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Baked Asian Turkey Meatballs are homemade meatballs that are coated with a sweet and sticky hoisin sauce made with soy sauce, fresh ginger and garlic, cilantro, and more!
This easy ground turkey meatballs recipe is a perfect meal to make at home for the family! Sweet, savory, and baked until perfection, you will want to serve these amazing meatballs as an appetizer or served over a bed of homemade fluffy rice.
Ready in less than 30 minutes, they are ideal for a flavorful dinner prepared quickly without a ton of extra work, and also make-ahead and freezer friendly.
Baked Turkey Meatballs
I love making my own Asian style take-out at home. It is so easy to do and when those cravings strike for bold and aromatic ingredients like zesty ginger, soy sauce, sticky hoisin sauce, and nutty sesame oil, you can whip them up in no time!
These Asian turkey meatballs are filled with incredible flavors that will be hard to turn down–just ask my family! Between this recipe and my Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs recipe, we make sure we eat really well in my house.
What You’ll Need
For the Meatballs
- Ground Turkey- These are ground turkey meatballs, but chicken or beef can also be used. The lower fat content of ground turkey is accounted for, so you can use a leaner blend.
- Panko Bread Crumbs- Panko is a Japanese style bread crumb that is made out of bread just like regular bread crumbs, but ground to a larger size. Regular bread crumbs can be used, but you’ll only need about 75% of the volume and opt for unseasoned otherwise you’ll have an Asian-Italian fusion.
- Egg– The binder and needed to hold everything today. Use two egg whites to further reduce fat and calories.
- Grated Ginger- Ginger can be tricky to work with. If you don’t feel like peeling and grating a fresh nub, which will give you the most flavor, grab one of the bottled versions.
- Fresh Garlic- I can not stress enough how important fresh garlic is, the bottled version of this is more on the sweet side. If that is what you are aiming for, by all means, go for it!
- Salt- Salt helps to enhance all of the natural flavors and balances the umami.
- Cilantro– Cilantro can be a dividing factor, omit if you happen to carry the cilantro-hating gene.
- Soy Sauce– Use a low sodium sauce or omit additional salt because the full bore version will give you all you need.
- Sesame Oil – Common in Asian cuisines, sesame oil has a unique flavor with maximum impact. Other neutral oils can be used, but the overall taste will suffer.
Sweet Hoisin Dipping Sauce
These meatballs are bursting with flavor on their own, there aren’t many foods that can’t be accentuated without sauce, so get saucy. This can be made ahead of time and stored up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. It also tastes great on chicken, fish (like salmon or tuna) and blended into fried rice.
- Hoisin Sauce – A thick, syrupy sauce, it is sometimes used as a stand-alone dipping sauce; our version is further elevated.
- Low Sodium Soy Sauce- Aim for lower sodium to avoid over salty flavors.
- Sesame Oil – Again, a neutral oil can be swapped, but it won’t’ carry the same profile.
- Lime Juice– Lime juice is what sets this sauce apart. Any citrus starts to lose potency the moment it is juiced, so fresh limes will always carry the best flavors.
- Water- To thin it out a bit.
- Green Onions- Also known as scallions, they add color and fresh crunch to the mix.
How to Make Asian Ground Turkey Meatballs
- First, preheat the oven and prepare the baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the meatball mixture- this is the most common reason for tough meatballs of any kind. Instead of mixing well, gently toss the mixture.
- Next, with your hands or a small ice cream scoop, form the turkey mixture into round meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using an ice cream scoop will ensure that they are a uniform size and will cook evenly and at the same rate.
- Bake the meatballs for ten to fifteen minutes until they are cooked through.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the dipping sauce. In a bowl, combine everything except for the green onions. This sauce is an emulsion, so it might separate soon after whisking, this is normal.
- Finally, toss the cooked meatballs with the sticky sauce and serve garnished with chopped green onions.
Storage & Freezing
Store the leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four days.
To freeze these meatballs, place them in a freezer-safe bag and freeze them for three months.
You can even prepare these meatballs ahead of time and just toss them in the sauce until ready to cook. Just freeze separately or make the sauce right before tossing!
Commonly Asked Meatball Questions
If you overmixed the ground turkey mixture, then the meatballs will come out rubbery. Be careful not to overmix!
Gently massage the ground turkey before mixing with the other ingredients. The heat from your hands will make the meatball mixture stick together.
If you add too much egg or breadcrumbs, then the meatballs may fall apart! Be sure to closely follow this recipe for the best results!
More Asian Dinner Recipes to Try
- Chicken Lo Mein
- Easy Cashew Chicken
- Hot & Sour Soup
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Chow Mein Noodles with Chicken
- Crispy Sesame Chicken
- Pork Lo Mein
- Egg Drop Soup
Asian Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/4 cup panko crumbs
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
Dipping Sauce
- 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoon lime juice
- 2 Tablespoon water
- 1 green onion, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450º F.
- In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix until everything is well combined. Be careful not to overwork it, or the meat will be tough.
- Form balls about the size of golf balls, and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until they are cooked through.
- Meanwhile prepare the dipping sauce. Combine everything but the scallions, and mix until well combined. Add the scallions.
- Toss the cooked meatballs with the sauce and serve garnished with chopped green onions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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These flavors all go together so well! Thank you for the easy recipe!!
I love the Asian flavors in these meatballs! They sound incredible!!
I love the sound of these! I bet they taste AMAZING!!
Such an amazing meatball recipe!! Thank you so much for sharing!
I had something like these at a party and have been trying to recreate them. They are so addictive!