Sweet and Sticky Asian Meatballs
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Tender, flavorful, and easy-to-make, these Asian-inspired Meatballs are extra delicious simmered in a sweet and sticky homemade pan sauce. Serve with rice, veggies, and toasted sesame seeds for a build-your-own bowl dinner.
Tender meatballs, amazing sauce.
These Asian-inspired meatballs are a must-make! They are so flavorful, thanks to a mix of scallions, garlic, and soy sauce, then the lean ground beef stays nice and tender during a quick bake in high heat. The other star of the show — the sweet and sticky sauce — comes together quickly in a skillet while the meatballs bake, then stands ready to coat each meatball with a luscious glaze.
My go-to way to enjoy these is a bowl-based dinner, with a bed of rice, lots of meatballs and lots of sauce, and a generous heap of green veggies. Broccoli, broccolini, snow peas, and edamame all go really well. A shower of toasted sesame seeds and a final drizzle of sauce pulls it all together.
Ingredient & Substitution Notes
Meatball ingredients:
- Lean ground beef. Ground beef holds up well to the big flavors of this sauce.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Although I find Panko gives the best texture, you can substitute regular breadcrumbs, or even torn pieces of fresh bread, if needed.
- Fresh stuff: egg, garlic, green onions. Use just the white parts of the green onions, also known as scallions, inside the meatballs, saving the green parts for a garnish. If you wish to substitute garlic powder for the freshly minced, use 3/4 teaspoon.
- Low-sodium soy sauce.
- Kosher salt, red pepper flakes, and ground black pepper. For my kids, I usually keep a pinch of red pepper in the meatballs but omit it from the sauce. Be judicious for tender palates. 🙂
Sauce and serving:
- For the sauce: brown sugar, more low-sodium soy sauce, more fresh garlic, hoisin sauce, toasted sesame oil, ground ginger, and optionally another pinch of red pepper flakes. I have successfully substituted honey for up to 2 Tablespoons of the brown sugar. Just take care to stir well and not let the sauce scorch.
- For garnish: green parts of the green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
- Rice, edamame, steamed broccoli, or other veggies for serving.
How To Make Asian Meatballs
I’ve included a few step-by-step photos here to make this recipe extra easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Combine all meatball ingredients except the meat in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to combine.
Use the fork to gently pull the Panko-egg mixture through the ground beef until it is mostly even. Don’t overwork at this stage.
Portion the meat mixture out into balls and arrange on a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet. You can roll the balls smooth — this is much easier if your hands are a bit damp — or leave them “rustic.” These meatballs are rolled smooth.
While the meatballs bake at 450°F, which should take roughly 10 minutes, grab a skillet and whisk together the sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer and let bubble to thicken.
Remove meatballs as soon as they are done. If they rendered much fat in the oven, you can roll them on a paper towel to absorb some of it.
Add the fully-cooked meatballs to the bubbling pan sauce and keep warm while you finish preparing your rice, veggies, and any other add-ins.
Pro Tip
The USDA recommends cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160°F. Using an instant read thermometer makes it fool-proof to know and remove the meatballs when they hit this mark, keeping them juicy and perfect but completely safe to eat.
Tops Tips for Success
- Be gentle when mixing the meatballs and use the “pull through” technique. Overworked meatballs get tough. This is really the key to keeping them very tender on the inside. Use a fork to mix together all meatball ingredients except the ground beef first. Then, when adding the beef, hold the same fork upside down and use it to just gently pull the egg-breadcrumb mixture through the ground meat. Try not to beat or whip the mixture aggressively. Just continue that “pull-through” motion several times until the mixture is relatively even.
- When shaping meatballs, it helps tremendously to have damp hands. This prevents the meatball mixture from sticking excessively to your fingers.
- For easy clean-up, be sure to line your pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Let the sauce simmer to the consistency that you like. Don’t be nervous to use your judgment when reducing the sauce. The longer and more aggressively it simmers, the more thick and sticky it will become, so adjust the heat and the simmer time to suit your taste.
- To thicken the sauce quickly, stir in a slurry of 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon cool water.
- The loosen the sauce if it thickened too much, keep it on medium heat and whisk in more water, 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Storage & Reheating
I enjoy eating these meatballs so much that I’ve started making a double batch just so I know I have some for lunch the next day or two!
Extra meatballs and sauce will keep well tightly-covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat portions in the microwave for 90-120 seconds, with a paper towel over the plate to prevent splatter.
Related Recipes
More Asian-Inspired Dinners:
- Korean Ground Beef Bowls
- Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps
- Honey Teriyaki Chicken
- Teriyaki Salmon Bowls
- Easy Ground Beef and Broccoli
More Meatball Recipes:
- Chicken Pesto Meatballs
- Baked Turkey Meatballs – with hidden veggies!
- Greek Chicken Meatballs
- 3-Ingredient Crockpot BBQ Meatballs – perfect appetizer or super easy dinner
- Chicken Meatballs with Orzo and Peppers
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Sweet and Sticky Asian Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onions white parts
- 1 large egg
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound lean ground beef
For the Sauce and for Serving:
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch red pepper flakes optional
- thinly-sliced green onions (green parts) and toasted sesame seeds for garnish
- rice, edamame, steamed broccoli, or other veggies for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, green onions, egg, garlic, soy sauce, kosher salt, red and black pepper. Use a fork to mix these together well.1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onions, 1 large egg, 3 cloves garlic, 1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Add ground beef to the bowl. Continue using the fork to very gently pull the breadcrumb mixture through the meat, until it is pretty even. Try not to overwork.1 pound lean ground beef
- Scoop the mixture into meatballs of about 2 Tablespoons each and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. You can roll them gently between your hands to smooth them out, or skip this step if you don’t mind a “rustic” shape.
- Bake the meatballs for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through to an interior temperature of 160°F.
- While the meatballs are in the oven, prepare the sauce. Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the water, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ground ginger, and an optional pinch of red pepper flakes. (Omit or reduce the red pepper if serving kids.)3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, 4 cloves garlic, 3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce, 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, pinch red pepper flakes
- Whisk together into a smooth sauce and bring it to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and let the sauce bubble for 4-5 minutes. It should thicken up a bit.
- When meatballs are cooked through, add them to the skillet and toss to coat with the sauce. (If a lot of fat was rendered while they baked, you can roll the meatballs on a paper towel before adding them to the sauce.) Keep warm over low heat as you finish preparing your rice, edamame, broccoli, and any other sides.
- Serve with rice, meatballs, plenty of sauce, veggies, and a sprinkling of thinly-sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds on top. Enjoy!thinly-sliced green onions (green parts) and toasted sesame seeds, rice, edamame, steamed broccoli, or other veggies
Notes
- Sauce: If you want it to thicken up more and quickly, whisk in a slurry of 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon cool water. If it becomes too thick and you want to thin it back out, whisk in 1 Tablespoon of water at a time.
- Nutritional Info: is an estimate based on the meatballs and using all of the sauce, so of course it will vary depending on what you serve with them and how much of the sauce you consume.
- Recipe: Adapted from Little Spice Jar.
