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
- Stir together all ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs thoroughly and roll into tablespoon sized balls with wet hands. Makes about 25.
- 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.
- 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:
Maureen
These were so delicious.. Will be making them a lot! The sauce was fantastic.. doubled sauce recipe and added half to 1/2 cup chicken stock and cooked meatballs in sauce for a few minutes .. Used other half on the meatballs.. Thank you
Regina | Leelalicious
So so happy to hear you enjoyed this meatball recipe 🙂
Tena
Not sure what happened but mine came out very salty didn’t add any salt maybe my fish sauce is old but I am taking them for a party so I will through them in the crock with some chicken stock and a couple potatoes when I warm them up and see if that doesn’t pull some of the salt out. The dipping sauce the dipping sauce wow just wow.
Regina
Sorry to hear they meatballs came out too salty. And yes, I think fish sauce can become more concentrated as it gets older and some of the liquid evaporates. But I think have a good plan of action with the potatoes that will work well
Tena
It worked like a charm potatoes in some chicken stock to get the salt under control, and keep them moist well I got them hot. People raved about them. Im making some more right now for for my dinner. With some rice and leftover dipping sauce. Thanks for the great recipe. This is a definite keeper.
Jen
I was concerned because there was no egg in this recipe, but the meatballs and the sauce were exceptional! Bravo!
Regina
Yay! Great to hear this Thai meatball recipe worked out well for you
Kathy M
Added lil bit of allspice instead of ginger. My daughter HIGHLY allergic to it…can’t even smell it. Still tasted awesome
Regina
That sounds like a great substitute
Cynthia D. Jones
I made these to go in a meatball noodle soup last night. I did dice up some Thai chili peppers to add to the meatballs and I baked them for about 18 minutes in the oven. Tasty, moist and delicious. I assembled the bowls with noodles, meatballs and a couple of ladles of homemade stock. Served with cilantro, bean sprout, lime wedges, jalapeños and the delicious dipping sauce. This is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Olga
Regina, it looks perfect and tasty! Can’t wait to have this anytime of the day, love it!
Chara
I make these quite often and are always a huge hit. I am making them tomorrow for a get together at our friends house. I dont really want to show up and dirty her fry pan. Can I make them in the am and put in a crock pot for transport and warm back up when we arrive. I am thinking of making extra sauce and putting in the crock to keep moist or should I use a bit of chicken broth? Thoughts for taking this yumminess on the road?
Nicole
So glad I made these for dinner tonight. Myself, my husband and my toddler all had seconds. I made a few substitutions, doubled the sauce, and cooked the sauce with the meatballs once they were fully cooked.
Regina
Great to hear the Thai meatballs were a hit for the entire family! And what a great idea to cook the sauce with the meatballs
Steph
This is this best dinner I have ever made – my family absoulety loved it too! I did slightly alter some ingredients: 2tbsp sweet chilli, 3 small cups approx water, tbsp lemon juice and 3 kaffir lime leaves in the sauce + only added garlic and onion to meatballs. I also modified the recipe so coupd do everything in my thermomix- steam instead of fry the meatballs (which is healthier alternative too) amd also cooked sauce as broth.
Paula Deemer
So you made a different recipe altogether
Ann
Yum! I did these in my Instant Pot. Browned them, added 1 cup of chicken broth and cooked at high pressure for 10 minutes and did a quick release. Thank you for the recipe.
Tammy
I’m diabetic and want to make these but I don’t want to use bread crumbs as I’m trying to watch my simple carb intake what do you suggest? Also if I can’t find lemongrass what can I use instead?
B
I use grated zucchini rather than breadcrumbs as a binder in all my meatballs.
Lisa S.
You can buy POWDERED & DRIED (must be soaked) Lemongrass online….just adjust amounts accordingly ….
1 teaspoon of Lemongrass powder equals one stalk of fresh Lemongrass. Dried whole or cut lemongrass should be soaked for two hours in warm water before used in cooking.
This will help with limited access to Lemongrass and help have it available if you like the recipe and end up making it again and again.
They also sell Lemongrass paste which is good one to one, so no adjusting measurements, but it will go rancid if you don’t use it often.