Every cuisine has its own version of meatballs. What type of meatball recipe did you grow up with? For me, it was this Chicken Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce that my mom often put in my bento (lunch box). I especially loved the sweet and sour sauce called Amazu (甘酢) – a Chinese-style sauce adapted to Japanese tastes. Cooking this chicken meatball recipe always brings back fond images of my mom in the kitchen. It really brings me joy to make it now for my children to pass on this tradition.

Here Are 3 Reasons Why You Want to Make These Chicken Meatballs Tonight

1. A Total Crowd Pleaser

Smothered in flavorful sauce, these juicy chicken meatballs are so good that the pickiest eater in the house would give the recipe a big thumbs-up. You can serve the meatballs with steamed rice or noodles, or even as appetizer at a party. Just be ready to share the recipe when someone asks for it. 🙂

2. Easy-to-find Ingredients

You don’t need fancy Japanese ingredients to make this recipe, but I hope you already have soy sauce (and rice vinegar, as regular white vinegar is much stronger than rice vinegar).

3. Freezer-Friendly

Too busy to cook every day? Make these meatballs in a large batch and freeze the leftover for your kids’ lunch, your bring-to-work lunch, or emergency food.

5 Tips for Making the Best Chicken Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

1. Knead the meat mixture until pale in color

You might have seen this tip in my gyoza or Tsukune (Japanese meatball) recipes, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to knead the mixture well. If you don’t want to touch the raw meat mixture, get this plastic gloves. I use them to make kimchi and knead meat mixture like this.

I’m not much of a baker who makes cookies all year round, yet I utilize my cookie dough scoop as much as those cookie making bakers! Why? Because it is great to make uniformly-size meatballs, as well as keeping your hands clean.

3. Refrigerate meatballs

After shaping the meatballs, let them rest in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. Your warm hands melt the fat (umami) of the mixture, so this helps to re-solidify the meatballs before cooking.

4. Boil the meatballs

In the classic Chinese recipe, the meatballs are usually deep fried (and they are delicious!). However, many of you prefer healthier, easier, and no deep-frying recipes so I tried boiling meatballs. It may sound unnecessary, but boiling yields a fantastic texture if you choose not to deep-fry. I learned that all the delicious flavors that might leak into water eventually get absorbed back into the meatballs when we cook them without water. Inside the meatballs stay juicy and tender, and I am happy to find a good alternative to deep frying method.

5. Make extra sauce

As you may already know Japanese eat bento at room temperature at school. I remember all the savory sauce on the main dish tasted better when it has more sauce/seasoning on it, especially when you eat plain cold rice. In this recipe, you may find there is slightly more sauce than you may need. That’s because I think you’re going to enjoy the extra saucy meatballs with your rice or noodles! You can freeze the leftover too if you like.

Sake Pairing for Chicken Meatballs with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Takara Sakes are renowned for their premium quality and delicious sake, and especially when paired with food. To go with the tangy and flavorful chicken meatballs, we selected the mouthwatering Sho Chiku Bai SHO Junmai Organic. It is a dry sake so it contrasted the sweetness of the sauce very well, and the flavor is different from regular sakes you might have tried. It is a full-bodied sake with hints of oatmeal, spice, mushroom, and bread so it goes very well with savory dishes. The texture of the sake is very creamy and cuts right through the chicken grease so you can eat more. This sake is recommended to be served warm but chilled also works. Other dishes to try with Sho Chiku Bai SHO Junmai Organic include steak, grilled mushrooms, or truffle fries.

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here. If you are not sure what’s the difference between sake and mirin, click here. Don’t want to miss a recipe? Sign up for the FREE Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates.