When I was doing Whole30 a coworker introduced me to a chicken coconut curry recipe. I loved it, but I am terrible at keeping a wide variety of spices on hand and I usually have ground turkey in my freezer so this variation of the original recipe allows me to prep meals in advance and prepare it in the crockpot instead of stovetop.
What I love about this Thai Meatballs recipe is the flexibility to serve it as either an appetizer at a party or a dinner at the end of the day. This is perfect for when you are craving takeout, but want to eat healthy instead. I recommend doubling the meatball recipe and baking two batches at a time so one set is served for dinner tonight and the other is in the freezer for your next quick dinner.
Crockpot Thai Meatballs Recipe
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 tsp fresh cilantro
- 1 tbs soy sauce [Whole30 use Coconut Aminos]
- 1 tbs fresh ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 Can Coconut Milk
- 3 tbs red curry paste
- 2 lbs ground turkey
The first step for this recipe is preparing the meatballs. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and toss the carrots, onion, cilantro, ginger, soy sauce, salt and pepper together in a bowl. I really love using fresh cilantro and ginger because it adds a crisp taste that I don’t feel you get from dried options.
Ginger root is pretty easy to find in the store, but preparing it can be a bit of a bear. A small amount goes a long way. Use a potato peeler to remove the skin and a grater or microplane to grind up the appropriate amount for the recipe. If you don’t have a grater on hand you could dice the ginger but make sure to keep the pieces small to prevent having too much ginger in any one meatball.
Mix all the ingredients together and shape into 1″ meat balls. Place about 1″ apart on a foil lined cookie sheet. Cook for 30 minutes turning halfway through. While the meatballs cook, start the sauce in the crockpot.
Place the Crockpot on high and add one can of coconut milk. If you like more sauce, you could put 2 cans.
Next add 3 tbs of red curry paste. If you use the Thai Kitchen Curry it is about 1/2 the jar.
Once the meatballs are cooked, pull them out of the oven and put them into the crockpot to cook for 3 hours. When the sauce has thickened it is ready to serve. I like cooking up a double batch of meatballs and freezing half for later. If you are cooking from frozen, use the same recipe for the sauce but place the Crockpot on low for 8 hours instead.
Serve on top of white rice or cauliflower rice if you are doing Whole 30. If you are using as an appetizer at a party, serve with toothpicks instead.
[tasty-recipe id=”2702″]
Interested in other crockpot recipes? Check out my Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.
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