3-Ingredient Hawaiian Meatballs

Try these easy 3-ingredient Hawaiian meatballs made with pineapple chunks, sloppy joe sauce, and frozen meatballs in the slow cooker.

Manwich (or any sloppy joe sauce for that matter) is a tomato puree-based sauce with a great blend of seasoning. This tangy tomato-based sauce would also taste fantastic over chicken or pork.

The whole family will love these easy meatballs. Hawaiian meatballs are versatile because they can be used as your main dish over white rice on busy weeknights, or they make for a great appetizer and perfect party food. Take your cook-and-carry Crockpot and a pack of toothpicks.

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Hawaiian meatballs are perfect for game days because they're the perfect party snack. For more easy meatball recipes, try these Instant Pot BBQ meatballs or these meatballs in pasta sauce.

Ingredients

This recipe calls for just three ingredients.

1. Frozen meatballs. Fully cooked frozen meatballs. I use Kroger brand homestyle meatballs.
2. Sloppy joe sauce. I use Manwich or Kroger brand. This can be found at the grocery store with other canned pantry goods.
3. Can of pineapple chunks. Drain the pineapple juice. I use canned Dole Pineapple Chunks or fresh pineapple if I have it.

See the recipe card for quantities.

Directions

Dump all three ingredients (meatballs, sloppy joe sauce, and drained pineapple chunks) into the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the meatballs, the pour sauce and pineapple chunks over top.

Tip: This recipe can be made with a slow cooker liner for easier cleanup.

Toss the ingredients so the sauce covers the meatballs.

Cook on HIGH for 2–3 hours.

Cooking Tip

Don't cook these meatballs for too long. With the slow cooker, it's tempting to let dishes cook for a long time, but this really only needs two hours to do the job.

This recipe calls for precooked meatballs, so the goal here really is to fully warm through the meatballs and allow the flavors to come together. If you cook for longer (say, overnight) you'll possibly end up with burnt sauce and overcooked meatballs.

To Serve

You can serve this over rice, as meatball sliders on King's Hawaiian Rolls, or using toothpicks for a potluck or party. To garnish, I recommend cilantro (pictured) or green onions.

Substitutions

• Frozen meatballs: You can use any type of fully-cooked frozen meatball with this recipe (homestyle meatballs, Italian meatballs, turkey meatballs, chicken meatballs, etc.) but they must be fully cooked. The cook time here is not appropriate for raw meat. The 26 oz frozen meatballs from Kroger have about 27 meatballs total for reference. You could also try homemade meatballs, though the cooking time will vary.
• Sloppy joe sauce: If you want a tomato-based Hawaiian meatball sauce similar to my sloppy joe creation, you can use your favorite BBQ sauce and a little bit of ketchup instead. Use a cup of BBQ and a half cup of ketchup (or go full barbecue with 1-½ cups BBQ sauce).
• Pineapple chunks: You can use canned crushed pineapple instead, but I prefer the chunky pineapple in the finished dish. The chunks are also better if you plan to serve this potluck-style.

Equipment

My slow cooker is a Crockpot 6-Quart Cook-and-Carry, but this Easy Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs recipe is small enough for a 4-quart slow cooker.

Storage

Store leftover Hawaiian meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Be sure to cover the container tightly to prevent air from getting in and drying out the meatballs. Reheat covered in the microwave until heated through.

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📖 Recipe

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