This Thai-Inspired Green Curry Meatballs recipe is bursting with flavor and completely addicting. They are healthy, made with fresh ingredients, and one of my favorite meals!

Looking for more Thai-Inspired recipes? Try Chickpea Curry, Pad Thai, or Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

A bowl of Thai-Inspired Green Curry Meatballs on top of rice and sprinkled with fresh cilantro.

There is one thing that gets me about this recipe every time–the FLAVOR! These little Thai-Inspired Green Curry Meatballs are bursting with bold flavor! If you want to take them next level, to this homemade green curry paste from Hot Thai Kitchen.

How to Make Green Curry Meatballs:

Combine Meat 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.

All the ingredients for Green Curry Meatballs in a mixing bowl to combine and form into balls.

Cook Meatballs: Scoop the meat mixture into balls. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick pan. Once hot, place one layer of meatballs in the pan, leaving space between each, cooking in batches as necessary. 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).

Meatballs being browned in a non-stick pan.

Make 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.

Two images showing curry paste and garlic being sautéed in a pan, and then more ingredients added to make a green curry sauce, sprinkled with cilantro.

Simmer: Return meatballs to pan and simmer them in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 more minutes.

Green Curry Meatballs in a non-stick pan, ready to serve with rice.

Serve over your favorite hot, cooked rice. I prefer jasmine or basmati rice, but brown rice is also a great, healthier option. I garnish them with fresh Thai basil and chopped cilantro. YUM!

A close-up image showing five green curry meatballs on top of rice and sprinkled with fresh Thai basil and cilantro.

Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: prepare the raw meatballs up to a day in advance, stored in the fridge, or freeze them.

To Freeze: I like to double this recipe, using 3lbs ground meat, and freeze half the meatballs for another meal. Form meatballs and place in freezer, uncovered for 30 minutes to flash freeze them. Place meatballs in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge before cooking. To freeze baked meatballs, allow them to cool completely, then store in a freezer safe container in freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and rewarm in the curry sauce.

Recipe Variations:

  • Ground Meat: Ground turkey is my preference, but ground pork or chicken would also taste great.
  • Curry Paste: I prefer the Mae Ploy brand of curry paste, as it has stronger/better flavor than others (1 Tablespoons produces mild/medium heat level), but if you’re using a different brand (for example, the Thai Kitchen brand is pretty mild), you may want to add more curry paste. 
  • Gluten Free: For meatball mixture, omit oats and replace with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch.

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Recipe

A bowl of Thai-Inspired Green Curry Meatballs on top of rice and sprinkled with fresh cilantro.
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Total 35 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

For the meatballs:

For the sauce:

Instructions
 

  • Combine meat 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.
  • 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).
  • Make 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.
  • Simmer: Return meatballs to pan and simmer them in the sauce until cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
  • Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Notes

Ground meat: I like to double the recipe, using 3 lbs ground meat, and freeze half the meatballs for another meal.
Curry Paste: I prefer the Mae Ploy brand of curry paste, as it has stronger/better flavor than others (1 Tablespoons produces mild/medium heat level), but if you’re using a different brand (for example, the Thai Kitchen brand is pretty mild), you may want to add more curry paste. 
Gluten Free: to meatball mixture, omit oats and add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
Freezing Instructions: To freeze uncooked meatballs, form meatballs and place in freezer, uncovered for 30 minutes to flash freeze them. Place meatballs in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge before cooking. To freeze baked meatballs, allow them to cool completely, then store in a freezer safe container in freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and rewarm in the curry sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 448kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 28gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 116mgSodium: 721mgPotassium: 418mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 867IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 81mgIron: 3mg

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*Nutritional label does not include rice.

I originally shared this recipe in February 2014. Updated January 2018 and April 2023.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    We cannot get enough of these! My Husband said, “I would give these a 10-star review, but I can’t. So, I’ll give them 5-stars TWICE!”

    If you have a taste for Thai – you wont be disappointed!

    1. It just depends how big you make them. Divide however many meatballs you form, by 6 (the nutritional label is based off of six servings).So if you make 24 meatballs, the serving size would be 4 per person. If you make 18 larger meatballs, it would be 3 per person.

  2. 5 stars
    Flavorful dish. Loved the fresh lime. Served with sautéed pea pods and orange bell pepper for sweet pairing with the spicy curry. I used 1.5 T Mae ploy green curry paste in the sauce and it was plenty spicy for us, and we like spice. Start with a little then add more!

  3. Made this recipe tonight, served with steamed broccolini, chopped cucumber with chopped mint, peanuts and Thai salad dressing, sesame seeds and plenty of coriander and mint. A hit, thanks for the lovely recipe.

  4. 5 stars
    These meatballs are delicious! My husband who says he hates ground chicken and turkey absolutely wolfed these down. He remarked how tender and flavourful they were! We ate some and have frozen the rest for a rainy day, thank you for this recipe.

  5. 5 stars
    Oh my goodness, this was a great recipe! I made this for meal prep lunches and can’t wait for the next few days! I froze half of the meatballs for future use and added spinach while the meatballs were simmering in the sauce for the added veggie. This recipe is definitely going in the regular rotation–many thanks for sharing!

  6. 5 stars
    Used the ground chicken for this. Amazing. Two things make this the bomb: fish sauce and fresh lime juice! We added fresh chopped Serrano for serving for those who like a surprise bit of heat. Otherwise changed nothing. Saved this recipe to my homescreen. 😋

  7. 5 stars
    Made these with my husband last night and they were delicious! We found this from your “Weekly Meal Plan (39)” and are now super excited for the rest of the meals. This recipe was fast, easy, and tasty. It’s definitely joining our regular dinner rotation dishes. Thank you for sharing!

  8. 5 stars
    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!

  9. 5 stars
    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.

  10. 5 stars
    Excellent recipe. Easy. I did half turkey half pork. I took it to a friend’s house and everyone wanted the recipe. Thank you!

  11. 5 stars
    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.

  12. 5 stars
    I thought the recipe was excellent. I did use half pork/half turkey. Everything else was the same. Thank you for the recipe.

  13. 5 stars
    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.

  14. 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!! 🙂

    1. 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!

    1. Hi Jenica, I’ve never tried them with red curry paste–the flavor will be different, but I imagine they would still be delicious.