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White plate filled with meatballs drizzled in sweet and sour sauce and roasted vegetables.

Sheet Pan Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar
  • ½ cup BBQ sauce (see note)
  • ⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dry mustard

Meatballs:

  • ¾ to 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
  • ¼ cup breadcrumbs, I use panko
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt, I use coarse, kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, I use coarse black pepper

Veggies:

  • 3 to 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small (1/4 inch pieces)
  • 2 to 3 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the middle or lower middle position.
  • For the sauce, whisk together all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Remove about 1/3 cup of the sauce mixture and set aside in a small bowl (you'll use this to baste the meatballs). Simmer the remaining sauce for 5-10 minutes, stirring often (you can cook the sauce while the meatballs/veggies roast in the oven to maximize time).
  • For the meatballs, in a medium bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients and mix until evenly combined.
  • Place the potatoes in a single layer across the bottom 1/3 of a half sheet pan (a large rimmed baking sheet about 12X18-inches). Place the broccoli florets next to the potatoes in a single layer leaving the top 1/3 of the sheet pan for the meatballs. Drizzle the potatoes and broccoli with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Give the potatoes and broccoli a quick toss to coat with the oil and seasonings (keeping each vegetable in a single layer in their own section of the sheet pan after tossing).
  • Lightly grease the remaining open spot on the sheet pan with cooking spray. Portion the meat mixture into about 8 to 10 meatballs (about golf ball size) and place them in two even rows on the remaining 1/3 area of the sheet pan.
  • Brush the meatballs with the reserved sauce. Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through (165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer) and the potatoes and broccoli are tender. {You can flip the vegetables halfway through cooking, but I never bother.} Right out of the oven, brush the meatballs with some of the simmered sauce.
  • Serve the meatballs and veggies with the remaining sweet and sour sauce.

Notes

BBQ Sauce: this is my favorite homemade BBQ sauce recipe.
Doubling: I double this recipe for our family of 7 (gives us maybe one serving of leftovers). I split the ingredients up onto two sheet pans and cook both pans at the same time on convection setting in my oven (same temp as in the recipe). For a doubled recipe, I only 1 1/2 the sauce part.
Vegetables: you want the vegetables in a single layer, so if your potatoes are gigantic, you may only want to use two instead of the 3-4 medium-sized potatoes called for in the recipe. Just eyeball it so that the potatoes and broccoli don't overcrowd the sheet pan.