Sesame'd Chicken Meatballs

If you’re into potstickers, sign up for these sesame’d chicken meatballs.

Inspiration:

If you’re into potstickers, sign up for these sesame’d chicken meatballs. Everyone loves a meatball, and for good reason. They’re incredibly versatile (choose your meat, choose your grain or pasta, add some herbs, pick a seasoning), easy to put together (a one-bowl wonder!), and just as delicious as leftovers as they are fresh from the pan. Here, meatballs take on flavors commonly found in Chinese potstickers, with some amped up sesame for fun. They’re baked instead of fried for a stress-free post-dinner clean up. Lastly we toss them in a naturally sweetened Teriyaki sauce to complete the whole meal. Serve them alone, or alongside rice and your favorite roasted green veggies. This recipe takes 30 minutes start-to-finish, and we like to double the batch for leftovers night later in the week.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

Meatballs:
1 ½ pounds ground chicken (or turkey)
2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, grated
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
¼ cup Panko or dried breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Teriyaki Sauce:
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot starch
¼ cup cold water
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange, depending on size)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, grated

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450° F and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Combine the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with your hands, being careful not to overmix or you’ll end up with tough meatballs. With slightly wet hands, roll the mixture into ping pong-sized balls. This should make 12 meatballs. Place the meatballs on the sheet tray and bake for 10 minutes until the juices run onto the tray. 

Meanwhile, make the teriyaki sauce. Combine cold water and cornstarch and whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch. Set aside. Heat a shallow pan over medium heat. Add soy sauce, orange juice, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Bring to a simmer. Slowly stir in cornstarch & water mixture. Simmer 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously until the sauce has thickened. 

By now your meatballs should be done. Carefully move meatballs from the baking tray into the saucepan. Stir to coat everything in the sauce. 

Serve with brown rice and your favorite green roasted or sautéed veggies.

A few notes:

You can make a few substitutions to make this GF friendly by using coconut aminos for the soy sauce and crushed almond flour crackers for the Panko.

Feel free to swap turkey or beef for the chicken. I found 94% lean ground turkey best. 99% lean is just too lean and lends itself to tough meatballs, which are sad meatballs.

Not into making your own teriyaki sauce? I get that. You can also use store-bought sauce but read the label and keep an eye out for high-sugars, hidden ingredients, and unhealthy additives. I love that this recipe is naturally sweetened with unrefined sugars, but a great bottled option is Primal Kitchen’s No Soy Teriyaki Sauce.