Thai Chicken Meatballs
This meatballs are really easy to make and packed with flavor. Eat them by themselves or enjoy over rice noodles, veggie noodles, shredded cabbage salad or wrap them in lettuce for a handheld snack. Don't have chia seeds? Hate cilantro? See the notes. I'm normally pretty lazy about finely chopping my seasonings, but it's imperative here, or else the texture of your meatballs will be ruined by big pieces of whatever.
Servings: 18 meatballs, serves 3-4
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken or 93% lean ground turkey
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 3 scallions white and light green part only, finely chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons fresh cilantro* leaves finely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds**
Glaze
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- Juice of ½ lime about 1-2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ - 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce depending on if you like spicy food
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Use your hands to mix until all the ingredients are well-distributed. No one wants to bite into a clump of cilantro or garlic.
- Cover the meatball mixture and refrigerate it for 30 minutes, giving the chia seeds time to gel.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a half-sheet pan (or larger) with parchment paper. (A 9-by-13'' pan is too small.)
- Place your hands under cold water briefly to dampen them (this will help with forming the meatballs). Very gently, roll tablespoon-sized portions of the meatball mixture into balls. Don't squeeze the mixture, otherwise you'll wind up with tough meatballs.
- Place the shaped meatballs on the baking sheet, leaving space between each one. If you used exactly 1 pound of ground meat, you should have 18 evenly-sized meatballs.
- Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the meatballs are lightly browned. They should be fully cooked through, with an internal temperature of about 160-165 F on an instant read thermometer when taken out of the oven.
- While the meatballs bake, prepare the glaze. Whisk together the ingredients in a large skillet (one large enough to hold the meatballs). Bring the glaze to a boil and let boil for another minute, at which point it should thicken a little because of the honey. Add the cooked meatballs to the skillet and toss them in the glaze to coat. Serve them warm.
Notes
*Can't stand cilantro? You could simply omit the cilantro and continue with the recipe, although your meatballs won't be quite as flavorful. Instead, add 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Thai basil and 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce or red curry paste..
**If you don't like chia seeds because you don't like chia seed pudding, the chia seed fad, or for some similar reason, you'll be pleasantly surprised here. The chia seeds simply act as a binder like egg would, while adding some extra fiber to your meatballs. Don't have access to chia seeds? You can use ¼ cup panko bread crumbs plus one egg instead to bind your meatballs.
**If you don't like chia seeds because you don't like chia seed pudding, the chia seed fad, or for some similar reason, you'll be pleasantly surprised here. The chia seeds simply act as a binder like egg would, while adding some extra fiber to your meatballs. Don't have access to chia seeds? You can use ¼ cup panko bread crumbs plus one egg instead to bind your meatballs.