These Thai Meatballs are quick to make and bursting with bold, savory flavor from a homemade green curry coconut sauce. They’re the perfect 30-minute dinner served with jasmine rice or veggies.
Thai Meatballs deserve their own fan club.
Thai Meatballs deserve their own fan club. There are few recipes on my site with more bold and amazing flavor, with so little effort, as these Thai Meatballs. And the creamy green curry sauce turns them into a special meal that feels fancy but is totally doable on a busy weeknight. My whole family devours Thai Meatballs and everyone wants leftovers in their lunch.
I usually use store-bought curry paste, but here's a great homemade green curry paste recipe from Hot Thai Kitchen!
Try my other Thai-inspired recipes, like Pad Thai, Thai Basil Chicken, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, or Chickpea Curry!
How to make Thai Meatballs:
Thai Meatballs: Mix oats, egg, and milk; let sit 10 minutes. Add ground meat, ginger, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, salt, garlic, onion and mix well. Shape into balls. Heat oil over medium-high and cook meatballs in batches until browned on all sides (they don’t need to be fully cooked). Remove to a plate and drain excess grease, if needed.
Green Curry Sauce: In the same pan, sauté curry paste and garlic for 30 seconds. Stir in one can of coconut milk, scraping up browned bits. Whisk cornstarch into the second can of coconut milk and add to the pan, along with brown sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, and cilantro. Return meatballs to the pan and simmer in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Serve: Spoon over hot rice (jasmine, basmati, or brown) and garnish with fresh Thai basil and cilantro. Enjoy immediately!
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Recipe
Green Curry Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats* or panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey, chicken , pork or beef
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons Green curry paste
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 1/2 cup onion , diced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
For the sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon Green curry paste *
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 15 ounce cans canned unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 4-5 cups cooked jasmine rice , brown rice, white rice, or basmati rice, for serving
Instructions
- Thai Meatballs mixture: Add the oats, egg and milk to a large mixing bowl. Mix together and set aside for 10 minutes. Add ground meat, ginger, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, salt, garlic and onion. Mix to combine.1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats*, 1 large egg, ¼ cup milk, 1 ½ pounds lean ground turkey, chicken, 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger, 2 teaspoons Green curry paste, 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 cloves garlic, ½ cup onion
- Roll into balls: Scoop the meat mixture into balls, a little smaller than golf-ball size.
- Cook Meatballs: In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, place one layer of meatballs in the pan, leaving space between each—you may meed to cook them in two separate batches, depending on the size of your pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides, turning occasionally as they cook. They don't need to be cooked through, just browned on all sides. Remove the meatballs to a plate. (Remove some of the grease if there is excess).2 Tablespoons olive oil
- Green Curry Sauce: Add curry paste and garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in one can of coconut milk, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Stir cornstarch in to the other can of coconut milk, and add to the pan. Add brown sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, cilantro and stir to combine.1 Tablespoon Green curry paste, 4 cloves garlic, 2 15 ounce cans canned unsweetened coconut milk, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons light brown sugar, 1 lime, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro, salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Simmer: Return meatballs to pan and simmer them in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
- Serve over hot, cooked rice.4-5 cups cooked jasmine rice
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutritional label does not include rice.
I originally shared this recipe in February 2014. Updated January 2018 and April 2023 and September 2025.
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Wow! I made these tonight and they received rave reviews! The meatballs were perfectly seasoned and so tender when all was said and done, and this was the best Thai sauce I’ve made at home to date. This recipe will be on a regular mealtime rotation after this critically-acclaimed debut. Due to personal preference, I would use half the lime juice in the sauce next time (I loved the darker, savory flavor the sauce had prior to the addition), but other than that I’ll stay true to the recipe. Don’t mess with perfection…too much.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I cooked this recipe for my Colombian family of five during lockdown in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Spicy Thai food isn’t well known here but this recipe had everybody asking for seconds and thirds.
The curry sauce was creamy and flavorful and the chicken meat balls were exquisite.
Everybody left the table full, happy and raving about Thai food. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Excellent recipe. Easy. I did half turkey half pork. I took it to a friend’s house and everyone wanted the recipe. Thank you!
Very tasty!
This recipe was/is great! As I didn’t want to go to the store and had everything here…I used ground beef in place of turkey. The meatballs were great and this definitely goes into the “frequent” rotation. Thank you for a great recipe.
I thought the recipe was excellent. I did use half pork/half turkey. Everything else was the same. Thank you for the recipe.
Very good! I used red curry paste.
Thanks, Jamie!
Made this for supper last night. I doubled the recipe and I am so happy that I did because it was soooooo good! Went out today to buy more turkey and coconut milk to make it again! I’m drooling just thinking about it…seriously! Only change I made was using Patak’s mild curry paste because I couldn’t find green curry paste and I can’t handle too much heat.
Thanks Rachel, I’m really glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for your comment 🙂
I made this recipe last night! It was SO YUMMY!!! And it was super easy to make!! Thanks for creating the menu plan – it helps me a lot with what to make for dinner for my family!! 🙂
Heidi, I’m so happy you have been using the meal plan, and I’m especially happy you liked this recipe 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing and following TBFS!
Can I use red curry paste instead and still yield a good flavor?
Hi Jenica, I’ve never tried them with red curry paste–the flavor will be different, but I imagine they would still be delicious.