My office needs very little excuse to have a potluck, and everyone sort of has a specialty. Mine is meatballs. I bring a different type almost every time. For the office Christmas party it was Italian meatballs with Rao’s because I was super busy and couldn’t come up with a recipe. I’ve done my Spanish meatballs before, to great success. Buffalo chicken was a hit, and one I’ll likely post here eventually. But my recent favorite, which I made for our Valentine’s Day potluck we’re having as a wedding shower for a co-worker who is getting married next month, are these Thai curry chicken meatballs.
This recipe makes enough for a crowd and isn’t easily halved, so it’s perfect for a party or for meal prep. They’d be great over some cauliflower rice. And while it has a lot of ingredients, they’re all really easy to find, and it involves very little actual cooking. If you can dump stuff into a bowl, stir, and preheat an oven, you’re most of the way there. So don’t get intimidated. It’s easier than it looks, I promise!
To make the meatballs, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then grab a large mixing bowl. Into that, throw three pounds of ground chicken breast, two tablespoons of chili garlic sauce, a beaten egg, a tablespoon of fish sauce, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of dried ginger root, and the zest of one lime. Make sure you keep the rest of the lime because you’ll need it later. This mixture will be really wet, but I’ve found that it depends on the brand of chicken breast as to just how wet it gets and how much binder is needed to make it the right texture for meatballs. So start with 1/3 cup of almond flour, and add more by tablespoonfuls until it’s able to hold its own shape. I ended up with 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons. Mix all that together, then use a small cookie scoop to measure out the meatballs onto two foil-lined cookie sheets. It should make about 40-50 meatballs, depending on how large you make them. The mixture will be sticky, so I shape the balls by spraying my hands with avocado oil cooking spray and almost tossing the meatballs back and forth between my hands until they’re round, rather than rubbing them between my palms. Once they’re all shaped, bake them for 25-30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the baking time.
While the meatballs are baking, it’s a perfect time to make the sauce. Use a large Dutch oven or saucepot, as you’ll be adding all the cooked meatballs back into it at the end. To that pot, add two cans of full-fat coconut milk, two tablespoons of <a href=”https://amzn.to/37xl4ox”>red curry paste</a>, the juice of that lime from earlier, a tablespoon of fish sauce, a tablespoon of chili garlic sauce, 1-2 tablespoons of <a href=”https://amzn.to/3bB6wY1″>sriracha</a> depending on your desired heat level (I used 2), a tablespoon of <a href=”https://amzn.to/31RBC9t”>Swerve Brown</a> or a similar brown sugar substitute, and a teaspoon of dried ginger. Whisk all that together over medium heat until it bubbles, then turn it down to a a simmer and wait for the meatballs to finish. Once the meatballs are cooked, toss them into the pot with the sauce and let it continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro leaves, then either serve them or store them in the fridge overnight and reheat in a crock pot for your potluck!
Thai Curry Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 3 lbs. ground chicken breast
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground ginger root
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- zest of one lime
- white pepper to taste
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup almond flour
- cooking spray
For the Sauce
- 2 13.5-ounce cans full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 tbsp sriracha to taste
- 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp Swerve Brown or similar brown sugar substitute
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- juice of one lime
- 1 small bunch minced cilantro leaves about 1/3 cup
Instructions
For the Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil and spray them with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except for the almond flour. Add 1/3 cup of the almond flour, and continue adding more until it's your desired texture. Aim for sticky but mostly holding its own shape.
- Scoop the mixture onto the cookie trays using a small cookie scoop. Spray your hands with cooking spray and gently toss each meatball back and forth between your hands until they're round. Put them back on the cookie sheets then bake them for 25-30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through the cooking time.
For the Sauce
- While the meatballs are cooking, stir together all sauce ingredients except for the cilantro in a Dutch oven or stockpot large enough to hold the finished meatballs. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat down to low and continue to simmer until the meatballs are done, stirring occasionally.
- When the meatballs are finished, add them to the pot and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a slow cooker or microwave.
- Macros per serving (4-5 meatballs, depending on size): 349 calories, 4 grams net carbs, 35 grams protein, 22 grams fat.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Any embedded link to a product earns me a portion of the purchase price if you click and buy it.
Recent Comments