Thai Meatballs deserve their own fan club.
There are few recipes on my site with more bold and amazing flavor, with so little effort, as these Thai Meatballs. And the creamy green curry sauce turns them into a special meal that feels fancy but is totally doable on a busy weeknight. My whole family devours Thai Meatballs and everyone wants leftovers in their lunch.
How to Make Thai Meatballs
Thai Meatballs: Mix oats, egg, and milk; let sit 10 minutes. Add ground meat, ginger, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, salt, garlic, onion, and mix well. Shape into balls. Heat oil over medium-high and cook meatballs in batches until browned on all sides (they don’t need to be fully cooked). Remove to a plate and drain excess grease, if needed.Green Curry Sauce: In the same pan, sauté curry paste and garlic for 30 seconds. Stir in one can of coconut milk, scraping up browned bits. Whisk cornstarch into the second can of coconut milk and add to the pan, along with brown sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, and cilantro. Return meatballs to the pan and simmer in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Serve: Spoon over hot rice (jasmine, basmati, or brown) and garnish with fresh Thai basil and cilantro. Enjoy immediately!
Green Curry Meatballs
Serves 6Prep 20 minutes Cook 15 minutes Total 35 minutes
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats* or panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey, chicken, pork or beef
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons Green curry paste
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Green curry paste *
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 15 ounce cans canned unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 4-5 cups cooked jasmine rice, brown rice, white rice, or basmati rice, for serving
Roll into balls: Scoop the meat mixture into balls, a little smaller than golf-ball size.
Cook Meatballs: In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, place one layer of meatballs in the pan, leaving space between each—you may meed to cook them in two separate batches, depending on the size of your pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides, turning occasionally as they cook. They don’t need to be cooked through, just browned on all sides. Remove the meatballs to a plate. (Remove some of the grease if there is excess).
Green Curry Sauce: Add curry paste and garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in one can of coconut milk, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Stir cornstarch in to the other can of coconut milk, and add to the pan. Add brown sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, cilantro and stir to combine.
Simmer: Return meatballs to pan and simmer them in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
Serve over hot, cooked rice.
Notes
Ground meat: I like to double the recipe, using 3 pounds ground meat, and freeze half the meatballs for another meal.Curry Paste: I prefer the Mae Ploy brand of curry paste, as it has stronger/better flavor than others (1 Tablespoons produces mild/medium heat level), but if you’re using a different brand (for example, the Thai Kitchen brand is pretty mild), you may want to add more curry paste.
Gluten Free: to meatball mixture, omit oats and add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch.
Make Ahead Instructions: prepare the raw meatballs up to a day in advance, stored in the fridge, or freeze them.
