockpot meatballs get to marinade for hours in the sweet and sour pineapple BBQ sauce. It’s both simple and extremely addictive! And yes, it only needs two intredients: crushed pineapples and BBQ sauce — it doesn’t get much easier than that.

If you’ve never made meatballs from scratch, don’t be intimidated — give it a try! Homemade meatballs are actually really easy to make and don’t take very long. Plus, when you make your own, you can customize the flavor by adding spice, extra onions, or even bell peppers. I make them in large batches and freeze them so that I can just make these Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs on busy weeknights.

Love using your Crockpot for your weeknight dinners? Check out these other tasty slow cooker recipes.

Ingredients for slow cooker Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs

For these slow cooker Hawaiian meatballs from scratch, I used ground beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, orange pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper. To make the glaze for the meatballs, all you need are crushed pineapples and your favorite store-bought or homemade BBQ sauce.

How to make slow cooker Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs

Step 1. First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Then line 1-2 rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2. Next mix together the ingredients for the meatballs, including eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, orange pepper, garlic diced, ground beef, salt, pepper. Then, using a meatball scoop, portion out equal-sized meatballs.

• Small 1″ meatballs are ideal for serving on toothpicks or with mini forks.
• Larger 2″ meatballs are better for eating in a sandwich or over rice as a meal.

Step 3. Once the meatballs are divided into balls, it is time to brown them. You can either bake or pan fry the meatballs.

• To pan fry them, first heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Then add meatballs, stirring regularly to brown all sides.
• To bake them, first arrange the meatballs on a baking tray so they don’t touch. Then bake the meatballs for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F.

NOTE: The meatballs do not have to be cooked all the way through, just browned on the outside so they stay together while the meatballs slow cook in the Crockpot.

Step 4. While meatballs are cooking, make the pineapple BBQ sauce. Simply mix together crushed pineapple and BBQ sauce.

Step 5. Next place the partially cooked meatballs in the slow cooker and pour the sauce on top. Then cook 4 hours on high heat, stirring occasionally to redistribute the sauce. Finally, serve the Hawaiian meatballs on rolls, on rice, or with toothpicks for an appetizer.

FAQs

Should you use homemade or store bought meatballs in the crock pot?

This recipe for Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs includes a recipe to make meatballs from scratch. However, you don’t have to make the meatballs from scratch; frozen meatballs will do if you’re in a rush.

How do you serve slow cooked Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs?

Make an easy weeknight dinner by serving slow cooker Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs on hoagie rolls or on top of rice. You can also make mini meatballs and serve them with toothpicks or mini forks for a party. These are perfect for a luau party, too!

Do you need brown sugar to make slow cooker Hawaiian meatballs?

I don’t use brown sugar in my recipe and it’s deliciously sweet and sour. This Hawaiian meatball recipe has no added sugar beyond the BBQ sauce and crushed pineapples.

Can you make Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs ahead?

Absolutely! We like to buy in bulk once a month at Costco so we always have leftover ground beef to make scratch made hamburgers. To help them last longer, we vacuum seal burgers to cook sous vide style later.

Kitchen tools to help

Seriously delicious meat. Get something special to cook from my affiliate partners. This recipe featured meat from Crowd Cow. Crowd Cow and Snake River Farms ship craft butcher cuts of meat right to your door. I love buying meat delivery in bulk. When my butcher order arrives, I usually vacuum seal meat and often sous vide from frozen.

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Final tips for making slow cooked Hawaiian pineapple BBQ meatballs

• These slow cooker pineapple BBQ meatballs are a great appetizer. Serve them with mini forks or toothpicks.
• Serve Hawaiian BBQ meatballs as a main dish over rice or in sandwich rolls.
• You can substitute a bag of frozen meatballs.
• Want an easy freezer meal? Freeze made from scratch meatballs for a couple months. Pack individual servings in airtight containers so they are easier to reheat. Pre-package the BBQ pineapple sauce in plastic bags, so it is easy to thaw over night and cook them in the crock pot when you want to make them again.
• Add some spice to this recipe by adding crushed red pepper in the meatballs.
• Use a meatball scoop set to make perfect appetizer and entree sized meatballs.
• If you’re doing the meatballs from scratch, you can use ground turkey, lean ground beef or pork.
• Store these slow cooked Hawaiian BBQ meatballs in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
• You can use them as an easy snack by reheating them in the microwave!
• Planning a Hawaiian luau? Check out this pineapple mimosa recipe and ideas for throwing a luau party.
• If you’re a big BBQ fan, check out this recipe for 24 hour sous vide beef ribs. The sous vide technique makes really, really tender ribs and they’re slathered in BBQ sauce.

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