Rice Free Cassava Flour Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sweet, tangy, and deeply savory, these meatballs hit every note you want from a classic sweet and sour dish — without a grain of rice flour or starchy filler in sight. Cassava flour does the heavy lifting as a binder in the meatballs, keeping them tender and cohesive while staying completely grain-free, which means no sneaky rice-based thickeners anywhere in the recipe. The sauce is where things get really interesting: pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar, and honey build that signature sweet-sour backbone, while sweet potato purée adds body and a subtle earthiness that makes the whole thing feel rich and restaurant-worthy. Arrowroot starch handles the thickening duties, so the glossy, clingy sauce comes together without any rice starch or cornstarch shortcuts. Searing the meatballs before finishing them in the oven gives you a beautifully browned crust that holds up when you toss everything together in the skillet. Fresh pineapple chunks folded in at the end keep the fruit bright and juicy rather than mushy, adding little bursts of sweetness in every bite. Finish with sliced scallions and serve straight from the pan — this one disappears fast.

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