These tender Asian Glazed Turkey Meatballs are always a hit with our family! Coated in the most delicious sticky sweet sauce and easily made in less than 30 minutes!
Oh how I love Asian food. The flavors are always so good and these healthy Asian turkey meatballs are a HUGE winner in our house! Tender, flavorful meatballs all smothered in the most delicious sweet and savory sauce, seriously so finger-licking GOOD. Not only is this sauce delicious tossed with the meatballs, but it tastes amazing drizzled over brown rice and veggies too! Perfect for meal prep as leftovers taste even better the next day!
Why You’ll Love These
These easy turkey meatballs have such great flavor and can be made in under 30 minutes. This is a recipe I promise the whole family will love! And yes, while these homemade meatballs make for a delicious dinner, they also make a tasty appetizer for parties or gatherings! This recipe makes about 25 to 26 meatballs so if you want more, you’ll definitely want to make a double batch. Trust me, these meatballs will go quick! They are also freezer-friendly too, so why not make extra?!
Meatballs Ingredients
- ground turkey – I used lean ground turkey for these meatballs because it’s low in fat and calories while being a great source of protein, but you could also make these using ground chicken, ground beef, ground pork or even Italian sausage. I’ve made beef meatballs with this recipe and they were delicious!
- breadcrumbs – I used whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs to help bind the meatballs to keep their round shape, but feel free use gluten-free panko bread crumbs or almond flour, if needed.
- egg – acts as a binder to hold all the ingredients together.
- soy sauce – needed for that delicious umami flavor. I always use low-sodium soy sauce as I find regular soy sauce too salty. You could also swap the soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos to make this gluten-free.
- honey – not only does this add sweet flavor to the sauce without using refined sugars, but it also makes a nice sticky sweet glaze! You could also swap the honey with maple syrup or brown sugar if you don’t have honey on hand.
- beef broth – adds more depth of flavor in the sauce, but if you don’t have beef broth on hand you could just use water.
- sesame oil – brings all these delicious Asian flavors together!
- fresh ginger – fresh grated ginger is definitely best in this dish and you’ll be adding it to both the meatballs and the sauce. If all you have is ground ginger, I’ve included the substitutions in the recipe below.
- garlic – adds a flavor boost to the meatballs and sauce, fresh minced garlic is always best!
- green onions – adds color and flavor, you could also add fresh parsley, fresh cilantro or other fresh herbs.
- seasonings – combination of crushed red chili flakes, salt and pepper.
How to Make Asian Turkey Meatballs
- Make the meatballs. In a large bowl combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, tablespoon of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and green onions until all combined. Using a small to medium cookie scoop, form meatballs into 1-inch sized balls (golf ball size) from the mixture. Place meatballs on a prepared baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or parchment paper (about 25 to 26 meatballs) in a single layer. The cookie scoop helps make sure the meatballs are all uniform in size.
- Bake! Pop the meatballs in the oven at 400 degrees F and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Using a meat thermometer, the internal temp of the internal temperature of the meatballs should be 165 degrees F.
- Make the sauce. While the meatballs are baking in the oven, mix together the sauce ingredients. Combine soy sauce, honey, beef broth, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and pepper in a small pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low heat and let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken up. If you feel like your sauce is too thin, feel free to mix a half tablespoon of cornstarch with a half tablespoon of water in a small bowl and pour that into the sauce to thicken it up even more.
- Serve. Once meatballs are done baking, transfer them to a large bowl (or you could keep them on the pan) and coat them with the sticky sauce. Serve over fluffy brown rice (or jasmine rice) and sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds. This sauce also tastes amazing drizzled over veggies!
Can I Make These in a Skillet?
Yes of course! I find that baking meatballs is just easier with less cooking required, but pan frying these meatballs would taste amazing! This is my favorite all-purpose pan I use for stir fries, skillet meals and so much more. All you’ll need is about a tablespoon or two of olive oil to coat the pan on medium heat, then add the meatballs and turn them continuously so that they get browned on all sides and are cooked through, about 12 minutes. You may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan.
How to Serve Asian Meatballs
There are so many great ways to serve these Asian meatballs!
- As a main dish – serve over white rice, brown rice, orzo or even cauliflower rice along with broccoli, green beans, carrots or other vegetables. Making rice bowls are my favorite way to enjoy these Asian meatballs!
- With pasta – serve these baked meatballs over pasta, spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. These meatballs would taste amazing with these saucy peanut noodles and a squeeze of lime juice!
- In a wrap – serve the meatballs in a wrap or lettuce cups along with some chopped water chestnuts and veggies. Drizzle with peanut sauce, teriyaki sauce or even a little hoisin sauce.
- In a salad – swap out the chicken and add these meatballs to this Chinese Salad or this crunchy Thai Salad.
- As an appetizer – double or triple these cooked meatballs and place on a serving dish with toothpicks for a delicious party appetizer!
This sticky Asian sauce recipe not only tastes amazing on these meatballs, but you could also use this sauce on chicken or steak as a marinade, in stir fries, on top of burgers or kabobs, drizzled over veggies, or even on crock pot meatballs. So much better than the bottled versions!
Prepping and Storage
To Prep: These meatballs can easily be prepped ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator tightly covered for 2 or 3 days before baking. Then when you’re ready to bake, pop them in the oven and make the sauce on the stove as directed. You can also easily prep the sauce ahead of time too! Just reheat in a saucepan right before tossing with the meatballs.
To Store: If you’re planning on storing leftover meatballs for later, let them cool completely then store then in a sealed, airtight container in your fridge for up to 3 to 4 days. The sauce itself will last up to two weeks in your fridge or you could freeze the sauce separately for up to 3 months in a sealed, airtight container.
To Freeze: These meatballs are freezer-friendly too and will last for up to 3 to 4 months frozen stored in a freezer bag. To reheat, simply thaw the meatballs out in the fridge and place them in a skillet on the stove top on low heat, stirring often, until warmed through. You could also reheat them in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.
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More Meatball Recipes
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More Asian Inspired Recipes
- Honey Sriracha Glazed Meatballs (a reader favorite!)
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- Sheet Pan Ginger Soy Glazed Salmon
- Asian Shrimp Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing
Hope you all enjoy these Asian Glazed Turkey Meatballs and if you love this as much as we do, please leave me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your healthy recipes!
Asian Glazed Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb ground turkey, you could also use ground chicken, pork or beef
- 1/3 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp fresh grated ginger, or 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- Garnish: extra green onions and sesame seeds
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup beef broth, or water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp fresh grated ginger, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes, optional depending if you like a little heat
To thicken sauce even more (optional):
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and green onions until all combined. Using a cookie scoop, make 1-inch sized balls and place on a prepared baking sheet (you should get about 25-26 meatballs).
- Pop the meatballs in the oven and bake for about 13 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through.
- While the meatballs are baking in the oven, combine soy sauce, honey, beef broth, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and pepper in a small saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken up.
- If you feel like your sauce is too thin, mix 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/2 tablespoon of water in a small bowl to make a slurry and pour that into the sauce to thicken it up even more. Mix in 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes (depending on how much heat you like) and turn off the heat.
- Once the meatballs are done baking, transfer them to a large bowl (or you could keep them on the same pan) and coat them entirely with the sticky sauce.
- Spoon meatballs over fluffy brown rice, drizzling with extra sauce, and top with green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Everyone in my family absolutely loved this recipe! Instead of a glaze we make it into a slightly thick sauce with more quantity. Instead of substituting the soy (we love soy) I actually just about double or triple it depending on meatball quantity but I usually put more honey to combat the salty taste of say sauce so it has even more of a sweet and salty taste to it. Overall it’s A great recipe and is super easy to modify to everyone taste buds!!
Flavor is great BUT …. as others have shared the sauce is WAY TOO SALTY (and I reduced it to 1/3 and it was still salty – I’d suggest 1/4C at most). Otherwise the flavor was tasty all the way around.
Aside from the sauce needing to be tweaked this was delicious and going to be in rotation of dinners. 1/2 cup soy sauce is crazy even low sodium it’s far too salty the ratio is totally off I managed to level it out by adding more broth, ginger and rice wine vinegar.
I also am going to double the meat as 1lb only made 16 meatballs I used a small spoon to scoop them.
Aside from that I recommend this recipe
Is there anything else I could use in place of the honey?
Maple syrup is a great substitute for honey.