It’s the first post of the new year! After a long, much-needed, break, I’m finally back with a delicious new recipe on the blog. I hope you all had a great holiday season filled with incredible food. I decided to take a bit of time off from shooting and posting so as to spend some quality time with my newborn son. It was such a nice break, but I am happy to be back, and happy to share the recipe for these Thai Chicken Curry Meatballs. My long time mechanic is Thai and she always makes and shares her chicken curry with me and one day, as I was eating it, I had the idea of giving it the ol’ meatball twist. She also serves hers with a cucumber relish that I swear takes it over the edge. I wanted to recreate all of that but in meatball form, because I just feel like everything is better when it’s meatballed. That’s not a word, but you know what I mean.
In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Form into 1-inch balls and set aside.
**Tip: I always keep on hand, a tube of ginger paste, in the fridge. It comes in handy and saves time when all I need is just a tiny amount of ginger!**
Set a large dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the coconut oil. Once melted, add the meatballs in a single layer. Cook until browned. Transfer them to a plate and set aside.
**Note: Do not overcrowd the pan. If necessary, brown the meatballs in batches. Cook the meatballs until browned on both sides. We’re not looking to cook them all the way here, just browning them slightly.**
Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. If you find the skillet to be dry, adding a bit more coconut oil.
Stir in the curry powder and curry paste and cook for about 1 minute to develop their flavor. Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock.
**Note: Make sure you use a good quality, full-fat, can of coconut milk. Also, make sure it’s unsweetened. You don’t want to add any unnecessary sugar to this dish!**
Add the carrots and potatoes and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and stir in the fish sauce, sugar and a large pinch of salt.
Return the meatballs to the pot and give it a gentle stir to submerge. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender and the meatballs have fully cooked through.
I always make a big batch of this Thai cucumber relish and keep it in the fridge for several uses. But my favorite is served over this curry. I love the balance of flavors it brings. It’s so easy to make!
Once curry is done, serve over rice, garnish with cilantro and serve with the relish.
This is a great base recipe and so if you’re vegetarian, you can omit the meatballs and add in other veggies as well. Sweet potatoes, green beans or even tofu would all be great instead. Alternately, you can also just use boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs instead of making meatballs.
I love serving the curry over jasmine rice and then topping it with spoonfuls of the relish. Overall, it’s a great dish with so much flavor, but the ingredients are pretty simple. I can’t recommend it enough.
I hope you’ll give this dish a try. You know me and my love of meatballs and this one is definitely a keeper. Be sure to let me know what you think below and as always, thank you so much for reading and following along. Happy New Year, my friends!
Thai Chicken Curry Meatballs
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Dutch Oven
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Curry:
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
- 1 to 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 14oz can unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 medium carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 medium russet potatoes peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves for garnish
Thai Cucumber Relish:
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 4 mini cucumbers halved and thinly sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 small yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1 to 2 red Thai chile thinly sliced
Instructions
- For the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Form into 1-inch balls and set aside.
- Set a large dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the coconut oil. Once melted, add the meatballs in a single layer. Do not overcrowd the pan. If necessary, brown the meatballs in batches. Cook the meatballs until browned on both sides. We're not looking to cook them all the way here, just browning them slightly. Transfer them to a plate and set aside.
- Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and curry paste and cook for about 1 minute to develop their flavor. Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and stir in the fish sauce, sugar and a large pinch of salt. Return the meatballs to the pot and give it a gentle stir to submerge. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender and the meatballs have fully cooked through.
- In the meantime, to make the relish, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan. Set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the shallots, cucumber, red bell pepper, yellow bell peppers, and Thai chile. Pour the cooled syrup over the vegetables and stir until combined. Chill until ready to use. Can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Once curry is done, serve over rice, garnish with cilantro and serve with the relish. Enjoy!
These sound delicious – definitely going to try them and that cucumber relish sounds awesome!
love Thai curries, great dish and good chicken meatballs too, thank you!