These flavoursome Asian meatballs are incredibly easy to make and come with a delicious, 3-ingredient sweet chilli glaze. They make a great appetizer or easy dinner idea everyone will love. Ready in under 30 minutes!

These Asian inspired meatballs are super soft and juicy. The flour coating allows the meatballs to crisp up lightly on the outside while locking all the flavour and moisture inside. You will only need 2 tablespoons of oil for frying so these meatballs are also quite low in fat.

What I also love about these meatballs is that they can be served both as a family meal, alongside rice and steamed or stir fried vegetables, as well as an appetizer. Simply form smaller meatballs and reduce cooking time by a few minutes.

Asian meatballs ingredients

In addition to the ground meat (I used turkey with 7% fat but you can use chicken, pork or beef) these meatballs contain fresh ginger, garlic and green onions (scallions), as well as a small amount of salt and pepper. I didn't use too much salt as the glaze is quite salty.

These delicious Asian meatballs have a lovely soft consistency thanks to the addition of a soft bun (use burger bun, hot dog bun or similar) which I tend to use in most of my meatball recipes. In my experience this works better than using breadcrumbs.

You will also need 2 tablespoons of flour for coating and 2 tablespoons of oil for frying the meatballs.

The 3-ingredient glaze is made using light soy sauce, sesame oil and sweet chilli sauce.

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1.Tear the bun into small pieces and place in a food processor along with the chopped scallions, ginger and garlic.

2. Pulse a few times until crumbly (don't overprocess).

3. Add the meat, salt and pepper and pulse a few times just to combine the ingredients.

4. Form small meatballs and coat in the flour.

5. In a large non-stick pan heat up 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the meatballs slowly over a low/medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked and lightly browned turning often. Do not overcrowd the pan.

6. Towards the end of cooking make the sweet chilli glaze. In a small non-stick pan heat up the sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. Bring to the boil and simmer for a minute stirring often then remove from the heat.

7. Remove the meatballs from the heat and using a slotted spoon transfer into your serving dish. Cover with the glaze, scatter the sesame seeds and chopped green onion over the top and enjoy!

Can I make these meatballs ahead

You can form the meatballs up to 2 hours in advance and coat in the flour just before frying. I don't recommend preparing the meatballs too far in advance as they contain raw onion, which can change the flavour of the meatballs if left uncooked for too long.

Do I have to use a food processor

I recommend that you do, not only because it's very quick but it ensures the bread has the right consistency and is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Using a food processor helps create soft meatballs.

Serving suggestions

These turkey meatballs can be served with rice and steamed vegetables. Also delicious with noodle broccoli salad. You can make these meatballs a little smaller and serve as an appetizer.

Top tips and FAQs

I used ground turkey but pork, chicken or beef would work well too. If you use beef you can make the glaze using hoisin sauce instead of the sweet chilli sauce and add a teaspoon of rice vinegar.
In my experience a soft bun produces softer meatballs so I do not recommend using breadcrumbs instead.
I recommend using a non-stick pan. Try not to overcrowd it so the meatballs have enough space to cook evenly and you can comfortably turn them over. Fry the meatballs in batches if you have to.
Fry the meatballs over a medium heat so they don't brown too quickly and have enough time to cook through.
Remove the meatballs from the pan using a slotted spoon to get rid of excess oil. Coat in the glaze after you've done this.
Best served immediately.
Freeze raw meatballs (without the flour) in a single layer on top of a tray for 4 hours then transfer into a freezer bag/plastic container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost, coat in the flour and fry as per instructions.

Keep in touch!

If you make these Asian inspired meatballs I'd love to know how they turned out for you. Did you serve them as a family meal or appetizer? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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