Sweet and sour meatballs! These are not your typical, overly sweet meatballs (no grape jelly!). The fresh twist of the sweet sour combo is a juicy, tender chicken meatballs swim in a perfectly balanced, tasty sweet and sour sauce made from cans of coconut milk, lime, inger and brown sugar.
Honestly, these Asian-inspired meatballs are hard to get enough of their amazing coconut sweet and sour sauce. They are very good, you struggle not to steal them from the pot, but if you can resist, these are especially served on rice (I love this coconut rice), topped with lots of that incredible sauce.
Use full fat coconut milk and skim a bit of thick coconut cream on the top of the can and add it to the meatball mix itself. This is our secret to making meatballs incredibly juicy and tender. The remaining cans will turn into our creamy sauce. The creamy sauce is simmered in a bit of soup, brown sugar and lime to get its perfect sweet, sour flavor profile.
Important ingredients
Ground chicken: Look for fat ground chicken (92/8 or near it is perfect). Skip slimmer options. It just gives you tough and dry meatballs. I use the same trick on classic meatballs too! Pork and turkey are also excellent. Coconut Milk: This recipe requires full-fat coconut milk. When you’re in the store, hear that you flip the can. You should not hear much sloshing fluid. That means there’s a considerable amount of thick coconut cream inside. This is exactly what we want! Don’t shook it when you get home. Cream and milk are required to separate. “Stolen” two tablespoons of that thick cream for the meatball mixture. Ginger, Garlic, Lemon Graspatto: These are our aromatics (I love the combination). Fresh lemongrass is a bit tedious to prepare, so I usually go to Lemongrass Stamp in a tube (it’s great for the red curry paste too). If you can’t find the paste, don’t worry. We have included instructions on how to prepare fresh lemongrass in the tips section below the recipe. Add these fresh herbs to both meatballs and sauce: Green Onion, Basil, Mint. It makes the taste of this dish very lively and fresh. I love Thai basil for this, but with any variety! Brown Sugar: This brings “sweet” to our sweet, sour sauces, balanced with sourness. Brown sugar works very well with aromatic and fish sauces. Coconut sugar would also be a great alternative here if you like. Lime and Rice Vinegar: These are the “sour” elements of the sauce! Use unsweetened rice wine vinegar and fresh lime (used for maximum sour use of both the skin and juice). China 5 Spices: Add just a little (1/4 tsp) to the meatball mixture. I love it, but if you don’t want to buy an all-new spice jar for just a small teaspoon, you can use the same amount of garam masala. Or try Grand Allspice. However, instead, reduce it to 1/8 teaspoon. Fish Sauce: Ah, I love the fish sauce! As you might have seen in Vietnamese pho, sesame ginger shrimp marinated or Thai chicken salad recipes, it adds an incredibly salty, umami, and a slightly funky flavour that can’t be replicated. I always have a red boat and three crabs in the pantry (both are excellent choices for this dish). Chicken Soup: Grab a homemade chicken soup you bought from your favorite store or buy. The vegetable soup also works perfectly well here too. You only need a small amount to blend with coconut milk to make the sauce.
Find the complete recipe for the measurements below.
How to make our coconut into sweet and sour meatballs
The secret to these meatballs starts with a can of unshaking, full-fat coconut milk. Scoop two tablespoons of that thick coconut cream from the top of the can and add it to the meatball mixture. The rest of the coconut milk forms a base for our incredible sweet and sour sauce.
I form the meatballs and then put them in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This little trick will help them to harden, so when you cook them they will be beautifully round.
After burning the meatballs, make a sweet, sour sauce in the same pan. Then add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until cooked.
At this point the sauce will be a little thinner. So remove the meatballs and continue to simmer the sauce to reduce it to a thick, shiny consistency (usually takes about 10 minutes).
Finish with the final squeeze of lime and then spoon its incredible flavour pack of sauce into sweet, sour meatballs.
Sweet and sour meatballs
Preparation
15 minutes
Cook
25 min
total
40 minutes
These Asian-inspired sweet and sour meatballs are happy foods and bursting with an incredible taste. They really awaken your palate, and I bet you’ll try them out, you certainly add this recipe to your rotation! The coconut cream and coconut milk need to be separated in the can so it won’t shake! Use cream for the meatball mixture and the remaining cans for the sauce.
Try these stacked on coconut rice, cilantro lime lime, rice noodles, or pre-cooked quinoa.
6 servings
You will need it
2 pounds (907g) ground chicken, 92/8
1 (15 oz) Full Fat Coconut Milk Does Not Shake
1 tablespoon fresh inger
2 teaspoons of lemon grapespato, see tips
3 clove garlic, mining
One green onion, mining
Two tablespoons were chopped with fresh basil
2 tablespoons of fresh mint
5 tablespoons (66g) Brown Sugar (1 tablespoon in meatballs, 4 tablespoons for sauce)
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spices
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon avocado oil
3/4 cup (177ml) chicken soup
3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
Put the skin and cut one in half
Thin sea salt
Optional toppings: sliced green onions, coriander leaves, chopped basil, chopped mint
direction
1Make a meatball mix: In a large mixing bowl, mix the ginger, lemon grapesato, garlic, green onions, basil, mint, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spices, 1 tsp fish sauce, and 1 tsp salt. Give everything a really good mix.
2Add the chicken and coconut cream: Now add the ground chicken. Open a can of coconut milk and use a tablespoon to pour 2 tablespoons of thick coconut cream over top. Add this cream to the chicken and save the remaining cans for the sauce. Mix the chicken and coconut cream into the remaining meatball mixture until just combined.
3Rolled meatballs: Roll the mixture into approximately 1 ounce (30g) meatballs. Refrigerate them for 5-10 minutes and secure them.
4Brown meatballs: Heat sesame oil and avocado oil over medium heat in a wide, deep frying pan with a lid. Carefully place the meatballs in hot oil, burn them on one side, evenly spaced.
5Make a sweet, sour sauce: Flip each meatball over. Here, add the chicken soup, coconut milk, rice vinegar, remaining 4 tablespoons of brown sugar, crust from the lime, half the juice of the lime, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Gently swirl the bread and combine all the ingredients. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes until meatballs are cooked. The internal thermometer should read 165°F when inserted into the center of the meatball.
6Reduce sauce: Once the meatballs are cooked, remove them from the pan and place them on a large platter. Remove the lid, increase the heat and reduce the sauce. I’d like to reduce it until it gets thicker and barely covers the bottom of the frying pan. This takes about 10 minutes.
7Serve: Squeeze the juice from the second half of the lime, mix and finish the sauce by swirling it. Next, pour the sauce over the meatballs and garnish with fresh sliced green onions and herbs.
Adam and Joan tips
Storage: Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before gently reheating. Lemongrass Paste: Buy refrigerated lemongrass paste in squeezed tubes for sale near fresh herbs. Use fresh lemongrass: Cut off the top and bottom of the stem. Next, peel off the strong outer layer until you reach the soft, pale yellow core. Finally, slice the stems thinly, then chop them as finely as possible or use a food processor to chop them. If you are making large batches of homemade lemon grapes, store them in a fridge airtight container for several days, freeze them in an ice cube tray, or transfer them to a frozen bag, and freeze them for up to three months. Best Bread to Use: We love this dish rondeau or briser bread, tall, with straight sides and lids. The Dutch oven also works. If you don’t have a pot with a lid, you can cover the pan with aluminum foil. Remaining ginger, garlic, green herbs: If you want another way to exhaust the aromatics you purchased with this recipe, try making your own chili paste, like yellow or green curry paste (the recipe is approaching). The facts of nutrition provided are presumption.
Nutrition per meal
Serving size
1/6 of the recipe
/
calorie
415
/
Total fat
29.1g
/
Saturated fat
14.8g
/
cholesterol
130mg
/
sodium
817mg
/
carbohydrates
11.1g
/
Dietary fiber
0.3g
/
Total sugar
7.6g
/
protein
28.4g
author:
We are Adam and Joan, who have been passionate about cooking and sharing trustworthy recipes since 2009. Our goal? To encourage you to enter the kitchen and cook fresh, flavorful meals with confidence.
