These juicy Thai-style pork meatballs are deliciously flavored with lemongrass, ginger and garlic. As an appetizer these meatballs are amazing with the intensely flavorful dipping sauce, but they also make a great main course.
By now you’re probably aware of how much I love Thai food! And I know you do, too. The recipes for Spaghetti Squash with Thai Peanut Sauce and Thai Pineapple Fried Rice are among the most visited posts on this blog.
So these Thai-style pork meatballs won’t come as a surprise to you. I sure love me some classic Italian meatballs with rich tomato sauce, but the Thai version is really awesome too.
The lemongrass, ginger, garlic, cilantro and fish sauce give the pork meatballs their unmistakable Thai flavor. It’s absolutely delicious and not just for a Thai food lover, either.
My sister, Conny is currently visiting us from Canada. She just arrived yesterday after I made the meatballs. Over 24 hours of traveling can make you really hungry (especially if you don’t like airplane food).
I offered her some meatballs but I wasn’t sure how much she’d like the Thai flavors. Well, she absolutely LOVED them – not just while hungry from the trip, but also for breakfast(!) the next morning.
More traditional ways to eat meatballs are either as an appetizer or paired with rice or noodles as a main course. If you’re making these Thai meatballs as appetizer, I urge you to also make the dipping sauce. It is SO good!
It’s not a thick, sticky-sweet sauce, instead, it is a truly Thai-style thin soy sauce flavored with aromatic sesame oil, ginger, cilantro, garlic and chili. Dipping the already amazing meatballs into this sauce takes them to a whole new level of delicious awesomeness!
For more Asian meatball inspiration that doesn’t use pork, try this Sesame Chicken Meatballs & Lo Mein Recipe.
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VIDEO: How to Make Thai Meatballs
Thai Style Pork Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground pork
- 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 4 green onions finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced lemongrass
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying
Dipping Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 small chili pepper de-seeded and finely chopped
Instructions
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Stir together all ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
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Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs thoroughly and roll into tablespoon sized balls with wet hands. Makes about 25.
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Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan on medium. Cook the meatballs while stirring often until browned from all sides and cooked through. This takes about 15-20 minutes.
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Serve the meatballs as appetizer with the dipping sauce, or as main course with cooked rice or pasta.
Also, if you liked this post, check out these other amazing Thai-inspired posts as well!
Easy Khao Soi – Thai Coconut Curry Soup with Egg Noodles
Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry & Pad Krapao Gai
Recipe adapted from Food.com
Products used for these Thai Meatballs:
Jen
Super good! I made with ground turkey, it’s what I had in the freezer. I cooked in the air fryer, 400 for 10 mins, tossed them around halfway through. I doubled the sauce, and tossed the hot meatballs in there to warm it up. Soooo delicious! Served with grilled romaine – excellent! Will make this regularly! Thank you
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jen! I can certainly get behind doubling the sauce. 🙂
PJ
Fantastic!
Michelle
Can I make these ahead of time and warm them up for serving?
Regina | Leelalicious
Absolutely! These store and hold up to reheating really well
Kerry
These are delicious!
Can I bake instead of fry?
Regina | Leelalicious
I think so. I haven’t tried this exact recipe, but have baked other meatballs and they came out great
Maritza Griffiths
The best recipe for ground pork,tasty,explosion of flavor in your mouth,,easy to make and gourmet presentation.
transplantwest
What’s the item on the right on the bottom? the amazon link is no longer valid.
Regina | Leelalicious
I linked both fish sauce as well as toasted sesame oil there. Both links should work now
KC
Can these be made with ground turkey or chicken?
Regina | Leelalicious
Yes I think either of those ground chicken or turkey would work well here too
Laura
I don’t have any whole wheat bread crumbs, can I substitute it with any other kind of bread?
Regina | Leelalicious
Yes, any bread crumbs will work
Wina
I don’t eat pork. Can i substitute it with chicken or prawn ?
Regina | Leelalicious
Yes I think this could work well with any ground meat