Our family loves these meatballs! And, you will never guess the ingredient that puts them over the top. That's right, GINGERSNAPS, I must admit I had to do some looking to find the cookies. During the pandemic it has been more challenging to find what I need in the grocery store. This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe from Taste of Home Cookbooks. I can't take all the credit.
You start by making the meatballs and then you can use the same pan to make your sauce. I am all about doing fewer dishes in the end. While the meatballs cook I make my mashed potatoes. If you haven't figured it out from my past blogs, I love mashed potatoes. Especially in this cold North Dakota weather. Here are the ingredients you will need to make these incredible meatballs with a sweet and tangy sauce. They make a large batch so you will have plenty for left overs.
Have you noticed that onions only seem to come in one size these days, large. Start by chopping up the onion. Add the onion to your ground beef but by all means do not use a large onion or you will have onion meatballs with a taste of ground beef. Add in the bread crumbs, 3 eggs and salt. That does it for the meatball ingredients.
Mix together with a spoon or your clean hands.
Shape your meatballs into 1½ inch balls.
Next! Take a large pan. Of course I used my Pampered Chef Pan, turn the stove top on to medium and brown the meatballs. I make sure not to put to many in at once or it causes problems. Overcrowding is never a good thing.
Once they are browned move the meatballs to a 9 x 13 dish. You could also use a deep casserole dish.
Time to start the sauce. In the same pan you browned the meatballs you want to add 4 cups of tomato juice. Yep, I can hear the sizzle. Add the brown sugar to the tomato juice.
Next add in the vinegar and gingersnaps. Make sure to break up the cookies a bit before you add them in the sauce.
Bring this mixture to a boil then turn the heat down. It will scorch if you don't.
Pour over the top of the meatballs that have been sitting in your pan. The sauce is very hot! Be careful please.
Cook at 350° for 40 minutes. Or if you are lucky enough to have a meat thermometer it should read at least 165 internally.
Sweet and Saucy Meatballs
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Oven temp: 350°
Bake time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
3 eggs
1¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ teaspoon salt
4 cups tomato juice
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
10 ginger snaps
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine onion with your ground beef.
Add the eggs, bread crumbs and salt with the mixture. Use a spoon or your hands to combine.
Form into 1½inch balls.
Heat a large pan on medium heat. Brown the meatballs. (do not cook through)
Transfer to a 9 x 13 pan.
To make the sauce add 4 cups tomato juice to the pan you browned the meatballs in.
Add the brown sugar. Stir to combine.
Add the vinegar and broken up gingersnaps. Bring to a boil.
Turn heat off once it reaches a boil.
Pour over the meatballs.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Enjoy!
Missy's Memos
To make this gluten free use oatmeal instead of bread crumbs. I have done this and it works beautifully.
This recipe makes great leftovers.