Spicy Coconut-Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs

I love meatballs. Beef, pork, chicken, lamb — if it can be rolled and browned, I'm interested. So when I found myself with a single chicken breast and no chicken mince in the village, the KitchenAid mincer attachment came out. A few minutes later I had exactly what I needed.

The recipe is Thai-inspired — lemongrass, red curry paste, coconut milk, and a little peanut butter for body. Fresh lemongrass would be ideal, but in rural Andalucía it's not always an option. I used lemongrass paste, which is a compromise worth acknowledging. It works, the flavour is there, but it's softer and less aromatic than the real thing. If you can get fresh, use it. If you can't, the paste does a reasonable job, and the rest of the sauce is flavourful enough to carry it.

I served mine with sourdough rather than rice, which is not what anyone would suggest but made perfect sense at the time. The sauce is good enough to mop.

Spicy Coconut-Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Serves 2

For the meatballs

500g chicken mince (or one large chicken breast, minced)

2 tsp lemongrass paste (or 2 fresh lemongrass stalks, finely chopped)

1 red chilli, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

2 spring onions, finely chopped

Zest of 1 lime

2 tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce

1 tbsp coconut flour

1 egg

Pinch of sea salt

For the sauce

400ml coconut milk

1 tbsp red curry paste

1 tbsp peanut butter

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Mix all the meatball ingredients thoroughly in a bowl and roll into small golf ball-sized portions.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the meatballs until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and set aside.

In the same pan, fry the red curry paste for a minute, then add the coconut milk, peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, and honey. Stir and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.

Return the meatballs to the pan, coat them well in the sauce, and simmer for a further five minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with jasmine rice — or, if the mood takes you, with sourdough.

If you would like a sweeter, stickier take on chicken meatballs, try my teriyaki chicken meatballs, pan-fried and glazed in a quick orange sauce, or browse all my chicken meatballs recipes, organised by sauce.

If these coconut-lemongrass chicken meatballs found their way into your kitchen, you can buy me a coffee ☕ — it helps keep the site going.

Footnote

This coconut lemongrass chicken meatballs recipe is part of the Chicken Recipes hub — a complete collection of chicken and poultry recipes from Casa Adora and the road.
Find more recipes and food adventures here.
Wonky photos, proper chicken, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef