Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe

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These Slow Cooker Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs are made using precooked turkey meatballs, pineapple and bell peppers tossed in a sweet and tangy sauce.

Meatballs are a family favorite at our house.  My husband and kids devoured these Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs, just like they do our Cheesy Meatball Sliders, Slow Cooker Mozzarella Meatballs and Sweet Polynesian Meatballs.

Hawaiian Meatballs

What sets these easy slow cooker meatballs apart as “Hawaiian” is the sweet and tangy sauce made with pineapple juice, vinegar and soy sauce.  We also add in a little cornstarch to make it a thick, sticky glaze.

We also added some pineapple, red bell pepper and green bell pepper in with the meatballs for some Hawaiian flavor.

We like to eat these Hawaiian meatballs over rice for dinner, but you could easily serve them plain as an appetizer.  Whichever way you serve them, the will disappear in minutes!

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs Ingredients:

  • precooked frozen turkey meatballs
  • canned pineapple chunks
  • green bell pepper
  • red bell pepper
  • brown sugar
  • cornstarch
  • white vinegar
  • soy sauce

How to make Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs:

This recipe is so easy to make!  With just a few minutes of prep, you will have dinner ready in no time.  Scroll down to view the printable recipe.

Step 1: Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 2: Place frozen meatballs in the slow cooker and top with drained pineapple (reserve the juice and set aside), green pepper and red pepper.
Step 3: In a mixing bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce.
Step 4: Pour sauce in slow cooker and mix everything to combine.
Step 5: Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.

To make this a complete meal, serve over rice.  We usually just use some instant rice for a quick and easy solution.

You could also serve these Slow Cooker Hawaiian Turkey Meatballs on rolls to make sliders or with toothpicks for a tasty appetizer.

Enjoy!  We hope you love these easy Hawaiian meatballs as much we do.

Do you need to cook or thaw frozen meatballs before cooking?

No!  You simply place the frozen meatballs directly into the slow cooker and let the slow cooker do the work for you.

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The best homemade meatball recipes:

Serves: 6-8

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe

Turkey meatballs, bell peppers and pineapple tossed in a sweet and tangy Hawaiian sauce.

10 minPrep Time

4 hrCook Time

4 hr, 10 Total Time

Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 (24 ounce) pkg. precooked frozen turkey meatballs
  • 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks (drain and reserve juice)
  • 1 green bell pepper (diced)
  • 1 red bell pepper (diced)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup white vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
  • 6 cups cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Place frozen meatballs in the slow cooker and top with drained pineapple (reserve the juice and set aside), green pepper and red pepper.
  3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar and soy sauce.
  4. Pour sauce in slow cooker and mix everything to combine.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through.
  6. Serve over cooked rice.
7.8.1.2
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Comment on this Recipe

149 Responses to “Slow Cooker Hawaiian Meatballs Recipe”

  5. Cyndiella
    I LOVE THIS RECIPE! This is the same as my mother's "Sweet and Sour Pork" although I have always wondered about the sour part... anyway~ She would just slow brown cubed pork and then follow this same recipe. I have to say I am so excited to see it with meatballs and as a slow cooker recipe! Tonight's dinner here we come!
    April 12, 2012 at 9:36 am
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  8. kanaboke
    What I love the most is that any recipe that has pineapples in it automatically becomes "Hawaiian something or other" (i.e. Hawaiian Pizza, Hawaiian Haystacks ~ which I had never had until I went to Japan because we don't make that in Hawaii). We call these Sweet & Sour Meatballs in Hawaii and yes, that sauce is AWESOME!!
    April 13, 2012 at 10:41 am
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    • Denise
      I usually don't comment, but thought I would this time. I always wonder why someone's comment was "removed by auther." lol lol I once had a lady who posted pictures of what she'd been knitting. Well, one day I received her usual email and it had pictures of a naked lady in a laundry room posing. Don't know if it was the blog lady or if someone hacked her account. I actually laughed my head off at myself because I was so shocked. Never expected that. lol lol
      January 9, 2014 at 2:50 pm
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    • Six Sisters
      Hi Laura!

      This serves 6-8 (or more depending on serving size. We usually can feed my family of 3 twice with this). I have never tried them as a freezer meal, so I am not sure the best way to go about doing it. I would maybe freeze the everything together before cooking the meatballs so they aren't cooked twice. Let us know how it goes!
      April 23, 2012 at 9:01 pm
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  26. Tiana
    seriously how hard is it to make balls of meat? no fresh pineapple? there's not even the SUGGESTION of using anything fresh. Use tons of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients! This kid of so called food is why kids (and adults) are unhealthy, overweight, and have no clue about food- it basically sums up everything that is wrong with lazy, pre-bought, no effort "cooking". bravo.
    June 28, 2012 at 6:33 pm
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      • M B
        "Cost of premade meatballs: $2 Cost of pound of burger: $4 Cost of canned pineapple: $.50 Cost of fresh pineapple: $3" WHERE do you shop that pre-made meatballs are 2$!?? I can almost always find a cheaper deal for ground beef than pre-made stuffs. Also, WHERE can I find .50 can of pineapple? ha I agree that some things could be substituted - Light sugar free canned pineapple, The syrup with your own slurry of juice and maple, etc as a compromise for still being easy but a little more healthy. Convenience does prevail over health, but at least make the effort to meet halfway. Excited to try this with my own adaptions to suite my needs. Thanks for posting and it sounds like the original recipe was a hit!
        July 13, 2013 at 2:34 pm
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    • Ralph
      I am big on fresh. This lady is right; it?s no problem making meat balls. Take one night out to do these things, make healthy hamburgers, pies, meat sauces, whatever, and then freeze them. Whoops, is frozen fresh. LOL, there may be one or two domestic goddesses out there but for the norm especially with children, this is a great recipe, I am a single old fart and don?t like processed meat balls, never found one good so will make those and if you want a fresh pineapple, no problem, use one, I would substitute the sugar with local honey if I was also anal about sugar but this is one bloody cup. I am sure the recipe is Hawaiian Meatballs. You didn?t expect glazed sweet? ?Ladies in dispute?, when I raised kids, 4, close in ages, 4 into everything and worked many long hours to support them and when a kid?s activity was scheduled, I was at every event. ?no matter what? they came first. They were good participants lots of energy, (must have been the ice cream on the way to the game) the big M on the way home because it was generally late and my wife had done enough in her day. I have 4, very healthy (far from fat) productive nice adults who call me Dad, they turned out well in spite of a few fast food meals. You want good healthy kids, stay with their extracurricular activities. You can have a clean organized house and join a culinary club when they leave home which happens over night.
      July 10, 2013 at 11:05 pm
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    • Alysia
      Tiana if you want to do it the "hard" way and have the time then substitute. They do not claim to be a "Clean eating recipe" site. This is a simple comfort food recipe. Why so hateful? Not everyone has time to make homemade meatballs. Nor core a friggin pineapple and canned or frozen pineapple can be just as healthy. Doesnt have to be a fresh one. And "Tons of other unhealthy ingredients"... Ummmmm white vinegar, green pepper, and meatballs are all pretty fair ingredient wise. Some corn starch, brown sugar, and soy sauce are not whats making this country fat.....
      September 6, 2013 at 1:43 pm
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  28. Penelope Kirui
    This was ammmmmaaaazing!!!!
    I didn't use a crock pot, but rather opted to use my plain old non-stick and the results were super.
    However, i reduced the amount of sugar and increased the amount of vinegar to have a more tangy than sweet taste.
    Thanks for uploading this recipe.

    Twitter: @penelopekirui
    July 4, 2012 at 1:51 am
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  29. Kelsey Salerno
    I've had this in the crock now for about 3 hours and my sauce still hasn't thickened. I added more cornstarch to try but all it did was turn the sauce a weird color! And suggestions?

    On a side note, it still smells delicious! I just can't imagine eating it without the thick sauce :)
    July 5, 2012 at 1:28 pm
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  32. Lindsy
    I'm having the worst time finding frozen meatballs at any of my local grocery stores would it be okay if I made my own, would I have to brown them first and how would that change cooking time? I have all the other ingredients but the meatballs. Would any other meat work? Any easy meatballs recipe suggestions?
    July 11, 2012 at 3:49 pm
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  34. traycel
    I was looking for a perfect recipe for my Hawaian Party & I came accross this & I have to try it because I too have 5 sisters, no brothers. We have all moved apart (accept for two of them live near eachother). I miss my sisters and all of us getting together for family meals & celebrations. Thank you!
    July 24, 2012 at 6:35 am
    Reply to this comment
  37. Unknown
    Some people may be having trouble with watery sauce because they are using a large can of pineapple which would be about 20 ounces instead of the 13.5 ounce can called for. In fact, I can only find pineapple in 8 oz. and 20 oz. sizes, so I either just use an entire small can or only part of the large can and juice. Thank you so much for this recipe - my family absolutely loves it!
    August 21, 2012 at 11:20 am
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  40. Six Sisters
    Depending on how big the servings are and if you are feeding adults. A 2 pound bag should have around 64 meatballs in it. So I'm thinking around 6 to 8 servings. You may want to read through the comments. We had no problem with the sauce thickening up, but some people did. Hopefully their comments will be of help to you! They are yummy meatballs. Hope all goes well with you big gathering!! :) -The Six Sisters
    December 13, 2012 at 10:25 am
    Reply to this comment
  45. pgc02
    Oops. Have this in the crockpot now -- before I came back to read the comments. I didn't see a use for the pineapple juice, so I drank it. lol! I made my own meatballs and added onion and carrots to this. Super fast and easy, other than making the meatballs. I'll be serving with brown rice. I'm not worried about the final results too much, as my large crew eats just about anything.
    January 16, 2013 at 2:25 pm
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  46. Sinea
    This is very similar to my Sweet n Sour Pork recipe only in a slow cooker. In addition to the green pepper and pineapple, I add small wedges of fresh tomato right before serving (warm for 3 min.). Oh yes, and the sauce also includes cider vinegar for a little tang. It is absolutely delicious.

    Sinea from Ducks 'n a Row
    http:/www.ducksnarow.com
    January 19, 2013 at 3:27 pm
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  49. Katie
    I am going to make this tonight with homemade venison/pork meatballs. I was looking for a recipe that didn't require a bottle of sweet and sour sauce so this is perfect. For those of you having issues with the cornstarch not thickening, just hold that back out of the recipe and add the cornstarch with water AFTER it is cooked and stir it in until you get the desired consistency.
    March 16, 2013 at 10:13 am
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  52. Kylie
    Hi there- just threw this into the crockpot! Super excited to try it, however had no white vinegar and so I googled substitutes, bringing up the options of malt or cider vinegar. I had both on had and choose to use malt... Was just wondering if anyone has tried this before and how it turned out? Thanks!
    May 24, 2013 at 9:07 am
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  54. Katie
    I made these meatballs for a work luncheon, and everyone loved them. I used the Kroger brand turkey meatballs and low sodium soy sauce, and I thought it was delicious. Since I needed to serve 20 people, I basically doubled the recipe. I used a 20 oz can of pineapples instead of 2 13.5 oz cans because I wanted to make sure it wasn't too sweet. I also let everything warm in the crock pot a little longer and stirred once during cooking to make sure all of the meatballs were heated. Several people asked me to share the recipe, so I know it was a hit. Thanks!
    June 24, 2013 at 5:48 am
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  58. Lisa Lara
    I am so glad I found this recipe on pinterest and tried it! I loved it. I served it over brown rice. I will freeze the leftovers for future meals. I had best results turning my crockpot on high for the fourth hour and needed to stir occ. Loved it. Thank you girls!
    August 30, 2013 at 7:07 pm
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  59. Sydnie
    I've made this once and the family loved it! Tonight I'm making it again... But I added lots of broccoli. Carrots, and snow peas to make it go farther and have fresh veggies in it! I also added extra pineapple and doubled the sauce. I plan on serving it with brown rice. So YES... You can take a delicious recipe and tweak it to fit your lifestyle. I've also made this once with frozen chicken breasts & shredded them at the end. So good!! Thanks for the great recipe!!
    September 10, 2013 at 2:01 pm
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  60. Dan B
    For anyone who is stuck with a completely liquidy sauce at the end, separate the sauce from the meatballs and just simmer it on the stove with some extra cornstarch and re-add it to the crockpot and then leave it on low for another hour. As for Tiana, you could've just made those fresh ingredient substitutions yourself, but we're all glad you made sure to voice your dismal opinion, thanks! :). Glad I'm not your husband.
    September 15, 2013 at 4:17 pm
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  64. Heidi
    I made this and loved it! I halved the recipe and added some julienned carrots (about 1/4 c which was 4-5 baby carrots), as well as a few extra pinches of brown sugar (I spilled a little extra vinegar when measuring - OOPS). The only canned pineapple I could find was 8oz cans of tidbits... but they worked perfectly. I added the carrots with everything else, cooked on high for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirred everything, then turned down to warm for the rest of the time - maybe 3 1/2 hours. Served over brown/wild rice. Next time I may add broccoli and a little onion. I would double the sauce ingredients... there wasn't a lot left to pour over the rice. My sauce wasn't too watery, but just in case it did turn out that way I added 1-2 extra pinches of cornstarch. Half of this recipe plus the rice made for a total of 3-4 meals for me.
    January 24, 2014 at 9:02 am
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  65. Courtney
    As I access this recipe again for my Superbowl shopping list, I just want to say that this recipe is awesome! It's so easy and inexpensive. I use it all the time -- as an appetizer, or as part of a main dish. I'll serve the meatballs over brown rice, or I'll make subs with Kings Hawaiian sub rolls and white American cheese.
    February 1, 2014 at 9:46 am
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  66. Kristie Moore
    Another wonderful and delicious recipe! This just got done in the crock pot and we are having this for the first time. My husband and I are both giving you and this recipe 2 thumbs up! Another recipe I am sharing with friends and family!
    February 2, 2014 at 7:46 pm
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  68. Diane
    These meatballs were sooo good! I needed them in a hurry, so I used the stovetop. A 20-oz can of pineapple chunks with its syrup and 2 Tbls cornstarch thickened up nicely. I also added a little ketchup to the sauce ingredients. Really good on white rice. Thanks for sharing, will definitely make again.
    February 21, 2014 at 2:22 am
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  74. Cassie
    I tried this for the first time tonight. I had it in the crockpot for about and hour and since time was running short I transfered it to a pan on the stove, brought it to bubbling, turned it on low while I made the rice, and it was delicious! It thickened up nicely on the stove. Even my hubby who is not a fan of pineapple liked it, we will be having it again!
    August 18, 2014 at 6:35 pm
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    • Cyd
      The recipe says cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. I think 8 plus hours on low would be way too long. Not sure if your crock pot has a keep warm setting. The frozen meatballs have been precooked, so the keep warm setting may work. You will want to add more liquid so that it doesn't dry out.
      October 9, 2014 at 4:51 pm
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  77. Valerie
    WOW.....this was great! I just started getting back into slow cooking because of a busy lifestyle. I made my own turkey meatballs to control ingredients. My husband and I love this dish. I have made it once and bought everything to make it again this week. Since it's just the two of us now, I freeze half and it freezes great! Thanks for sharing this one!!
    October 27, 2014 at 6:06 am
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  80. Rebecca D
    I have used this recipe several times and add half a sweet onion cut into chunks with the bell & pineapple. It's always amazing! There is enough sauce to use if you want to add more meatballs; I've added an additional 16 oz successfully with plenty of sauce to add on rice. I bake the meatballs first for 15 mins to thaw them (because extra frozen meatballs need more cooking time) and slow cook for 4 hours. The sauce will thicken in the last half hour.
    November 8, 2015 at 12:11 pm
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    • Cyd
      You could baste the meatballs with the liquid every 30 minutes or so to be sure that they all get some of the great flavor on them. We had plenty of liquid to spread over our meatballs. You could also make more of the sauce if you wanted lots of extra flavor.
      January 14, 2016 at 7:47 pm
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    • Cyd
      Are you putting them all into one slow cooker? If you do, I hope it's at least a 7 quart slow cooker. You will want to stir them occasionally during the cooking process since there will be a double batch. If you have 2 slow cookers, that would work best. But the main thing is to be sure they are all heated/cooked through well. Maybe add 30 minutes to your cooking time, or until heated through well.
      May 18, 2018 at 10:55 am
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  90. Dixie Hahn
    Four hours is way too long. The meatballs are precooked. They crumbled at four hours and made the sauce gravy li ke. Also the sauce was not shiny and glaze looking like the picture. Flavor was just okay. Next time I would bake in the oven 1 hr - enu time to thaw meatballs and heat - and add sauce then cook 20 mi more. Slow cooker is not good for this.
    May 19, 2018 at 9:26 am
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