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These easy baked Sweet Chili Meatballs are fantastic as a main dish, appetizer, or snack. Pair with roasted or stir-fried veggies and rice, and you’ll have a simple and fast dinner that the whole family will love. They’re also freezer-friendly!
Go ahead and write this dish on your meal plan menu in permanent marker, because these spicy pork meatballs are a must make.
You’ll love the incredible flavor combo, but the best part is that they’re so easy to make. SO EASY.
And since you’ll love these, you’ll also want to try a batch of air fryer meatballs or Greek turkey meatballs. The homemade lemon sauce in the turkey meatballs recipe will give you the happy screams.
Ingredient highlights
- Ground pork
- Binders – one egg and panko
- Saucy things – sweet chili sauce (this is our favorite brand), soy sauce, and sesame oil
- Mix-ins – jalapeño (optional), ginger, green onion, cilantro (optional), and garlic.
If you’re one of those genetically cursed people who don’t like cilantro, feel free to leave it out. Thai basil would also be a nice addition if your grocery store carries it.
How Do You Know When Pork Meatballs Are Done?
Ground pork needs an internal temp of 160˚F to be considered safe to eat. I take a two-pronged approach to test the “doneness” of these: 1) use a meat thermometer to test (I’ve had this thermometer for over seven years and love it) 2) cut the biggest meatball in half to check the color.
Ground pork will have some pinkness to it even when fully cooked, but it should not be raw looking.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Sub in ground turkey, chicken, or beef for the pork.
- Do not overwork the ingredients while mixing them, as this can lead to dry or tough meatballs.
- Add an optional 1/3 cup of grated carrot to the mixture to increase the veggies.
- Sub in almond flour for the panko and coconut aminos for the soy sauce to make these gluten-free.
- If spicy food is not your jam, leave out the jalapeño.
- To create uniform-sized meatballs, use a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop.
Sweet Chili Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup panko
- 1 jalapeño {ribs and seeds removed, finely diced}
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 green onion {thinly sliced}
- 1/4 cup cilantro {minced}
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic {minced}
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp ginger {grated}
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.
- Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and combine. Pro tip: it's easiest to mix using your hands.1 lb ground pork, 1 egg, 1/3 cup panko, 1 jalapeño, 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce, 1 green onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp ginger
- Make uniform-sized meatballs and place them on the baking sheet without allowing them to touch.
- Bake for 15 minutes, and then flip and bake for an additional 8 minutes. Cook until the internal temperature is 160˚F.
- If you'd like the tops crispy/browned, place under a broiler set to high for 1-2 minutes. Watch closely so they don't burn!
Notes
- Makes 16 1-inch meatballs.
- Sub in almond flour and use coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce to make these gluten-free.
- Add an optional 1/3 cup of grated carrot to the mixture to increase the veggies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was excellent. I made the sauce the day before. For the turkey burgers, I simply mixed the ingredients and then baked it in the oven in one slab (350 degrees 20 min) and then cut them in burger sizes. They were very good.
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Oh, I’ll be making these this week! One thing I’ve found that makes for tender meatballs is to mix all the other ingredients first and add the meat last – I break up the ground meat with my fingers and throw the pieces lightly on top of the ingredients and gently mix together. Meatballs made like this are always light and tender!
That’s a great tip, Annette!