Flavourful and simple to pull together, make these Sticky Thai Chicken Meatballs for dinner tonight.
Sticky, sweet and spicy are a great way to describe these chicken meatballs when served with the glaze.
They are still tasty on their own for those who prefer simple flavours, or kick it up a notch and add the sweet and spicy glaze lightly drizzled on top for some extra wow factor.
The Meatballs
We developed the flavours of the meatballs after making them a few times and using a few traditional Thai ingredients like fish sauce, chili, lime, and garlic, plus fresh cilantro and mint. Shrimp paste was added for another hit of umami as we already had it in the refrigerator.
With so much flavour coming from the meatballs and the glaze itself, salt and pepper is not needed.
The Glaze
Our finger licking good glaze was created following similar instructions for a chicken wings recipe made earlier this year. This glaze touches on salty, sweet and spicy.
We recommend you play with your glaze as soy sauce can be salty so perhaps start with less soy sauce.
Four of us tried the glaze and we each tasted something different. My daughter thought salty, my son spicy, I got sweet and then my daughter got spicy for a second flavour. Both my husband and I liked the salty flavour (when tasting out of the pot) and found it lightened up when drizzled on the meatballs and the rice noodles.
Enjoy these meatballs served with rice noodles in a bowl or rice noodles in a lettuce cup.
If you enjoy this recipe, check out our Vietnamese Pork Meatball Banh Mi served in buns.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 lime zested
- 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh mint chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs not seasoned
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
Honey Glaze
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tsp sambel oelek
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 lime juiced
Accompaniments
- 1 package rice noodles cooked per package instructions
- 1 head boston lettuce
- 2 carrots grated
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
- 2 red thai chili sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil.
Combine chicken through fish sauce in a bowl and gently well. Roll into walnut sized meatballs and place on baking sheet.Bake for 8 minutes, then turn the meatballs over and cook another 8 minutes.Make the glaze by adding soy sauce, honey, sambel, fish sauce and lime juice to a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for about 4-6 minutes or until glaze thickens slightly. Taste and adjust if necessary.Prepare rice noodles as directed on package. Pour into a bowl until ready to serve.Have boston lettuce leaves, grated carrots, cilantro leaves, mint leaves, and red thai chili ready to go in bowls served family style. Drizzle the glaze on the meatballs and rice noodles or leave out in a bowl for self sever.
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Yummy! Just a question. How spicy do the meatballs go? My kids aren’t big fans of too spicy and I remember some Thai dishes have a good amount of spice with them.
So odd I responded to your question and the response has disappeared. The spice is in the glaze. Taste it first, mix a wee bit in and serve the rest on the side. Or if really spice sensitive serve glaze on the side and let everyone add their own!