Asian Chicken Meatballs {Ready in 30 minutes}
These Thai meatballs are so delicious. They are packed with spicy Asian flavor. Not only do they bake up in less then 20 minutes they are so tasty you can eat them right out of the fridge when you need a quick pick-me-up. Enjoy!
Meatballs are seriously the best chicken recipes, so I make them all the time. They’re easy, they store well, and they pass my delicious cold and right out of the fridge test.
These meatballs just happen to be my absolute favorite chicken meatball recipe. Pair them with my Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad.
What you’ll love about this recipe
- Flavorful: The Asian inspired flavors in these ground chicken meatballs steal the show!
- Convenient: These easy chicken meatballs pair well with a multitude of sides, but also make the perfect snack on their own.
- Kid-approved: Kids love the umami-packed baked chicken meatballs. This is seriously the ultimate comfort food for weeknight meals.
Recipe Notes
These Thai chicken meatballs are one of my favorite meal prep recipes! They’re flavorful and so easy to incorporate into your diet. Meatballs can be served in a ton of different ways or just eaten on their own.
I love to serve these with some rice noodles, garlic, ginger, and lime juice. Drizzle with sesame or olive oil and top with sesame seeds and green onions for a finishing touch.
Ingredient notes
- Protein: You can totally swap out meatball ingredients! Ground chicken, turkey, or pork all work well in this recipe. Chicken and pork are my favorite. Sometimes I even mix them. Turkey meatballs made from lean ground turkey are also super nutritious and delicious.
- Veggies: Green onions, cilantro, carrots.
- Aromatics: Red onion, ginger, and garlic give these meatballs the flavors you’re looking for. Add chili paste and fish sauce for an additional punch. If you don’t like fish sauce, try coconut aminos instead.
- Coconut flour: This recipe leaves bread crumbs by the wayside. Instead, opt for coconut flour as a healthy alternative.
- Eggs: Eggs act as the binder in this recipe and add even more protein.
Mix It Up
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare a baking sheet: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Make the meatballs: Add your ground meat to a large bowl (you’ll need about 2 lbs) and add all of the remaining ingredients to the meat and mix well. Use your hands to do this.
- Portion them: Use a cookie scoop to portion out your meatballs. I use a medium scoop (2 tbsp/#30 cookie scoop) for the perfect size.
- Bake: Place the meatballs on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Instant Pot cooking instructions
I almost always bake these, but you can also make them in your Instant Pot. You will need to add about a cup of liquid to the Instant Pot. The Instant Pot uses the pressure of steam to cook, so it needs the extra liquid to create this steam.
- Start by making your meatballs.
- Add the meatballs to your Instant Pot one layer deep. If you have a trivet, you can stack another layer as needed.
- Add one cup of chicken broth.
- Set the Instant Pot to cook on Manual for 7 minutes.
- Using an oven mitt, carefully release the steam. Full release will take about 5 minutes.
FAQs and helpful tips
Yes! This recipe calls for coconut flour and eggs as a binder, so there’s no gluten to be found here.
To steam meatballs in and instant pot use a trivet and stack the meatballs in layers as needed. Add about 1 cup of broth or water to the instant pot. Set the cook time on Manual for 7 minutes. Let the steam release for 5 minutes.
Use a binder such as bread crumbs and eggs to keep the meatballs together. Handle the meatballs gently. If you’re following a ketogenic diet, you can use ground pork rinds or coconut flour as a substitute for traditional bread crumbs.
How to meal prep
Baking up meatballs is a great way to have easy portable protein on hand. The best part: these are delicious warm or cold! Nothing can stop you.
For me, the key to healthy meal prep is keeping things simple. Having yummy additions at the ready make the process enjoyable and rewarding. And remember: it doesn’t have to be complicated!
I use glass containers with clip-on lids (affiliate link)for storing my proteins and veggies. I’ve found that these are the easiest to stack in the fridge and easiest to store when I’m not using them.
I like them to be rectangular or square. I feel like they take up less space if there are no corners wasted. Adulthood for me means having favorite freezer shapes, what can I say?
For packing, I use rectangular reusable containers (affiliate link) as well as round restaurant style containers (affiliate link). These are perfect for when I want to drop off dinner for a friend or family member. Some of the round containers fit nicely into car cupholders.
Recipe Variations
You might know that I’m completely obsessed with tacos. I often eat these meatballs on a tortilla or a low carb wrap with my Crunchy Asian Cucumber Salad.
Other Meal Prep Recipes that you Might Like
- Green Chile Protein Bowl
- Fish Taco Bowl with Mango Salsa
- Chicken Teriyaki Meal Prep
- Healthy Pulled Pork Bowl
- Animal Style Burger Bowl
- Buffalo Chicken Protein Bowl
- Mediterranean Protein Bowl (Vegan Adaptable)
Easy Asian Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Asain Chicken Meatballs
- 2 lb ground chicken
- ¼ cup green onions, chopped
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tsp ginger, minced
- ¾ cup carrots, shredded
- 2 tsp chili paste
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- ½ cup finely ground coconut flour
- 2 eggs
Optional Sauce
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
Fixin’s
- lettuce, (I like curly lettuce here)
- red cabbage, finely shredded
- shredded carrots
- fresh mint
- fresh basil
- fresh cilantro
- Spicy Asian Cucumbers
Instructions
Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400℉
- Add all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well with hands.
- Make meatballs, using a 2 tbsp size scoop.
- Place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Sauce
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Add a few tablespoons to your bowl.
Bowl Assembly
- Fill a large bowl with your choice of fixings.
- Add the right amount of meatballs for you. I like 3-4.
- Add a few tablespoons of sauce.
- Enjoy!
Laura’s Tips + Notes
- On top of your favorite veggies
- Tossed with shredded lettuce, cabbage, and carrots along with cucumbers
- Vermicelli rice noodles are also super yummy
- Start by making your meatballs.
- Add the meatballs to your instant pot one layer deep. If you have a trivet you can stack another layer as needed.
- Add one cup of chicken broth.
- Set the Instant pot to cook on Manual for 7 minutes.
- Let the steam release for about 5 minutes.
These were delicious! And I love that I have leftovers for lunches! I didn’t modify the recipe at all, except I used monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar for the sauce. I forgot to spray oil on the pan, so the meatballs stuck some when I was trying to get them off. That’s the only thing I’ll remember to do next time we make these wonderful meatballs!
Thank you Amber for the review. I’m so happy that you loved this recipe and I’m happy to hear that swapping in monk fruit sweetener worked well in this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Oops, forgot to give it a star rating.
I made these yesterday for my weekly meal prep. I used ground turkey and plain breadcrumbs since that’s what I had on hand and they are amazing! So flavorful, and tender. I will definitely be adding these to our rotation of meals for prep or dinner. I brought them to work today and already handed out the recipe to co-worker because she said they looked and smelled great!
Thanks, Emily, for the Awesome review! I really appreciate it. I’m so happy to hear that these turned out great. They are one of my go-to recipes as well. So much flavor!!! And thank you for the 5 stars!! You rock!