Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs – baked Thai flavoured chicken or turkey meatballs swimming in a rich, coconut curry sauce with sliced red bell peppers, wilted spinach and topped with fresh cilantro. Enjoy served over a bed of rice. To pack even more veg into this dish and to keep it low carb/paleo friendly serve over cauliflower rice. | Gluten Free + Paleo + Whole30 + Low Carb

I think coconut and lime might, low key, be one of the greatest flavour combos ever. Ever.

I think you guys might agree seeing as how my Coconut Lime Chicken is my most popular recipe!

The slight sweetness from the coconut brighten up by the fresh, zippiness of lime juice balanced out with just the right amount of salty goodness – it’s heaven!

And that’s what we’re working with today with these coconut curry chicken meatballs. Simple, Thai inspired meatballs balls made with with chicken or turkey – whatever you got – swimming in this ultra rich and light coconut sauce. Is your mouth watering yet?

How to Make these Coconut Curry Meatballs

This recipe can be broken up in three stages: the meatballs, the coconut curry sauce bringing it all together.

The Meatballs

These meatballs are based on my popular Baked Thai Meatball recipe. They’re made up of only 6 ingredients, mixed together in one bowl. From here it’s just a matter of rolling your balls and then baking for 20 minutes until cooked.

Coconut Curry Sauce

While your meatballs are baking you can begin working on your sauce. Start out by frying your onion in coconut oil for a few minutes to soften. Then layer in your flavour by stirring in the garlic, ginger and bell pepper. Cook for another minute or two. Make sure to stir often to keep the garlic from burning.

Next, add your curry powder and curry paste and cook just another minute before stirring in the coconut milk and chicken stock. Mix everything together and bring the mixture to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat slightly to achieve a gentle simmer and let the sauce simmer and cook about 10 minutes, uncovered. The sauce should thicken and reduce in this time.

After about 10 minutes you can stir in your now baked meatballs. Stir well to cover in sauce and cook another 5 minutes. This will give the meatballs a little time to soak up some of the coconut sauce.

A few minutes before serving, stir in the spinach and lime juice until the spinach is wilted. Taste and season with a little more salt and lime juice if you think it needs it and that’s it!

Questions and Substitutions

Can I use light coconut milk or coconut milk from a carton?

• Ideally no. At most you can use light coconut milk but I’d stay away from carton coconut milk (like the one you might use in cereal). The creaminess of the full fat coconut milk is really important for adding creaminess and silkiness to this dish.
• You can also use unsweetened coconut cream in place of full fat coconut milk.

Can I use meat other than chicken or turkey?

• Yes. Just keep in mind that using a fattier meat will give you more tender meatballs and leaner meat might make for tougher meatballs.

What do I serve this with?

• If you’re looking to keep this low carb/paleo friendly then serve this over a bed of cauliflower to soak up all the extra flavour. The sauce really takes over the flavour of the cauliflower rice making it a great way to double up on veg!
• If you don’t need to keep this paleo then serve over rice or maybe another grain like quinoa or buckwheat. It’s up to you!

Enjoy!

Similar recipes you might enjoy:

• Coconut Lime Chicken
• Tomato Coconut Curry Chicken
• Thai Red Coconut Chicken
• Chicken Korma with Coconut Milk
• Spinach and Turmeric Fish Curry
• Thai Meatball Egg Drop Soup
• Honey Sriracha Turkey Meatballs

Yield: Serves 4

Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs

4.5 Stars (101 Reviews)

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

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Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs - baked Thai flavoured chicken or turkey meatballs swimming in a rich, coconut curry sauce with sliced red bell peppers, wilted spinach and topped with fresh cilantro.

Ingredients

Meatballs

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• 1 pound ground chicken or turkey (I like using something with about 5-7% fat)
• 3 whole spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 green chili pepper, deseeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon (3 g) minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml)coconut aminos (for paleo) or gluten free soy sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using soy sauce)

Curry

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• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) coconut oil
• 1 medium (150 g) white onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon (5 g) minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon (9 g)minced garlic
• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into slices
• 3 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 14 ounce can unsweetened full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup (240 ml) chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons (15 ml) lime juice
• 1 large handfull spinach

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

Meatballs

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
2. In a bowl combine all of your meatball ingredients.Mix well and form into tablespoon sized balls. You should end up with about 20 meatballs.
3. Place balls on lined baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes.

Curry

1. While the meatballs are baking, melt the coconut oil in a large skillet over a medium heat on the stove. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes to soften.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and red pepper and cook another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and curry paste. Cook 1 minute.
3. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer. Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken and reduces down in volume.
4. Stir in meatballs. Cook another 5 minutes or until the curry sauce has reduced down to your preference. The longer it cooks the thicker the sauce.
5. Add the spinach and lime juice to the skillet. Stir and let the spinach wilt. Taste and season with salt if needed.
6. Serve over rice or cauliflower rice and enjoy.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

5 meatballs + sauce
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 397Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 180mgSodium: 1196mgCarbohydrates: 18gNet Carbohydrates: 12gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 10g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Course: Mains Cuisine: Thai