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These Thai Meatballs are paleo, gluten-free, and bursting with flavor. The meatballs themselves, made from ground turkey, are full of veggies and infused with the perfect flavor combination of ginger, chili, garlic, and more. A total crowd-pleaser that gets rave reviews!
Healthy Thai Turkey Meatballs
Let me (re)introduce you to one of my favorite recipes from the early days of this blog! These Thai Meatballs are from the first few years of blogging and I’m excited to be giving it an update with new photos, so more of you can find this amazing recipe. These meatballs are bursting with Thai flavors, filled with some extra hidden veggies, and have stood the test of time. I know you are going to love them as much as my family has over the years!
When a meatball recipe is as delicious as these are–plus, easy-to-make–you know you have yourself a dinner-time favorite. Mix all the ingredients, toss on a baking sheet, bake, and enjoy! They make for a great meal prep option too! Protein-packed, nutritious, and easy to take on the go.
And don’t worry, if you’ve had trouble making gluten-free turkey meatballs in the past, we’re sharing our tips for working with turkey meatballs to make this recipe fool-proof.
Thai Meatball Ingredients
- Ground Dark Meat Turkey
- Carrots
- Scallions
- Garlic + Ginger
- Coconut Aminos
- Chili Paste
- Salt + Red Pepper Flakes
- Sesame Oil
- Fish Sauce
Substitutes
Here are some common substitution questions answered for this recipe:
Turkey: Feel free to swap out the turkey for ground dark meat chicken!
Fish Sauce: We know we often get questions about this. This is optional! But recommended as it does add a really nice flavor to the meatball.
Coconut Aminos: This is a soy-free alternative to soy sauce. You can use soy sauce in this but omit the added salt.
Sesame Oil: This adds a really nice flavor, but can be substituted for olive oil or avocado oil.
Chili Paste: If you don’t have this, you can swap it with sriracha.
Tips for Making Turkey Meatballs
Making gluten-free meatballs with ground turkey can be a little tricky. Follow these best practices to make for the best Thai meatballs!
- Don’t use only white meat ground turkey. It will be too dry. Stick to ground dark meat or a mix of white and dark meat. If you can’t find ground turkey already in the case, check with the butcher to see if they can grind up some boneless dark meat for you fresh!
- Work with very cold meat! The colder the meat mixture, the easier it is to work with. We’ve even stuck the meatballs in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to shape them better when need be.
- Make sure to wet your hands! This helps prevent the meat mixture from sticking to you.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out the meatballs to ensure even-sized meatballs.
How to Serve Thai Meatballs
There are two main ways to serve these meatballs. The first is as an appetizer! These meatballs have frequently been served as an Hors d’Oeuvre in my house over the years, and to great fanfare! Or, you can serve this as a meal on it’s own (and they make great meal prep!).
If serving them as a meal, serve them with any of these sides for a complete lunch or dinner:
- Cauliflower Rice
- Coconut Rice
- Stir Fry Veggies
- Roasted Veggies
- Zucchini Noodles
- Rice Noodles
- Spaghetti Squash
Watch the video:
Like this healthy meatball recipe? Try these other favorite meatball recipes:
Thai Meatballs
Ingredients
For Meatballs:
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup scallions chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chili paste
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Pinch red pepper flakes
For Sauce:
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil or olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon chili paste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and set aside a baking sheet.
- Add all of the meatball ingredients to a large bowl and mix together. Portion out about 2 heaping tablespoons amount of the mixture and form into meatballs with wet hands. If the mixture is difficult to handle, place in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.
- Place meatballs on the baking sheet for 14-16 minutes or until meatballs are golden on the outside and reach an internal temperature of 165ºF.
- Meanwhile make sauce ingredients: Add all of the sauce ingredients to a medium pot and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer until sauce thickens up.
- Toss the meatballs with 3/4 of the sauce, and serve over rice or another side dish, or as an appetizer with some extra sauce on the side.
I’ve never heard of amminos, are they better for you than tamari or soy?
If you don’t like fish sauce can I omit it?
Yes to omitting the fish sauce. Coconut aminos is a soy sauce alternative! I prefer it. Use whichever.
Can these be frozen? If so, would I cook them first?
Yes, I would! 🙂
So excited for these but they are sooo sticky! Whats your trick to rolling them into balls when they get stuck all over your fingers? Thanks!
Wet your hands 🙂
These look great, I can’t wait to try! Do you know if there is anything to sub the coconut aminos with? Thanks!
It’s a soy sauce alternative — so if you use Tamari or soy sauce it’ll work the same!
HI Can’t wait to make these tonight (finally)!! How many meatballs would you say is a serving size? Thank you for all your recipes and cook book!!!
Beverly
It depends if you’re making it as an appetizer or dinner, and what else you’re serving with it!
These were so easy to make and DELICIOUS! thank you!
So happy you liked! 🙂
I loved the flavors in these meatballs. The meatballs and sauce were on the salty side for me so I would eliminate the salt in the recipe and find some amino that is low sodium. I would also double the amount of sauce for the meatballs; I found that it wasn’t enough as a single recipe.
Just finished making these. Taste test a big hit with hubby and me, we loved them,
These were soooooo tasty!!! Very flavourful and juicy. Thanks Lexi!
These sound amazing Lexi!! And look so good. Glad you had an awesome weekend. A night making sushi followed by meals out and shopping sounds like it was a great way to spend a few days.
Thank you Amy! Can you eat these??
Currently, no because of the chile paste and red pepper flakes. However, I am starting to think about some reintroductions. Overall, I haven’t really felt different doing AIP. I have an appointment with my endocronologist next week. Hopefully I’ll get more blood tests done to see how my thyroid levels are doing and then go from there. Will let you know how it turns out (I’ve been missing not tasting some of the goodies you’ve posted recently). 😀
Not going to lie, I was drooling when I saw you post this on instagram- I’ve been stuck on sweet and salty paleo meatballs but love the idea of a Thai flavoured one!
I just made these tonight and they are so aaaaamazing! Thank you!
I LOVE thai food! Can’t wait to try these!
These are right up my alley! I love Thai flavors, but never thought to make a meatball with them. Great idea!
These look perfect! I want them all. Congrats on winning the TBN award thing by the way.
Dear Lexi, These meatballs sound wonderful…I love all the flavors in this dish. This would be a hit with my family. xo, Catherine
These look terrific. May give them a try this week with my family. I laughed when I saw your comment about Sushi. Tried this at home also, but my rolls were too thick with rice. Just couldn’t get the right amount of rice in the roll to make it hold together, too much. Any hints from your class?
Sounds like it was a pretty perfect weekend. The sushi making and tapas sound especially fun! These meatballs look delicious and I love the Thai flavors you gave them!
I am a huge meatball fan and love using turkey to keep it light. Love the flavor combo. Sharing now!
Oh how I love Asian Meatballs–these look amazing!!