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When you need a fast and easy meal that your family will love, keep this slow cooker Hawaiian meatballs recipe on hand for a tasty main dish. It also makes a great appetizer for a party! These meatballs come together so easily, it’s almost no work at all!

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs

I can’t say enough how much my family loved this slow cooker meatball recipe. It was so easy to make this recipe that my 11 year old did all the prep work, then just threw it all in the crock pot to cook on low during the day. We serve over rice.

Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe

The reason this is such a great recipe is because it’s not only easy and delicious, it’s super versatile. You can make it in a crockpot or in an electric pressure cooker. You can use frozen meatballs (beef meatballs or turkey meatballs work), or make your own homemade meatballs. We also throw an extra batch into a freezer ziploc bag for a future meal.

How to Make Hawaiian Meatballs

32 oz frozen meatballs (any brand of frozen meatballs works)

1 each red, orange, yellow bell pepper

20 oz can pineapple chunks, with the pineapple juice

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste*

Directions:

Add the meatballs into your slow cooker or instant pot. Dice up your bell peppers and toss them in. Open your pineapple chunks (you can use crushed pineapple, if that’s what you prefer. I don’t think it matters what kind of pineapple you use). In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, minced garlic, and white vinegar. This makes basically a tangy bbq sauce for your Hawaiian meatballs. Pour the sauce over the meatballs. Give everything a good stir and then set your slow cooker for the cook time you need. If you’re doing this first thing in the morning, cook it low and slow for 8-10 hours. Do you need it faster? Set it to medium for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. If using from a freezer meal, transfer from the freezer to the fridge the day before.

If you are using your instant pot, add meatballs, pineapple and peppers to the slow cooker. Add bbq sauce mixture and stir. Cook for 7-8 mins on high pressure. Manual quick release. If using from freezer meal, add 1/3 cup water.

*Recipe Note

I have found that with the soy sauce and teriyaki sauce, there really isn’t a need for extra salt. So make sure you taste it before you add extra!

Also, if you are going to make your own meatballs, you want to make sure that you cook the meatballs first before you place the meatballs in the slow cooker so the meatballs don’t fall apart during the slow cooking process.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs

Now if you are making this easy slow cooker meal for a big group, you may want to double this recipe. For our family of 8, we all love it some much that we double the recipe so we can have leftover Hawaiian meatballs for another meal.

If you are using this as an appetizer, I would suggest leaving them in the slow cooker and having toothpicks for people to grab them with. For a cute, easy appetizer, you can skewer each meatball with a chunk of fresh pineapple.

For a main dish, you can prepare the sauce separately and add a little bit of cornstarch to thicken it, then take pre cooked meatballs, alternate skewering them with chunks of pineapple and bell peppers. Then pour the sauce over the meatballs and pineapple. Serve our Hawaiian meatballs over rice with Hawaiian rolls on the side and you have a full meal!

Whether you’re making them for an easy party appetizer or main dish, these meatballs come through with delicious Hawaiian flavor for such a simple recipe. If you make these easy slow cooker meatballs, let us know if you enjoy this recipe!

Recipe FAQ

Q: How do you store leftover meatballs?

A: We have found that it’s best to store them covered in the fridge and eat them within 3 or 4 days.

Q: How should I go about re heating the meatballs?

A: If you plan on using them all for a full meal, you can do it in your slow cooker or on the stovetop, or microwave. If you are only doing a single serving, we suggest the microwave.

Q: Do I need to thaw the frozen meatballs first before adding them to the slow cooker?

A: Nope! You can toss them in straight out of the freezer.

Q: I don’t really like sweet and sour sauce or sweet and sour meatballs, is this the same thing?

A: These Hawaiian meatballs smothered in a sweet and tangy sauce are not the same as sweet and sour meatballs!

Q: If I double the recipe, will it fit in one crock pot?

A: Unless you have a really large one, I would probably use 2 slow cookers if you are making a double batch.