A big bowl of Curry Turkey Meatballs simply has to be on your dinner table tonight! They are incredibly easy to prepare, and the curry flavors really shine over some rice and veggies. Using ground turkey helps lighten up the entire recipe as well. These make a great, quick weeknight meal!
Curry Turkey Meatballs are a beautiful mix of Indian cuisine flavors and easy-to-make and store meatballs! Served over jasmine rice and steamed veggies, and you have a lean but fulfilling dinner. Trust me, making homemade meatballs aren't as intimidating as it may seem.
Ingredients
- Ground Turkey - To lighten up the recipe a bit, we're going to use ground turkey. It's a great substitute for beef or pork. Plus, it makes a great neutral base for our Indian-inspired flavors!
- Red Curry Paste - You can't have curry meatballs without curry paste! I'm partial to the red kind; I think it also makes a beautifully colored sauce when combined with our coconut milk.
- Coconut Milk - Curry is traditionally made with coconut milk, so we won't stray from that in our recipe. Because of all of the savory seasonings, you really won't even notice a coconutty flavor.
- Grated Onion - I LOVE to use grated onion in my meatballs for moisture and flavor. You don't really want to be biting into chunks of onion every time you have a meatball (at least I don't), so grating really helps with that texture.
- Panko Breadcrumbs - Breadcrumbs are used to help form and shape homemade meatballs. I've actually made this recipe without them once when I ran out. I do prefer meatballs with breadcrumbs, but if you would like to leave them out, feel free.
How to Make Turkey Meatballs from Scratch
The next time ground turkey goes on sale at your local grocery store, please grab a couple of packages and make ahead some meatballs! Meatballs are one of my favorite quick entrées; they don't take long to make/cook, and you can literally use them in any flavor profile. If you haven't seen it, take a quick look at my Juicy Chicken Meatballs recipe as well.
I recommend refrigerating the mixture for at least 20 minutes to be safe. But if you're short on time, it's not super necessary because we have some panko breadcrumbs in there. Simply brown the outsides in the pan, remove them, and then let them fully cook in your prepared sauce.
A couple of notes: the ground/finely minced onion is a must for this recipe (I actually use it in all of my meatballs.) It provides a juicy and flavorful addition to the meatballs. Since we're using ground turkey, we especially want to make sure that we keep these nice and juicy.
Also, the curry sauce is your time to shine with creativity! It's mainly composed of red curry paste and coconut milk, but you can turn up the heat with spices as much as you like. I normally add a couple of shakes of red pepper sauce towards the end cause I love spicy stuff.
This dinner will come together in about 30 minutes, so it's the perfect weeknight lazy dinner. Try my Curry Turkey Meatballs this week and comment on the blog/Instagram what you think of them!
FAQs
Yes, you definitely can! When you make it to Step 5, simply cover and cook the meatballs on medium-low for about 15-20 minutes, until they are cooked through. Then add to a large tray, freeze for an hour, and add the frozen meatballs to a large freezer bag. When you're ready to reheat in a sauce, skip to step 10; be sure to adjust the cooking time since the meatballs were already previously fully cooked.
Grating the onion adds a really amazing flavor and moisture to your meatballs. Because it is grated, and not chopped, you aren't suffering through chunks of onion in every bite. It's a great trick for homemade meatballs!
Curry paste is normally in the Ethnic/Asian section of your local grocery store. I really like the red kind, but there's also yellow and green. Feel free to test them out and find your favorites!
Other Easy Weeknight Meals!
One-Skillet Chicken Thighs & Rice
Curry Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground turkey room temperature
- 1 teaspoon red curry paste
- 2 tablespoon grated (or finely minced) sweet yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon chopped basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
Curry Sauce
- 3 tablespoon grated (or finely minced) sweet yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon red curry paste
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Add all meatball ingredients to a large bowl. Stir with a spoon until completely combined.
- Cover the bowl with a lid or cling wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.This helps the meatballs retain their shape when forming a ball!
- Using a mini ice cream scoop or a small spoon, scoop out portions of the ground turkey mixture.
- Add a bit of non-stick cooking spray to your hands, and roll the scoops into meatballs.
- Spray non-stick spray (or pour another tsp. of extra-virgin olive oil) onto a large skillet. Add in the meatballs, and cook on medium heat for about 8 minutes, until they are browned evenly on the outside. Remove and set aside.The meatballs won't be cooked all the way through, but they'll finish cooking in the sauce later.
- Add the grated/minced onions to the same skillet. Sauté until they soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the minced garlic and red curry paste. I normally remove the pan from the heat here, because the red curry paste can splatter a bit.
- Break up the red curry paste with a spoon, then immediately pour in the can of coconut milk. Return your pan to heat and stir until ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Season with bouillon powder, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Taste, and adjust for your preference as necessary.
- Add the meatballs back to the sauce. Cut the heat on low, cover the skillet, and simmer for about 12-15 more minutes until meatballs are completely cooked through. Serve over rice and veggies. Enjoy!
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The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $1.65
- Total Cost (about 20 meatballs): $6.61
- Those Other Guys: $14.99 per serving
Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think!