How fitting that just days after I make these scrumptious sriracha glazed turkey meatballs, the Huy Fong Foods factory is in danger of temporary shutdown. So, you know what that means? You better make these meatballs, pronto! There’s about to be a sriracha shortage! Panic in the streets!
Okay. Temporary freakout finished. Back to the meatballs…
Turkey and sriracha go great together, so I took the basic recipe for my Teriyaki Meatballs and switched out the pork for turkey (you can use pork for these, too). Then I whipped up a quick brown sugar and sriracha glaze to slather them in. Deeee-licious! You can serve these over a bed of rice, pierced with a toothpick as an appetizer, or even over a nice salad, like this Crunchy Asian Salad. Very easy and very versatile.
Turkey Sriracha Meatballs
Servings 6 4 meatballs eachIngredients
MEATBALLS
- 19 oz package ground turkey ($4.59)
- 1 large egg ($0.17)
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs ($0.17)
- 2 inches fresh ginger ($0.30)
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce ($0.02)
- 1 bunch green onions, divided ($0.69)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
SRIRACHA GLAZE
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar ($0.11)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce ($0.17)
- 1/2 cup water, divided ($0.00)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.12)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, soy sauce, and some freshly ground pepper to a large bowl. Peel the ginger with a vegetable peeler or by scraping the skin off with the side of a spoon. Use a small holed cheese grater to grate about two inches of the ginger straight into the bowl. Thinly slice 2-3 of the green onions and add to the bowl (save the rest for later).
- Mix the ingredients in the bowl thoroughly. Shape the meat mixture into meatballs about the size of pingpong balls. You should get 25-30 meatballs, depending on the size. Arrange the meatballs on a baking sheet covered in foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
- While the meatballs are baking, make the sriracha glaze. In a small pot combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sriracha and 1/4 cup of the water. Heat and stir the mixture over medium heat until the brown sugar is dissolved. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup of water with the cornstarch. Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pot with the glaze. Stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come up to a simmer, at which point the glaze will thicken and become glossy.
- After the meatballs are finished baking, transfer them to a large bowl and pour the glaze over top. Carefully toss the meatballs to coat in the glaze. Serve hot topped with the remaining sliced green onions.
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Nutrition
Step by Step Photos
This is the ground turkey I used… why they package it in 19 oz. portions, I’ll never know.
Combine the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, soy suace, ginger (grated), green onions (2-3 onionts sliced, save the rest of the bunch for later), and some freshly ground pepper in a large bowl. You can actually add a clove of minced garlic for extra flavor, if you’d like (I just forgot it).
Mix these ingredients really, REALLY well. You’ll probably need to use your hands.
Shape the meat mixture into balls about the size of pingpong balls. I got 27 balls, so you should aim for 25-30. Place them on a baking sheet covered with foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.
It’s always a good idea to sacrifice one meatball to see if they’re cooked through. You can actually freeze the meatballs at this point. Frozen meatballs reheat easily in the microwave or by heating in any sauce of your choice.
While the meatballs are baking, you can get the glaze going. In a small sauce pot combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sriracha, and 1/4 cup of water. Heat and stir this mixture over a medium flame until the brown sugar is dissolved.
In a separate small bowl, stir together the cornstarch with the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Pour that into the pot with the sriracha glaze. It will turn the glaze kind of milky looking, like this. Let the glaze come up to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer, the cornstarch will work its magic and begin to thicken the sauce. It will also turn from milky to clear and shiny. Magic!
The last step is to coat the meatballs in the glaze. Now, the turkey meatballs are quite a bit more delicate than the pork teriyaki meatballs were, so if you drop them into the pot of glaze, only do a few at a time, or else you won’t be able to stir them without breaking the meatballs up. You can also add the cooked meatballs to a large bowl, pour the glaze over top, then gently toss to coat.
Slice up the rest of the green onions and sprinkle them over top. You can serve these meatballs over rice, pasta, a salad…
Or just pop ’em into your mouth as is!
It’s was a great weeknight dinner. When I tasted the sauce alone I was concerned it would be too spicy. That wasn’t the case on the meatballs with plain rice and steamed green beans. I will definitely make this again. If your family’s palate is sensitive to spicy reduce the sriracha.
Wow, this turned out to be so delicious and easy! Doubled it for meal prep, half to freeze. Thank you :)
The meatballs were good but my glaze turned into paste and never got shiny.
These were soooo good and the glaze was amazing! I served this over rice and with a side of adobo-seasoned asparagus. My only note is to cook the meatballs a little bit longer than instructed if you want more of a crust on the outside. I have friends over for dinner every week, and I plan on adding this to my hosting rotation!
WOW! So great. I served over rice and absolutely loved them! We will definitely be making again. Thanks!
I used a cookie scoop that made slightly larger meatballs, 17 total. I baked them for 35 min and they were perfect (I also used a meat thermometer).
Will it still work if you only have 16 oz packages of ground turkey?
Yes you’ll be fine!