Name: Thai Turkey Meatballs with Red Curry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 1 egg; 1 lb ground turkey; 1/4 cup panko; 1 tbsp red curry paste; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp minced ginger; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; zest from one lime; 2 cups jasmine rice (dry); 1 14 oz. can full fat coconut milk; 1/2 cup water; 1 tbsp white sugar (or coconut sugar); 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 1 large shallot, sliced thin; 1 14 oz. can full fat coconut milk; 2 tbsp red curry paste; 1 tbsp fish sauce; 1 1/2 tbsp coconut sugar; 1 tbsp lime juice; 4-5 cups baby spinach; chopped roasted and salted peanuts; Thai chili; cilantro and/or Thai basil; extra lime wedges

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One of my favourite cuisines is definitely Thai. I love the flavours, the spice and the depth of all the dishes. And when it comes to Thai curry sauces, I’m all about it. So I wanted to try making something that would be an easy weeknight meal and one that also freezes and stores well. Enter these delicious Thai turkey meatballs with a coconut red curry sauce. The Thai meatballs only contain a handful of ingredients but they’re packed with lots of flavour and then served with a red curry sauce and fluffy coconut rice. I’ve added in some spinach for a little extra veg, but you could add in plenty of other veggies to make this a more complete meal.

Why You’ll Love These Thai Turkey Meatballs

quick and easy to make for a weeknight dinner.
great for leftovers and meal prep.
freezes well
packed with flavour
customize it to your liking

Ingredients

To make these easy and flavourful red curry turkey meatballs, here’s what you’ll need.

egg
ground turkey
panko (use gluten-free if needed)
red curry paste
garlic
ginger
lime zest

For the red curry sauce, here’s everything you’ll need:

shallot
1 14 oz. can full fat coconut milk
red curry paste
fish sauce
coconut sugar
lime juice
baby spinach

How to Make Thai Curry Turkey Meatballs

Although it looks like a lot going on, the oven and your stovetop do all the work. While the meatballs are cooking, you can also have the rice going. There is minimal prep work, so it’s still fairly quick and easy to make.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ .

In a large bowl, mix together all of the turkey ingredients until just combined, don’t over mix.

Form into small golf-ball sized meatballs and place on a baking sheet (or in a baking dish). I prefer using a cookie scoop, it makes them all uniform in size and shape.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 14 minutes. Remove the tray and turn the oven to a high broil and return the baking sheet to the oven. Broil on high for eight to ten minutes, until browned and cooked through.

How to Make fluffy Coconut Rice

The recipe I use time and time again is this brilliant recipe from one of my fav food bloggers – Recipe Tin Eats. The only change I make to it is to add cilantro, lime juice and zest when it’s finished cooking. I also don’t soak the rice because I’m usually too lazy or strapped for time, but I do rinse it very well.

Check out Recipe Tin Eats for the exact how to, it is hands off and always results in the fluffiest, tastiest coconut rice.

While the turkey meatballs are baking, you can get the rice cooking.

Rinse the jasmine rice very well, until the water runs clear. Transfer to a medium sized pot.
Add the coconut milk, water, sugar and salt to the pot with the rice. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then stir and cover with a lid, reducing the heat immediately to low.
Leave the rice to cook for 14 minutes. Then remove the pot from the heat and let it sit covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork and set aside.

Make the Coconut Curry Sauce

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. Drizzle in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Add the shallot and cook until just starting to brown, about five minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Whisk well and bring to a low simmer.

Add the spinach and stir until just wilted. Place the meatballs back in the curry sauce and let simmer for another few minutes just to warm up the meatballs.

These delicious Thai turkey meatballs are ready to be served. Top them with crunchy roasted peanuts, cilantro or Thai basil, extra Thai chilies and lime wedges.

Tips

When it comes to making these Thai red curry meatballs, here are a few tips to make things extra easy and delicious

Don’t over mix the meatball mixture: mix until everything is just combined to avoid over working the meat, which could make it tougher.
Use a mix of dark and light meat: this will result in more flavour.
Make the meatballs ahead of time: they can easily be added to the coconut curry sauce while it’s simmering to reheat them.
How to serve: these are delicious served with fluffy rice that can soak up all the red curry sauce and any extra veggies you like. Steamed broccoli, or cauliflower are great!

Substitutions

No turkey: use ground chicken instead.
Panko: use a gluten-free panko, or omit.
Fish sauce: I highly recommend using a high quality fish sauce for recipes, it truly makes a big difference. See my note below for which brand I use.
Peanuts: omit the peanuts, use toasted sesame seeds instead, or toasted almonds.

Fish Sauce

I recommend getting a high quality one, such as this one from Red Boat. It’s a great brand, made with only anchovies and salt and doesn’t have any added sugar.

Prior to me getting a good fish sauce, I kept getting a mediocre sauce. I didn’t understand how important the fish sauce was. Now, I use this fish sauce from Red Boat, and it makes a BIG difference! This brand only uses anchovies and sea salt, with no added sugar, unlike most brands. It’s the best tasting one I’ve tried, and 100% worth the higher price tag.

Red Curry Paste

There are lots of options to choose from.

I love this brand and buy it regularly. I don’t find it spicy, so I like adding extra Thai chilies.

I have also used this one from the Thai Kitchen brand plenty of times and love them as well.

Serving and Storage

Store: once cooked, you can store meatballs and curry sauce separately in sealed containers in the fridge for up to four days.
Reheat: reheat the coconut curry sauce in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat with the meatballs in it for about eight to ten minutes, until warmed through.
Freeze: you can freeze uncooked turkey meatballs in a freezer safe plastic bag for up to three months, or cooked meatballs for up to three months. Let them defrost overnight in the fridge and then cook or reheat as directed above.

More Thai dishes to try:

Are you ready to make these Thai turkey meatballs with red curry? Let’s get to it!

As always, if you make this recipe please share with me, by tagging me on Instagram or leave a comment and/or review below. I truly love seeing and hearing form you!‍

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