Healthy Thai Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Curry made with all gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo-friendly ingredients. This recipe is packed with flavor and can be served over your favorite rice, noodles, zucchini noodles, anything you want!
I think this is one of the best dinner recipes I have ever made. I am still salivating just looking at these photos and typing up this blog post for you guys.
The story of how these came about is so random. And now that I am even thinking about it – it really has nothing to do with the actual flavor of this recipe. But when Jordan and I went on our baby moon a few weeks ago, my mom made Ezra turkey meatballs in marinara sauce. And I kid you not when I say that he would jump up and down and go crazy when he saw them on his dinner plate.
Ez is obsessed with turkey meatballs and I was thinking of a new way to make one of his faves. I also have been craving all of the coconut thai-flavored dishes. So this just had to happen. And I am so happy it did.
These thai meatballs are the most delicious and simmered in the coconut curry – they get so flavorful and juicy!
If you guys make these at home, please let us know what you think! Rate/review the recipe below – I can’t wait to hear from you.
What ingredients you need to make this recipe:
- Ground turkey – or sub ground chicken if you prefer too
- Egg
- Gluten-free or grain-free cracker crumbs – crackers broken into breadcrumb-like pieces
- Garlic
- Ground ginger – or add in fresh ginger instead
- Coconut aminos – or use soy sauce or tamari
- Red curry paste – this is a must! Adds so much flavor
- Avocado or olive oil – either works
- Red bell pepper – I usually use yellow, orange or red
- Onion – I prefer using a sweet white onion for this
- Full-fat coconut milk – I wouldn’t sub another milk here – the coconut milk and creaminess of the full-fat one is so key!
- Cilantro – fresh cilantro for garnish
How to make Thai Meatballs in Coconut Curry Sauce:
- In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, egg, cracker crumbs, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, red curry paste and salt and pepper and mix well with a spatula or large fork until the ingredients are fully combined (make sure egg yolk is fully mixed in)
- Add the bowl to fridge to chill for about 15-30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Roll turkey mixture into about 1-inch balls and add to parchment paper
- Add to oven to bake for 18 minutes (or until the meatballs are cooked and not pink when you cut them open!)
- While the meatballs bake, make the coconut curry
- In a large skillet, warm oil, pepper and onions over medium heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until golden
- Add in red curry paste, milk, and coconut aminos and mix well over medium low heat
- Allow the coconut curry to simmer for a bit while meatballs cook then add cooked meatballs to the coconut curry (I like to let them simmer together for about 30-60 minutes if I can so the flavors are really well combined!)
- Garnish with cilantro and serve over your favorite rice, stir-fry noodles or zucchini noodles (anything!)
A few of my other favorite dinner recipes:
Delicious Vegan Pumpkin alla Vodka Sauce (paleo)
Insanely Easy Philly Cheesesteak Skillet
Healthy Vegetarian Enchilada Pasta (gluten-free)
The BEST Cauliflower Pizza Crust (dairy-free + gluten-free)
Healthy Thai Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Curry
Healthy Thai Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Curry made with all gluten-free, dairy-free and paleo ingredients. This recipe is packed with flavor and can be served over your favorite rice, noodles, zucchini noodles, anything you want!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
Thai Turkey Meatballs:
- 1lb organic ground turkey (or sub ground chicken)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup gluten-free or grain-free cracker crumbs (crackers broken into breadcrumb-like pieces)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1.5 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Coconut curry:
- 2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 – 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, egg, cracker crumbs, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, red curry paste and salt and pepper and mix well with a spatula or large fork until the ingredients are fully combined (make sure egg yolk is fully mixed in)
- Add the bowl to fridge to chill for about 15-30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Roll turkey mixture into about 1-inch balls and add to parchment paper
- Add to oven to bake for 18 minutes (or until the meatballs are cooked and not pink when you cut them open!)
- While the meatballs bake, make the coconut curry
- In a large skillet, warm oil, pepper and onions over medium heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until golden
- Add in red curry paste, milk, and coconut aminos and mix well over medium low heat
- Allow the coconut curry to simmer for a bit while meatballs cook then add cooked meatballs to the coconut curry (I like to let them simmer together for about 30-60 minutes if I can so the flavors are really well combined!)
- Garnish with cilantro and serve over your favorite rice, stir-fry noodles or zucchini noodles (anything!)
Notes
*Store leftovers in fridge for 5 days
Michelle
★★★★★
I had it over rice and it was absolutely delicious!! 😋
Jessie
★★★★★
Holy wow this was so yummy! I could have just drank the sauce with a spoon. Only had a green bell pepper on hand so subbed for red, and I served with steamed rice and broccoli. Can’t wait to make it again!!
Rachel
aawwww YAY!!!!
Kamilla
Cant find the aminos. Are they a must?
Rachel
you can use soy sauce too!
Laura Rieth
★★★★★
This was SO good last week when I made it. Already making it again this week! I used green curry paste as that is what we had and it was so yummy and easy to make. We served it with cauliflower rice. Thank you!
Rachel
yay!!!!!
Jackie W.
★★★★★
So good and easy to make! I could just drink the sauce plain, it is that flavorful . I subbed whole wheat breadcrumbs and soy sauce and it came out perfect. Served over rice, which is great to absorb all of the sauce
Rachel
wwwooohhooo!
Sam
★★★★★
This was so bomb. So much flavor for something actually healthy
Rachel
wwooohhoooo!!
Amy F
Made this with pork, cause it is what I had on hand. Also added some carrots and zuchinni and it was fantastic. Super easy to make, too. Thanks for the new addition to our weekly rotation!
Rachel
awww yay thanks amy!!!
Mallory
★★★★★
This was excellent! I’m doing Whole30 so I omitted the crackers in the meatballs. Made over cauliflower rice. YUM! My husband told me to “make sure you save that recipe”
Rachel
so happy to hear!!! xx
Sara
★★★★★
Soooo delish!! So creamy and flavorful! I can’t wait to make it again for company:)
Rachel
yay!!! xx
Meral
★★★★★
Yum!!!! This was delicious and super easy! Deserves 5-stars for sure!
Rachel
yaayyy!!!
Steph
★★★★★
Literally licked my bowl clean! So good! The meatballs were so juicy!
Rachel
awww yay!!!
rita
omg this was so delicious!! i dont have crackers but i used almond meal instead. This was a keeper and have made it three times already within 2 weeks! i seriously feel like i am having a julie & julia moment here at home but instead its a rita & rachel moment lol! literally plan on making every recipe!! love all your recommendations and thank you for being simple with kitchen items lol apartment living with storage in the kitchen is a struggle!! Can’t wait for your cookbook to arrive! please make a book with more dinner recipes!! love it so far..
Rachel
yaaayyy!!!! so sweet! xx
Bella
★★★★★
I’ve made this tooo many times to count and it never fails! Amazing. How do you think it would taste with beef sub for Turkey?
Rachel
aww yay! i think it would be great. chicken too!
Kara
★★★★★
I’m already dreaming of my leftovers for tomorrow! 🤤 I had this over coconut jasmine rice and it was to die for. The sauce is dreamy and I recommend letting it simmer together for awhile like Rachel suggests.
Rachel
hehe yay!!
Lins
★★★★★
very delicious!! will make again!! Added sliced zucchini and carrots along with the peppers. Subbed GF bread crumbs and tamari soy sauce and also added a few lime leaves to the coconut curry as it simmered. Had over rice. Thank you!
Emma
★★★★★
This recipe is so good!! Such a nice meal to mix it up from my usual recipes. Will definitely be making this again! It’s awesome over rice or spaghetti squash or even just over mixed veggies, awesome to mix it up!
Rachel
yyayyyyy!
Martha Theodoris
★★★★★
One of my favorite recipes!! This is great if you’re dairy free. I love the flavors and this is a great whip up for weeknight meals. I always add extra veggies and double the sauce to put over rice!
Rachel
aw yay thanks for sharing!! xx
Kaitlin
AMAZING!! I used prepackaged gluten free bread crumbs and they worked great. Will definitely repeat this dinner!
Rachel
🙂
Amy
★★★★★
Loved this recipe! Just made it tonight for dinner. Perfect as is! Thanks for the recipe!
Rachel
aawww yay!!!
Cathy
★★★★★
Amazing!! I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!
Rachel
YAYYY!
margaret mulhern
★★★★★
Wow! I just shared this with everyone I know. I never comment on recipes but holy hell this is so good! Perfect amount of spice, extremely easy to through together and bursting with flavor. I used soy sauce instead of the aminos but followed everything else to a T. Thank you for this delicious meal.
Rachel
awwww thank you!!!
Jan
★★★★★
So delicious! We had it over rice noodles.
Rachel
yaaayyyyyy
Elizabeth
LOVE this recipe, thank you! Do you think this would freeze well? I’d love to make a couple of batches for my postpartum meals!
Rachel
i don’t see why not!! 🙂
Grace Kaplan
Making this tonight- I only have green curry paste- should that be fine, or should I run to the store :)?!
Leticia
★★★★★
Really flavorful! I added panko because I didn’t have crackers and it worked out well! Also, definitely something you can make the day before and just re-heat! Flavor was great. I will probably try to freeze meatballs and then make the sauce on the day.
Rachel
yay!!!
Mike L.
★★★★★
Great recipe! I followed the directions with the exception the egg. I used two tablespoons of unsweetened apple sauce instead because my wife is allergic to eggs. We will be having this again! So tasty!
Rachel
yay!!!
Kara
Can you freeze this? Looking for healthy postpartum meals!
Rachel
totally!!
J
★★★★★
Mother of 3 teenage boys, they DEVOURED this meal. It was soooooo good. I doubled the sauce-and I’m glad I did b/c it’s to die for. The flavors in this meal are insane. I didn’t have breadcrumbs on hand, so I used one cup of almond flour instead, meatballs turned out perfect. So easy to make, absolutely delicious.
Rachel
omg YAYYY so hopefully my kids will still love this when they’re older!
Jaclyn
★★★★★
this is in my monthly rotation, the whole fam likes it too. Packed with flavor and super easy to make!
Rachel
yayyy
Lexi
★★★★★
Absolutely obsessed with this dish. I made it for my weekly meal prep and I still craved it every. single. day.
Rachel
thank you!!!
Lee
★★★★★
I’m going to give this five stars in hopes that it is great when we have it for dinner. I decided to prep this earlier in the day – everything was looking and smelling great, but the longer the meatballs simmered in the sauce, the more the sauce began to separate. Now it just looks like oil and sauce in the pan 😕
Rachel
that could happen if your turkey is a bit fattier! just mix the sauce around a bit and you should be okay!
Alexandra
★★★★★
Hi! Did anyone have their meatballs have like jelly come out of them in the oven? How can i fix that next time?
Thanks so much!
Rachel
cook them on a drying rack (oven safe) then on the baking dish
Katie
★★★★★
Wow!!!! This recipe is insanely good! Will be a regular recipe in our rotation!
Rachel
thank you so much!!
Cass
★★★★★
Amazingly delicious, whole fam loved it. Don’t make this with frozen & thawed ground turkey – I made them twice and the previously frozen turkey tasted weirdddd.
Rachel
love it!
T
Do you think instead of simmering the sauce on the stove, it could be added to a crockpot to simmer and then add the meatballs in there? My crockpot has a simmer setting, that’s why I ask! Thank you!
Rachel
hmm tbh i haven’t tried!! i haven’t used a crock pot in years so go with your gut! i don’t see why not
Lindy
Could I air fry the meatballs instead?
Rachel
i haven’t tried but if you usually air fry meatballs, yes!
Alex
★★★★★
Fabulous recipe, my hubby says it has a special umami, so glad it is easy and quick to make, will go into our rotation for sure. Thanks Rachel!
Rachel
love !!!
Lexi
★★★★★
One of my dinner GO-TO’S! It’s perfectly flavored, creamy, and filling. I have made this for meal prep and for dinner and it’s always something I look forward to.
Stef
Do you think this would work well with beef?
Rachel
absolutely!!
Amy
★★★★★
This recipe is sooo good! This will be in my meal rotation going forward for sure!
sinFULL sweets
★★★★★
LOVED this recipe. So flavorful with very simple ingredients and instructions. Will be making again(:
Rachel
aw yay!! thank you!
Misha
★★★★★
Turned out really good using ground beef, I would definitely double the sauce next time.
Rachel
love!!!