These meatballs are juicy and covered in a sweet & spicy Asian inspired sauce. You’d never know they were made with lean ground turkey!
Who doesn’t love meatballs? They’re fun little finger foods that kind of make you feel like a kid again eating them. I used to love going to potluck dinners and seeing crockpots that I knew would be filled with sweet and gooey savory meatballs. A lot of meatballs are made with a variety of ground meats like pork, beef and veal. Not many people will use turkey or chicken for fear of their meatballs being too dry. While these are leaner cuts of meats, that don’t have all the juicy fat, I promise you won’t be disappointed with this healthier spin on a meatball. I used dark meat ground turkey (85/15) and added in an egg and some Panko breadcrumbs to help retain the moisture. Once you add this sweet and spicy sauce, boom!…meatball game changer!
What you need to make Asian Turkey Meatballs
- Ground Turkey- Using the dark meat, 85/15 ratio, adds a little more fat to the meat so the turkey doesn’t dry out
- Egg– preferably “pasture raised”
- Panko bread crumbs– or other non flavored bread crumbs
- Minced garlic
- Garlic powder
- Dried basil
- Ground ginger
- Coconut aminos– coconut aminos are gluten and soy free. You can also use low sodium soy sauce, but be aware that some brands contain wheat products.
- Sesame oil
- Pepper jelly
- Cornstarch
Good for you ingredients
Ground Turkey vs. Ground Beef
How to store leftovers
- To store: Store any leftovers in a resealable glass dish. Keep in the refrigerator and eat within 3-4 days.
- To freeze: Place leftover meatballs in a well sealed container then freeze. Eat within 2-3 months.
- To reheat: To reheat these meatballs, you want to make sure you do not dry them out. Heat 1 tB of oil in a pan and reheat on medium until warm throughout. Microwaving these meatballs will dry them out. *Tip– thawing them out and letting them get close to room temperature will help reduce heating time.
You may also like…
- BBQ Chicken Meatballs
- Honey BBQ Chicken Meatballs
Asian Turkey Meatballs
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 18 meatballs 1x
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb. (85/15) ground turkey
- 1 large egg
- 2 TB panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp cilantro paste (optional)
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp. pepper jelly
- 2 tsp coconut aminos
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Sauce
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 4 TB pepper jelly
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Note: Be careful not to over work the meat when mixing. Over working the ground meat will activate proteins that will toughen up the meat.
- Once the meatball ingredients are mixed, form them into 1 1/2″ balls- approximately the size of a golf ball. And lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake meatballs at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce.
- In a small saucepan on medium heat, add coconut aminos and cornstarch and whisk until the cornstarch has dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined. Set sauce aside.
- Remove the meatballs and place them into a baking dish in a single layer. Pour sauce over the meatballs, making sure they are all covered well.
- Place meatballs back into the oven for 3-4 more minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (check the thickest one for doneness)
- Remove from oven and serve immediately.
Notes
There are several ways you can add the sauce to the meatballs:
- Option #1: Bake meatballs for 10 minutes, until cooked. Using a slotted spoon, drop each meatball into the saucepan to coat with sauce and return to the baking sheet.
- Option #2: Place meatballs in a large bowl. Pour sauce over meatballs and gently stir to coat the meatballs in sauce. Be careful not to stir to quickly and break the meatballs.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Cuisine: Asian
