Korean Chicken Meatballs

 

I saw this recipe for Instant Pot Korean chicken meatballs, which I immediately modified to use the oven instead of the Instant Pot. I used less of the red pepper flakes and I doubled the quantities to make about 8 servings (27 meatballs); the amounts below are mine. They were a hit! I served them with coconut quinoa with lime zest.


For the Korean BBQ sauce (I made it while the meatballs are cooking)
½ cup liquid aminos or soy sauce
1/3 cup + ¼ cup brown sugar (this is confusing but add both; it adds up to .58 of a cup which doesn't exist)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. sambal oelek
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
½ tsp. grated fresh ginger
¼ tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. cornstarch

Bring all the ingredients (except for the water and cornstarch) to a boil over medium heat in a small saucepan.

In a small bowl, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch and water together until the cornstarch dissolves.

Add the cornstarch to pot and whisk over medium-low for 5-10 minutes and it’s rich and thick.

Store in a jar for up to a week.


For the meatballs
2 lb. ground chicken
2 eggs
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
½ tsp. salt
1 cup panko crumbs
sliced green onions, for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 °F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with oil. Set aside.

Combine the ground chicken, eggs, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, and salt to a bowl and mix together.

Sprinkle the panko crumbs over the chicken, mix and let the panko soak into the chicken mixture for 5 minutes.

Form into 30 balls or so. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, then bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until they are cooked all the way through. (This cooking time is perfect for making the Korean BBQ sauce and a side dish.)

Serve the Korean chicken meatballs over quinoa or cauliflower rice. Drizzle the Korean BBQ sauce over the meatballs. Garnish with green onions, if using.