These meatballs with a Thai influence are stewed in a flavorful tomato coconut curry sauce and are brimming with vibrant and aromatic ingredients. I enjoy experimenting with Thai ingredients and reimagining recipes, even though my curry isn’t authentically Thai. Serve with rice noodles or jasmine rice.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 55 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 36 meatballs |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground pork
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
- ¾ teaspoon lemon grass puree
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
- ½ cup minced onion
- 1 (28 ounce) can Hunt’s® Diced Tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- ¾ cup canned coconut milk
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon Fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Combine pork, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lemon grass paste, cilantro, and peanut oil in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to blend flavors.
- Shape pork mixture into 1 1/4-inch meatballs. (Mixture should yield approximately 34 to 36 meatballs.)
- Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook meatballs in batches, giving the pan a shake occasionally. Turn meatballs until brown on all sides and cooked through, approximately 14 to 16 minutes. Remove meatballs to a bowl.
- In a large saucepan, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Cook onion until translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Stir in curry paste. Cover and simmer over low heat until sauce begins to reduce, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Process sauce with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in coconut milk and adjust taste by adding additional salt if needed. Return meatballs to sauce and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, or until warmed through.
- Garnish with cilantro if desired.
- The meatballs are also delicious made with ground chicken or turkey.
- If you do not have an immersion blender, cool sauce slightly, then puree in batches in a blender.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 381 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 74 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Sodium | 716 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This recipe it’s really good and simple. I match it with a garlic coconut and ginger rice and a Thai corn on the cob. Highly recommended.
I made exactly as directed except I used ground beef since that was what I had . The family loved it. I do think making it with ground pork would be even better.
This was yummy! I subbed turkey for the pork and upped the recipe for 2 pounds of meat. The meatballs are amazing. I also subbed soy sauce for the fish and backed them in the oven. I made a mistake and cooked the. Sauce in a shallow pan and made a mess when I tried to use the emulsion blender. So ours was a chunky.
This was delicious the only thing I added was some hot peppers as my family likes heat.
We defiantly enjoyed this fun twist on thai italian fusion, but we felt the sauce needed a bit more fusion. I added additional garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and sambal (just because we like a bit of heat) to the tomato sauce.
I made these last night, for dinner, tonight, and I am so happy I did! The fridge time for the completed dish really brought the flavors alive. The only change I made was to sub out another oil for peanut. I do think the meatballs could do with a pinch of salt, but other than that, this is a really tasty dish! I will serve over rice, with steamed broccoli for the side. Thanks for posting, France!
I scaled this down to 5 servings using just over a lb of ground pork. That is a nice, light meat in this dish. I didn’t have fresh cilantro, so I went with dried. Also, no peanut oil, so I used sesame oil (combined with canola for frying the onion). I also baked the meatballs in a foil-lined pan at 400degF for 20 min. To the sauce, I also added a few tsps of sugar to cut the acidity, as well as a frozen cube of garlic and two of basil (always hear basil used in Thai dishes). Served with jasmine rice. Something different and good, that I will surely make again. Leftovers will be enjoyed, as well. Thanks!
I loved this recipe! It was easy to make and full of flavor. I didn’t have any lemon grass paste, but it still tasted great!
I liked this a lot. I skipped the fish sauce (I’m pregnant & fish sauce is not my friend) and added soy sauce but not in a 1:1 ratio bc soy isn’t as salty as fish sauce (to me; I use low-sodium tho). I also chose to use ground turkey (93/7). I thought this flavor profile was missing lime so I added bottled lime juice at the table but I think slices of fresh lime would be the perfect garnish in the future. Will make again, thanks for the recipe!
The meatballs had more flavor than the curry. Adding the lemongrass, cilantro, and fish sauce I think will do wonders to the curry. I also added zucchini and yellow squash for some more veggies. I did not use peanut oil because I did t have it, but I also prefer sesame oil so I used that instead. I did not do the blending step because I like having onions and tomatoes in there but I bet this makes it thicker. I served with rice noodles and added some fresh lime juice as well.
4.11.17 Made one change to this recipe, and that was I baked the meatballs instead of frying them. The meatballs were tender, and the fresh ginger root and lemon grass puree really popped. Wonderful layers of flavor in this recipe. Red curry paste can be a bit assertive, but the coconut milk perfectly mellows it out. The sauce had just the right amount of kick for us. Over the past couple years, we have developed a taste for Asian food, and this Thai recipe is a nice addition to my collection. Company worthy meal for sure!
What a meal! I have made this twice. The first time I used organic beef and found that the flavor was too strong. The second time I used veal and pork and the more delicate flavor of the meat allowed a smooth balanced character. Both times I made the meatballs without any fish sauce subbing fermented bean paste and then cooked them in an airfryer. I served it over fragrant jasmine rice and my family really enjoyed it. Thank you for the recipe.
it is good recipe