Thai Turkey Meatballs

I was browsing my ol’ faithful – Pinterest – when this recipe (eventually) caught my eye. I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest when it comes to inspiring my dinner. Love – well, what’s not to love? There are literally millions of gorgeous photos, leading you to so many different recipes. It also lets me check out other blogs I would’ve never found otherwise. But sometimes it’s almost TOO much. It certainly doesn’t help me narrow down my plan if I have no idea what I want to make tonight. Even though I try to organize my Pinterest into food categories, the options are still overwhelming. Let’s take my “Chicken Entrees” board. I started there because we had chicken in the freezer that probably should be eaten. Obviously, each of these dishes appealed to me in some instance, because I saved them. So why did I find reasons to not make any of them tonight?? Browsing this board, I first clicked on Senegalese Chicken Yassa – 💭💭 nah, takes too long to make. Then, oooh Chicken & Dumplings – 💭💭 ehhh, Selim probably won’t want that tonight. Chicken Tikka Masala –  💭💭 oh yum, but I’m trying to write a new blog post and we’ve already done a tikka masala on here. Greek Chicken Meatballs – 💭💭 welllll we did just go on a rant about Greek food, so probably should hold off. But meatballs, that sounds good… let’s go down that rabbit hole… ⌨️ “chicken meatballs” 🖱️ And many clicks later, here we are.

And I’m glad we finally made it. These meatballs are great! And are a likely a bit healthier than the last meatballs you made. We ate them over rice noodles, which was great, but I think they’d be perfect as an appetizer as well.

Thai Turkey Meatballs

(Adapted from The Bewitchin’ Kitchen blog)

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 + 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced + 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 5 large fresh basil leaves
• 5 turns fresh ground black pepper
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the first twelve ingredients (carrots through pepper – including the 1 tbsp of lime juice and 3 sliced cloves of garlic) in a food processor. Pulse until well-processed.
3. In a large bowl, combine the mixture, ground turkey, and egg. Stir to combine well.
4. Using your hands, form the mixture into small meatballs. (It will feel really wet!)
5. Place meatballs on a lined cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Then flip and bake another 15 minutes.
7. While the meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce.
8. In a large, high-edged pan over medium heat, swirl together coconut oil and just a dash of the coconut milk.
9. Add the remaining garlic (2 cloves, minced) and cook for a few minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
10. Now stir in the red curry paste. Allow to cook for just 1-2 more minutes.
11. Then add the rest of the can of coconut milk and the remaining 2 tbsp lime juice.
12. Maintain the sauce over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens up a smidge.
13. When the meatballs are done, place the in the pan. Remove from heat. Coat with the sauce.
14. Serve over rice or rice noodles or with toothpicks as an appetizer.