These 3-Ingredient Hawaiian Meatballs are one of my favorite shortcut recipes for busy weeknights, game day gatherings, and potlucks. Made with frozen meatballs, sloppy joe sauce, and pineapple chunks, this easy slow cooker recipe delivers a sweet and tangy Hawaiian flavor with almost no prep work.
If you need an easy appetizer or simple dinner, these Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs check all the boxes. Just add the ingredients to the crock pot, let everything heat together, and serve over white rice, on Hawaiian rolls, or with toothpicks for a crowd-friendly appetizer.
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.
Shortcut Notes
- Only 3 ingredients: This 3 ingredient Hawaiian meatballs recipe uses simple grocery store ingredients you can keep on hand.
- Dump-and-go recipe: Add the ingredients to the slow cooker and let it do the work.
- Perfect for parties: These Hawaiian meatballs are perfect for game day, potlucks, holiday gatherings, and family dinners.
Why You'll Love These Hawaiian Meatballs
These easy Hawaiian meatballs are the kind of recipe I keep in my back pocket when I need something simple. The combination of tangy sauce, juicy pineapple chunks, and tender meatballs creates a sweet and sour flavor that's always a hit.
They're versatile enough to serve as an easy weeknight meal or as an appetizer for a crowd. I especially love Hawaiian meatballs for game day because they stay warm in the crockpot and are easy to serve with a toothpick.
Ingredients
This recipe calls for just three ingredients.
- Frozen meatballs. Use fully cooked frozen meatballs. Homestyle meatballs, turkey meatballs, chicken meatballs, or Italian-style meatballs all work well. I use Kroger brand homestyle meatballs.
- Sloppy joe sauce. Manwich creates a sweet and tangy sauce that pairs perfectly with pineapple. It offers a great alternative to traditional barbecue sauce.
- Can of pineapple chunks. Canned pineapple chunks provide the classic Hawaiian flavor. Drain the pineapple juice before adding them to the slow cooker.
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.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these pineapple meatballs over white rice for an easy family dinner.
For parties, transfer the crockpot Hawaiian meatballs directly to a serving table and offer toothpicks for easy snacking.
They also make excellent meatball sliders on Hawaiian rolls. For a little freshness, garnish with sliced green onions or chopped cilantro.
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.
The Best Slow Cooker
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You do not need to thaw frozen meatballs before adding them to the slow cooker. This recipe is designed to use frozen meatballs straight from the freezer. Using frozen meatballs keeps prep work to a minimum and makes this one of the easiest slow cooker recipes you'll make.
📖 Recipe
3-Ingredient Hawaiian Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 26 oz frozen meatballs fully cooked
- 15 oz sloppy joe sauce
- 8 oz pineapple chunks drained
Instructions
- Add meatballs, sloppy joe sauce, and pineapple to the bottom of the slow cooker. Toss ingredients so the sauce covers the meatballs.
- Cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours. The meatballs should be cooked to 165ºF (74ºC).
Notes
Nutrition
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Craving more recipes like this? Try one of these:
Kelsey says
The Manwich sauce is amazing with these meatballs.