Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 1-2 rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix together ingredients for meatballs (eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, orange pepper, garlic diced, ground beef, salt, pepper). Using an ice cream scoop, portion out equal-sized meatballs, either 1" or 2". Smaller meatballs are better for serving on toothpicks. Larger meatballs are better for eating in a sandwich or over rice as a meal.
Bake or pan fry meatballs. To bake them, arrange meatballs on a baking tray so they don't touch. Bake meatballs 20 minutes at 375. To pan fry them, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan on medium. Add meatballs, stirring regularly to brown all sides. The meatballs don't have to be fully cooked inside since they'll finish cooking in the crock pot.
While meatballs are cooking, make the pineapple BBQ sauce. Mix together crushed pineapple and BBQ sauce.
Place partially cooked meatballs in the crock pot and pour the sauce on top. Cook 4 hours on high, stirring occasionally to redistribute the sauce. Serve on rolls, on rice, or with toothpicks for an appetizer.
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Notes
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!