Delicious Oven Baked Thai Chicken Meatballs served in lettuce leaves with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. Fast, fresh and yummy.
These meatballs are really, really good. Like REALLY good! They make the most delicious dinner – especially on a warm night when you just want something light. And by serving them in lettuce leaves you end up with a totally fresh tasting meal, plus it looks pretty. And we all like a pretty dinner.
There is no doubting my love of meatballs. BUT! I’m not the hugest fan of meatballs that are fried in oil. They’re just a bit icky (is that a real word!?). These ones are oven baked, so you don’t have to worry about oil making them heavy or greasy. Ooh and because they’re made with chicken mince, they’re nice and lean too.
I have a little secret trick to baking meatballs on the oven and I promise it’s a winner. If you own a mini-muffin tray, lightly grease it with cooking oil spray, roll your meatballs and pop one into each mini hole. They’re the perfect size, help to keep the meatballs round and cooks them evenly. You don’t even need to turn them over (unless you want to of course!).
These oven baked thai chicken meatballs are flavoured with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sweet chilli and lime juice. This means that they have a BIG flavour. Love, love, LOVE that! And to make them even more delicious, I like to brush a little extra sweet chilli sauce over the top of the meatballs and sprinkle over some sesame seeds right near the end of the cooking time.
Then it’s simply a matter of serving them in lettuce leaves with a yummy sweet chilli and lime dipping sauce. Deeeeelish!
Seriously, if you make these meatballs, you’re going to be in your family’s good books for a long, long time!
xx
Oven Baked Thai Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 500 g lean chicken mince
- 1/4 cup panko crumbs or breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tbs lime juice
- 2 tbs extra sweet chilli sauce for brushing
- Sesame seeds for sprinkling
- Sauce
- 1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce
- 1 1/2 tbs lime juice
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.
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Lightly spray a non-stick mini-muffin tray with cooking spray and set aside (if you don't have a mini-muffin tray, lightly grease a non-stick baking tray).
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Place the chicken mince, panko crumbs, garlic, ginger, soy, sweet chilli sauce and lime juice into a bowl.
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Mix to combine.
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Roll mixture into heaped tablespoon sized balls (if your mixture is difficult to roll, add in some more panko crumbs).
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Place one ball into each hole of the mini-muffin tin.
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Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
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Brush with 2tbs sweet chilli sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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Bake for a further 2 minutes or until cooked through.
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Serve in lettuce leaves with a dipping sauce made from 4 tbs sweet chilli sauce and 2 tbs lime juice.
I’m definitely not a fried meatballs kind of girl either, Lucy, so I’m loving this fresh, light alternative! Chicken is our go-to weeknight staple, so these would go down incredibly well with us, especially in the ridiculous heat we’ve been having here in Brisbane lately! Plus I think these would double-up as an easy work lunch for me cold the next day. They’d be fantastic in a wrap with some salad, I suspect! Yummy! 😀
I’ve been hearing how hot it is in Brisbane!! Crazy!! Ooh yes in a wrap would be delish!
I have a Pinterest board dedicated just to meatballs 🙂 Great tip about the mini muffin tins. These look perfect for a light mid week diner – and anything that requires messy hands always tastes better.
Hahaha that’s hilarious!! Love your work!
Oh, these look good Lucy and would be easy to make gluten-free!
They’re going on my list!
Oh definitely!!
Do you know that I have never actually had a fried meatball. I always make my meatballs in sauce or bake them in the oven. These look delicious and I think that everyone would enjoy them.
Thank you xx
Oh, nom, nom, nom! I think I’m going to make these for the boys’ upcoming birthday part, Lucy!
Hi,
Could you freeze this mixture before baking them if you wanted to make it in advance?
Absolutely!!!! You can also freeze them once they’re cooked (for a quick and easy lunch or dinner!)
I’ve just made these for dinner and snuck a couple for my lunch…. They are amazing. I swapped chicken for turkey
and mixed everything together in the thermomix. Incredibly easy…. Can’t wait for dinner now!
I made these last night and taking in the left overs for lunch today. I got a big thumbs up from my partner and this is now on the “make again” list. So easy to make, they were moist and the idea of putting the meatballs in a mini muffin pan was brilliant.
That’s fantastic!!! So glad you enjoyed them!
These look delicious, definitely going to make them this week. I love the way you have presented them to o the cos lettuce leaves. So colourful and pretty.
So delicious!!!! They are gone in a flash each time I bake them!
Hehehe same at my house!!! Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! xx
Can you serve them cold?
Absolutely!