If you’ve been following my blog or Instagram feed, you’ve probably noticed I don’t eat a lot of meat. I’m not a vegetarian – I’d just rather play with sugar, flour, grains and greens than ribs, chops or drumsticks. And what I create in the kitchen is what I consume throughout the week.
Meatballs are a different matter. I have no qualms about getting my hands dirty to mix up ground poultry. The process couldn’t be easier: Throw everything in a bowl, stir, scoop and roll. It’s just like making cookies!
These turkey meatballs are a snap to prepare, especially since they’re baked instead of pan-fried. The hoisin glaze comes together even faster and yet it’s extremely flavorful. Simply whisk together a handful of ingredients and microwave the mixture for a bit to mellow the raw garlic.
Nestle the glazed turkey meatballs in Little Gem lettuce leaves for an elegant and healthy appetizer or serve them with vegetable fried rice. This is easy cooking at its best.
Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious.
- 1¼ pounds ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 egg
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- sesame seeds (optional, for garnish)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.
- Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Form into 1½" balls and arrange on the baking sheet.
- Bake meatballs, rotating sheet halfway through, until lightly browned all over and cooked through, 15-18 minutes.
- In a small heat-proof bowl, combine the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic; whisk until smooth. Microwave glaze for 30 seconds.
- Drizzle hoisin glaze over meatballs and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds, if using.
I’ve had this recipe marked to try for a few weeks now. I finally made it tonight. It’s delicious! Had it as an entree and will definitely make it again. Quite honestly, I was expecting it to take much longer than it did to pull together. After making the sauce, I put all of the meatballs in the bowl of sauce to completely cover them in that wonderful sauce. Next time, I think I will use fresh ginger. Other than that, I will make the recipe as written. Loved it!!
Lori (All That Splatters)
I am so glad you liked the meatballs, Lori! And I love the addition of fresh ginger – I’ll have to try it next time!