Asian Meatballs With Garlicky Hoisin Sauce

These Asian meatballs with garlicky hoisin sauce will appeal to everyone in your house – young and old. You probably will not have any leftovers. Hide some away if you would like to have some on hand for lunch the next day – they might even be better day 2!

Meatballs are such a great comfort food. When my kids seem a little squirrely and I need some peace at dinner time, meatballs do the trick. And, since I have a compulsion to always try something new, for these meatballs I decided to give them an Asian kick.

The New York Times Cooking section published a Korean meatball recipe a short while back and that was my inspiration to add some different flavors to my traditional meatball. I struggled a bit about what to serve with it! The garlicky hoisin sauce was incredible! However, I must confess two things – 1.) I didn’t make nearly enough of it, and 2.) Half my kids requested marinara sauce anyway! Sometimes you think you’re exposing your kids to some awesome new flavors and they go and put the rough equivalent of ketchup on it… 🙂

I ended up serving it over a gluten-free pasta with sauteed broccoli and garlic on the side. It was a great combination of flavors. I used the food processor to help mix up the ingredients and it worked amazingly well. I am so lazy when it comes to getting out extra appliances but this was worth it!

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Asian Meatballs With Garlicky Hoisin Sauce

Try these Asian Meatballs With Garlicky Hoisin Sauce to change up your usual meatball routine!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 24 meatballs

Author Erin Brighton

Ingredients

For the meatballs

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork (freshly ground pork sausage works, too)
• 3 T honey
• 2 T hoisin sauce
• 2 T soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1 T rice vinegar
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 1 Asian pear , peeled and chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic , divided
• 1 inch ginger , grated
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup gluten-free panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 bunch scallions , chopped

For the sauce

• 3 T hoisin sauce
• 6 cloves garlic , sliced
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili garlic sauce
• Water

Instructions

1. Put the meat in a large bowl.
2. In a food processor, combine pear, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
3. Add ingredients from food processor on top of the meat.
4. Add egg and breadcrumbs. Mix with your hands.
5. Form into 1 1/2 to 2 inch meatballs.
6. Spread evenly on a foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with a non-stick spray.
7. Cook at 425 for about 25 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.

For the sauce

1. Saute garlic in a little sesame oil until it starts to brown.
2. Add hoisin sauce and the Thai chili garlic sauce. Stir.
3. Add enough water to thin it out and make a sauce. If you are serving this with pasta, use some of the pasta water to make your sauce.