Sweet & Sour Meatballs with Green Beans and Rice
Homemade sweet and sour sauce built from scratch in the same pan you browned the meatballs in. Vinegar, honey, soy sauce and a handful of frozen pineapple chunks come together in under three minutes, and the result is nothing like the bottled version.
The meatballs get ginger mixed right into the meat before they hit the pan. The bell pepper keeps its bite in the sauce. And everything lands on a bed of brown rice with crisp green beans on the side. 696 calories, 30 grams of protein, and dinner is done in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- brown rice 3 ounces
- garlic 1 clove
- ginger 1 slice
- onion 0.25
- bell pepper 1
- 96% lean ground beef 3 ounces
- olive oil 1 tablespoon
- tomato paste 0.5 tablespoon
- soy sauce 0.5 tablespoon
- vinegar 1 tablespoon
- honey 2 teaspoons
- water 3 tablespoons
- pineapple chunks (frozen) 2 ounces
- green beans (frozen) 5 ounces
Method
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Cook the rice according to the instructions on the package.
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Press the garlic, grate the ginger, slice the onion into thin rings and cut the bell pepper into cubes.
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Mix the ground beef with the garlic, half of the ginger, salt and pepper and form small meatballs from the mixture.
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Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs and brown them on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set them aside.
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Add the onion to the same pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes, then add the bell pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
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Add the tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, the rest of the ginger and water to the pan. Stir well and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. If needed, add a dash more water. Add the frozen pineapple chunks and let it simmer gently for another 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly and the pineapple pieces are warmed through.
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Return the meatballs to the pan and mix everything well together. Let it simmer for another 1-2 minutes until everything is thoroughly heated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Meanwhile, cook the green beans until tender but still crisp, about 5-7 minutes.
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Serve the sweet and sour meatballs with the rice and green beans.
The meatballs and sauce keep well in the fridge for two to three days, and the flavors develop overnight. A double batch covers two dinners with zero extra effort. Also works with plant-based meatballs if you want to swap out the beef.
Behind this recipe
Is 98 grams of carbs too much for one meal?
It depends entirely on your daily total, not any single meal. Research consistently shows that the carb number per meal matters far less than where your total daily calories and protein land. If your target is 200 grams of carbs per day, this dinner takes roughly half of that, leaving room for lighter meals earlier. If your target is higher, it barely makes a dent. The question is not whether 98 grams is too much right now, but whether your day's total adds up.
Read the full evidence reviewWill eating this much rice at dinner make me gain weight?
A controlled trial tested exactly this scenario: participants who ate most of their carbs at dinner lost 28% more weight over six months than those who spread carbs across the day, on the same total calories. The evening carbs shifted when the body released fullness hormones, which reduced snacking the next day. A big carb dinner is not a fat-loss problem. Eating more calories than you burn is the problem, regardless of when those calories arrive.
Can I use fresh pineapple instead of frozen?
Yes. Cut it into similar-sized chunks and add it at the same point in the recipe. Fresh pineapple is slightly more acidic and sweeter than frozen, so taste the sauce before seasoning. The frozen version is convenient because it stays fresh longer and releases less juice into the pan.
