Make frozen Oregon Blueberries the centerpiece of your holiday table with this luscious Five Spice Ground Pork Meatballs with Savory Blueberry Sauce recipe. The delightful flavor of blueberries pairs deliciously with these meatballs and makes for a lip-smacking starter to any holiday meal.
When I think of holiday food I think of recipes that are just a bit more special than the average everyday celebration dishes. I want the food I serve during the holiday season to delight my family’s taste buds, and create the most enchanting food memories.
This sounds like a tall order, and one that might require a bit more time in the kitchen. However, that’s the beauty of this Five Spice Ground Pork Meatballs with Savory Blueberry Sauce recipe. It’s got big, fancy flavor, but it requires minimal time in the kitchen. After all, it’s the season for spending more time dining with our loved ones, and less time cooking.
Both the meatballs and sauce can be prepared a day in advance and held in the refrigerator separately. Prior to serving, just reheat the sauce, add the meatballs and warm through. Alternately, you can reheat the meatballs and serve along-side the Savory Blueberry Sauce for dipping. Either way, I love to serve them in a pretty dish with party picks or tiny appetizer forks.
What makes this recipe a bit more unique is that I’ve added the fragrant blend of spices called Five Spice Powder, also called Chinese Five Spice, to the meatballs.
Five spice powder typically includes cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel and black pepper, which compliments the distinctive flavor of Oregon Blueberries. This spice blend has become quite popular over the last few years and it can be found in most major markets.
The Five Spice powder adds the essence of warm holiday spice to the ground pork meatballs. Then I smother them in the coziest, savory blueberry sauce using frozen Oregon Blueberries for a tasty holiday appetizer. It’s like a holiday gift for the taste buds!
For convenience, I like to make the meatballs and then bake them in the oven. However, for a little added color to the meatballs, you can brown them in a skillet and then place them on a baking sheet and finish cooking them in the oven.
You might be wondering why I’m using blueberries in a holiday recipe. Frozen Oregon Blueberries are harvested at peak ripeness during the summer months and then they’re frozen for use throughout the year.
I love to incorporate frozen blueberries into my smoothies, oatmeal, muffins, cakes and of course recipes like this lush and silky Savory Blueberry Sauce. Frozen Oregon Blueberries can make a recipe go from good to absolutely delicious.
To make the sauce, I add frozen Oregon Blueberries to a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Give them a little stir until they start to release their liquid. I let them simmer for about 10 minutes.
Once the blueberries have released their juices, I strain the juice into a bowl and discard the pulp.
I add the juice back to a sauce pan and continue with the remaining ingredients. The sauce will thicken as it cools. However, for a thicker sauce I’ve added a cornstarch slurry option in the recipe.
Frozen Oregon Blueberries are perfectly sweet and lend their special blueberry flavor to all my favorite recipes. Using frozen Oregon Blueberries is also a great way to incorporate this luscious little berry into both sweet and savory recipes for an extra boost of blue.
Tis the season for all things delicious like these flavorful Five Spice Ground Pork Meatballs with Savory Blueberry Sauce.
Warmest Wishes for the most delicious Holiday Season,
Karista
Five Spice Pork Meatballs with Savory Blueberry Sauce
Notes
Prepare these meatballs a day in advance and reheat with the sauce prior to serving. Serve in the sauce or serve the meatballs along-side the blueberry sauce.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1-pound ground pork (not pork sausage)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Five Spice Powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground all spice
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- ¼ cup finely chopped green onions
- ½ cup warm milk
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg, whisked
For the Savory Blueberry Sauce
- 4 cups frozen blueberries
- ½ cup blueberry preserves
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (seasoned)
- Cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon cold water)
Instructions
- To make the sauce, add the frozen blueberries to a medium sauce pan over medium low heat, stirring a bit until the blueberries begin to soften. Let the blueberries slowly simmer until the berries have reduced and the liquid is syrupy, about 10 minutes.
- Take the sauce pan off the heat and strain the liquid from the berries in a fine mesh strainer, pressing the berries to get all the extra liquid. You should end up with about 1 cup of liquid.
- Discard the pulp and then add the liquid back to the sauce pan. Heat over low heat and then stir in the blueberry preserves (or jam), tamari and rice wine vinegar. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes until the liquid coats the back of a spoon. Once the liquid cools it will harden a bit.
- However, if for some reason you want a thicker sauce, mix together the cornstarch slurry and add it to the sauce while the sauce is simmering. Let the sauce simmer for at least one minute to thicken. Set the sauce aside to cool.
- To make the meatballs add the ground pork, salt, pepper, Five Spice powder, all spice, minced garlic, minced shallot and chopped green onions to a large bowl. Gently mix until the ingredients are nicely combined.
- Next add the panko bread crumbs to the warm milk and stir. When the bread crumbs have mostly absorbed all the milk, pour it into the ground pork mixture along with the whisked egg. Again, gently combine the bread crumbs, milk and egg into the mixture until combine.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F
- With a cookie scoop or tablespoon, make the meatballs and then place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. I can usually get 20-22 meatballs on one standard size baking sheet.
- Place them in the oven and bake them until golden brown on the bottom, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and then add them to the blueberry sauce. Serve warm with little appetizer forks or party picks.
- Another option is to cool the meatballs and the sauce and then refrigerate them separately in covered containers overnight.
- To serve, gently re-heat the sauce in a large sauce pan and then add the meatballs and warm through.
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