Asian-style Saucy & Spicy chicken meatballs recipe 

Sauce, spice and everything nice, these were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little meatballs. (Plz tell me you are PPG fan…pretty plz). This Spicy Chicken Meatballs recipe originally came into being for a dinner party I was hosting last summer. Since then it has been perfected and eventually, added in my food rotation for every month.

These Asian-flavored meatballs are coated in a delicious garlic brown sauce. Unlike being sweet like the Teriyaki Chicken, these meatballs have a more garlicky and chili flakes infused flavor and a mellow sweet after-taste. 

Oh and did I mention, you only need 30 mins to whip this recipe up! Again like so many Chinese dishes, this one is just as versatile as it is easy, and quick.

3 ways to serve these Meatballs

1. Skip the sauce and you have a great grilled/fried appetizer to add to your menu

2. Keep the sauce very thick, and add toothpicks to each balls and you have a starter

3. Keep the sauce liquidy, and you have a main course staring right at ya.

And like all Chinese main entrees, like the dragon chicken, this meatball goes well with rice and pasta both, with a side serving of a good old salad.

STEPS OUTLINE FOR MAKING THE SAUCY CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Ok, if you’ve ever made any kind of meatballs before, you know the drill. If you haven’t, lemme just walk you through the steps quickly

STEP 1 – MAKING THE MEATBALLS

First, we are going to start with some finely chopped veggies, like carrots, bulbs of the green onions and garlic by putting them in a chopper.

Make sure you are chopping them towards the fine side. You can even chop the green shoots of the green onions, but I like to slice them by knife. 

Dump all your veggies, mince meat in a bowl along with some breadcrumbs, an egg and a tbsp of cream cheese.

PRO TIP: The cream cheese is added to make the meatballs soft even if they get overcooked. 

(If you are looking for a healthier alternative, you could use Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese)

Then we are just gonna add all the seasonings (mentioned in the recipe card below) and proceed to the next step.

Oil your palms and make the meatballs. 

If you find handling the meatballs difficult these are one of the 3 things you can do:

1. You can add another tablespoon of breadcrumbs so your mixture will become easier to handle.
2. You could keep your meatball mixture in the freezer for 15 minutes and then try making the balls.
3. You can use an icecream scooper to scoop out evenly sized balls on to an oiled baking tray and flash freeze it. Take it out and perfect the shape of the balls by hand. 

Next we are going to fry/grill/bake the meatballs. 

Don’t worry if the meatballs aren’t cooked all the way through as they are going to be cooked a little more in your sauce. After grilling/frying/baking, keep your cooked meatballs aside.

PRO TIP: You can freeze the meatballs after cooking them and use them at a later date. 

STEP 2 – MAKING THE SAUCE

For preparing sauce, its gonna start in the very basic curry-starter kind of a way.

We are gonna add some oil to a pan and saute some chopped garlic and onions.

Once they turn a really nice golden brown color, add all the sauce ingredients like the vinegar, sriracha sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, chili flakes, honey, salt and let it cook. I add half a cup of water to my sauce when I am making this as a Main Course. Skip the water if you want to make this as an appetizer. 

Let the sauce cook for about 2 to 3 minutes and add in your meatballs.

Let it cook for another 5 minutes and turn of the flame. I love garnishing this with green onions and sesame seeds. 

RECIPE ALTERATIONS

HEALTHIER MEATBALLS

• Use Greek Yogurt instead of cream cheese
• Bake meatballs instead of frying.
• Use low sodium organic sauces to prepare the sauce. 

ADJUST SPICE LEVELS

• To create a rather spicier version of this recipe, use chili oil to prepare the sauce and up the level of chili flakes and Sriracha sauce
• To reduce heat in this recipe, skip the red chili flakes from the meatballs and sauce. 

Asian-style Saucy & Spicy chicken meatballs recipe 

Asian flavored meatballs prepared in a garlic and chili infused brown sauce. Eaten usually with Rice and/or Pasta

4.79 from 19 votes

Print Pin

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 22 meat balls

Calories: 46kcal

Author: Wajiha

Ingredients

To make the Meatballs

• ▢ 500 gm boneless chicken mince
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic
• ▢ 1 medium carrot
• ▢ 4 stalks green onions (scallions)
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tsp red chili flakes
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 3 tsp panko breadcrumbs
• ▢ 1 tbsp Cream Cheese or Greek Yogurt
• ▢ 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
• ▢ Oil for frying

For the Sauce

• ▢ 1 medium onion finely chopped
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• ▢ 4 tbsp of cooking oil
• ▢ 1/2 cup water
• ▢ 4 tbsp Ketchup
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• ▢ 4 tbsp Oyster sauce
• ▢ 2 tbsp honey
• ▢ 1 tsp red chili flakes
• ▢ 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Instructions

MEATBALLS

• In a chopper, add the carrot, garlic and the white bulbs of the green onions. Chop them finely.
• Chop the green shoots of the green onions separately.
• In a bowl add chicken mince, chopped veggies and all the ingredients listed for meatballs (Except oil)
• Cover the meatball mix and refrigerate for half an hour.
• Oil the palm of your hands, scoop 1 tbsp of the chicken mince and form balls.
• Cook the meatballs and set them aside

TO COOK THE MEATBALLS:

• Fry them directly in some oil at medium flame.
• Grill them at medium flame on a grill pan
• To bake them: Preheat oven at 165°C (325°F) for 20 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven
• PREPARING THE SAUCE
• In a large pan add oil, chopped garlic and chopped onions. Saute them at medium flame until they turn golden brown.
• Add all the ingredients to the sauce in the pan and cook for 2 3 minutes.
• Add meatballs, cover the pan and allow to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
• Adjust the level of sauciness to your liking, overcook to reduce the sauce or add more water to increase the sauce quantity.
• Serve the meatballs with sprinkled sesame seeds and chopped green onions.

Notes

If you want to freeze the meatballs, Grill them at high flame for a minute or so and freeze them in a ziplock back. (they will be undercooked, but will retain their shape and moisture) To use them at a later date, just defrost and prepare them by baking/grilling or frying.

Nutrition

Serving: 1meatballCalories: 46kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 5gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.5gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 340mgPotassium: 117mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 549IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 0.2mg

Can't wait to see your remakes! Tag meon IG with your pictures @butteroverbae