Thai meatball curry
Chicken meatballs loaded with fresh Thai flavours and then simmered in a creamy coconut curry sauce. This Thai meatball curry tastes delicious and pairs perfectly with rice.
These Thai meatballs are tender, and juicy, and have tons of fresh flavour from garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Once pan-seared, the meatballs are simmered in a creamy coconut red curry sauce. I can’t claim this to be an authentic recipe, but the flavors are as Thai as they can get.
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Meatballs can be so versatile. Make them into appetizers like these Sweet and sour meatballs, or a full meal out of them like Meatball casserole or garlic butter Meatballs. Meatballs always come in handy to put together a meal in less than 30 minutes. They freeze well, so you will always have some in the freezer.
What goes into Thai meatballs
What I love about this recipe is it can be divided into two components – meatballs and coconut curry sauce. You can make the meatballs a couple of days in advance or freeze them. Then make the coconut curry sauce, add meatballs, and the dinner is ready in just 20 minutes.
Thai chicken meatballs are mildly flavored, as they will be further cooked in coconut red curry sauce.
For Thai chicken meatballs
- Ground chicken – If you are getting ground chicken from the local butcher, you can get a mix of light and dark meat ( chicken breast and chicken thigh) for super moist meatballs. You can also use ground pork
- Panko breadcrumb – regular breadcrumbs can be substituted.
- Egg
- Ginger and garlic– Grated or made into a paste, as bitting into pieces of ginger and garlic isn’t a pleasant experience.
- Shallots – minced
- Soy sauce
- Sambal or any other Asian chili paste. You can also use sriracha.
- Cilantro – Use the stems as they are a powerhouse of flavor.
Coconut Curry Sauce
For a fabulous coconut curry sauce, don’t just settle with only bottled red curry paste. Add a bunch of fresh aromatics to take it to the next level. The red curry sauce has a perfect balance of spice and sweetness.
- Ginger, Garlic – use paste, so that you can’t really taste it in the sauce.
- Shallots – Minced
- Red curry Paste – Any decent brand would do, as we will be adding fresh aromatics to boost the flavor.
- Fish Sauce, Soy Sauce- Fish sauce is another ingredient in Thai curry recipes, that I would never skip. It rounds off all the flavors.
- Curry Powder
- Thai red chili – If you can handle spicy then add else skip.
- Fresh lemon and Cilantro
Steps to make
- Start with making the meatballs. You can make the meatball a day or 2 ahead. Mix all the ingredients for the meatball in a bowl. Use an ice cream scoop to portion equal amounts and then shape.
- Cook shaped meatballs in a skillet. Don’t disturb the meatballs for the first 2-3 minutes, or else they might break or lose shape.
- Use the same skillet, using the brown cooked chicken bits as flavor base, and saute shallots, ginger, and garlic.
- Saute red curry paste and curry powder next. Sauteing curry powder in oil releases essential oil and adds depth of flavor.
- Then add coconut milk, brown sugar, and the rest of the seasoning. make sure you lower the heat while adding coconut milk.
For Thai Inspired recipes
Thai meatballs in coconut curry sauce
Ingredients
Thai Meatball
- 500 grams Ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoons garlic minced or grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste or finely minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons shallots chopped finely
- ½ tablespoon chilli paste
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped with
For Coconut curry sauce
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- ¼ cup shallot minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste or finely minced ginger
- 1 can 14 ounce full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste depending on how spicy you like it
- 1 tspn curry powder
- 1 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 2 braids eye chilli splitter
- ½ tbsp lemongrass grated
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro and/or basil roughly chopped along with stem
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients mentioned for Thai meatballs. Mix just until incorporated. Take 1 – 1.5 tablespoons mixture in hand, gently roll in between palms into smooth balls. To prevent sticking the mixture, lightly wet your hand before shaping.
- Heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Place the shaped meatballs in a single layer, placed a little apart. Let it cook undisturbed on low-medium heat for about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the rest of the sides for 1-minutes each. Meatballs should look light golden brown in color and firm. It's ok if it is a little undercooked in the center, as the meatballs will cook further while resting.
- Keep the meatballs covered while resting to prevent from drying.
- In the same skillet, heat 2 tablespoon oil. Cook shallots, minced ginger, and garlic for about 2 minutes.
- To the above onion, ginger and garlic mix, add red curry paste and curry powder. saute for a minute.
- Lower heat. Add grated lemon grass, coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, and fish sauce. Bring the coconut curry sauce to a simmer for 6-7 minutes.
- Add fresh lemon juice, chopped cilantro, red Thai chili if using. Stir everything and check for seasoning.
- Add in the cooked meatballs , pour over the coconut curry sauce and cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat.
- Take off the heat and serve over rice.
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