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I love a good meatball, especially my new Sticky Asian Meatballs. You won’t even believe that these are Whole30 and Paleo compliant. They serve as a great family dinner served on top of cauliflower rice or as a great appetizer for a party or social gathering. The sauce is the best part of this dish and really steals the show.
I always love cooking with Asian flavors such as ginger, sesame seed oil and coconut aminos. I’ll have to admit, Chinese takeout used to be one of my favorite options on a Friday night. Now that we live Paleo, we only do real takeout on rare occasion. I love to indulge every now and then, but I don’t love making it a habit. My mission is to create my favorite dishes in a healthy way and this one will be a monthly or even weekly staple on our menu.
I usually get a ton of questions about recipes so below I am here to answer a few!
Can I substitute anything for the arrowroot flour?
If you are living Paleo and needing another substitute for arrowroot, I suggest using tapioca flour. It serves as a thickening agent and will work almost identical to arrowroot. I like arrowroot better because I feel like it dissolves smoother and doesn’t leave a lot of chunky pieces. Another option is potato starch. I haven’t used this a lot personally, but I hear great things.
What do you use thicken the Asian sauce?
Arrowroot flour is such a great alternative for real flour to thicken Paleo sauces. I have recently found that arrowroot is my favorite because it dissolves better and doesn’t get gummy. They both are great and get the job done, but I prefer using arrowroot for all of my Paleo and Whole30 recipes. I also use it in some of my Keto recipes due to the small amount.
My sauce won’t thicken…what can I do?
The biggest tip to thickening your sauces is to allow it to simmer and get hot (be patient). As the sauce heats after adding the arrowroot flour it will thicken, it just may take a few minutes. If your sauce still won’t thicken after a few minutes, feel free to add another tsp or 2 dissolved in a little bit of water to the sauce. Dissolving the arrowroot flour in water first allows it to thicken smoothly without any chunks.
Do these meatballs freeze well?
Yes! Add them to a gallon size freezable baggie or a freezer proof container and keep for up to 3 months. Thaw, heat and serve.
What else can you serve with these Sticky Asian Meatballs with that will make it a meal?
I love adding these meatballs on top of cauliflower rice cooked in sesame seed oil along with veggies. These meatballs also serve as a great meal prep option and will stay good in the fridge all week long.
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Sticky Asian Meatballs
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 20 meatballs 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
Who needs take out when you can make these delicious Asian Meatballs with sticky Asian sauce topped with green onions and sesame seeds. This dish is Whole30, Keto, Paleo, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free.
Ingredients
Asian Meatballs
- 2 lbs ground beef (90/10)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped onions
- 1/2 cup almond flour (add more if needed)
- 1 Tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/2 tsp ground garlic
- green onions (chopped, for garnish)
Asian Sticky Sauce
- 1 cup coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1 clove garlic ((minced))
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tsp teaspoons arrowroot powder (dissolved in 1 1/2 tbsp of water) *See notes for keto option)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F and coat a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray.
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined.
- Form the meatball mixture into golf ball sized balls. Place each meatball on a sheet pan. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until they are cooked through.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients except for the arrowroot flour (Sub tapioca flour if needed) to a skillet and heat on medium/high heat. Once the mixture is hot, add in the arrowroot flour dissolved in water. Stir frequently. As the sauce heats, it will begin to thicken, (This may take a few minutes).
- Transfer the cooked meatballs to the sauce and allow to come together for a few minutes.
- Serve over cauliflower rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
*For Keto, sub 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- Category: Main Dish/Appetizer
- Cuisine: Asian
Comments (20)
Seriously the BEST recipe!!!!!
My husband and I are on day 2 of our first Whole30. I hate cooking and never have high hopes of new, healthy recipes. This meal was SO good!
Made this recipe with ground turkey – because that’s what I had in my freezer and added some chopped shiitake mushrooms. They were a-maz-ing! The sauce is so flavorful! Will definitely make again!
These were amazing! Definitely a keeper!
These were the BEST meatballs I have ever had!! They were easy to make and so delicious with garlic cauliflower rice. Definitely sharing this recipe.
I made these for dinner the other night and they were a big hit!
These look awesome!! My husband has a nut allergy what do you think would be a good substitute for the almond flour? Maybe coconut?
OMG! These are delicious and so easy to make!!!
Just made these tonight and ate with cauliflower rice and they’re amazing!!! Great recipe! All these flavors taste wonderful together. Even my almost 2 year old loves it! Thanks so much for sharing!
This makes so me happy! Thank you
These were so delicious!! We have nut & egg allergies so I used cassava flour and a small scoop of gelatin & they came out great!
I am so happy you loved this recipe! Thank you
These were so incredibly delicious. My husband and I fought over the leftovers. We avoid gluten and soy so we don’t get to indulge in Chinese takeout anymore. It came together very quickly, under an hour start to finish. I promise you will not regret trying this recipe. Making again two weeks later and I am already looking forward to dinner tomorrow!
I am so happy to hear it was a hit! Thank you!
The absolute best!! We make these all the time! They are delicious and so easy to make!! Even my picky toddler loves them and he won’t eat anything!! Definitely give these a try!
★★★★★
This makes me so happy Brit. Thanks for taking time to let me know how much you love this recipe.
These are my favorite meatballs. So flavorful! Definitely try them.
★★★★★
This recipe was so good!
★★★★★
So glad you loved it!
I came across Ashley and her amazing recipes during a whole30 takeover sometime last year. I was immediately drawn to her because of her sweet and southern demeanor. I must preface this by saying that I have never done a whole30 and quite possibly never may so I adapted this recipe to accommodate what I had in my pantry. Instead of coconut aminos I replaced with soy sauce (no salt added- be careful if you do used salt as it may get overpowering). I used to be a firm believer that you had to first saute your meatballs to get a crispy outer skin but this recipe immediately proved me wrong! Placing them straight into the over saved me so much time and still gave me that nice seared outer layer. So so good! I served mine with rice and bok choy. The sauce is delicious and served nicely over some veggies. Thank you for your content!!!
★★★★★