Pork + Ginger Meatballs

I have been a fan of meatballs for a long time, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that I started to experiment with meatball recipes outside of the classic spaghetti meatball pairing. These meatballs are inspired more by vietnamese flavors and go really well with (leftover) rice. They’re based on a recipe that I like from NYT, but I’ve made some changes including adding the sauce, toppings, method, and adjusting the ratios. I think that it’s worth posting my own page.

Like most of the recipes I post here, these are high in protein and super easy for a weeknight. I love meatballs because they’re so versatile, they freeze well, and ground meat is a really affordable way to get your protein in.

This is one of my current favorite easy recipes. I live with my brother and my husband. Despite our very different work schedules, we try to eat dinner together a few times a week. I probably make some sort of meatball almost every week and they agree this is possibly the very top meatball recipe. I’ll share its competitors soon!

How I make these even easier:

1. I am very lazy so I always bake my meatballs rather than frying them. Usually at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes (until cooked through)

2. I use a cookie scoop, this is a very easy way to make all the meatballs a uniform size and avoid touching the meat more than you need to. With that cookie scoop, your meatballs will be a size that cooks in around 12-13 minutes.

3. I mix everything in a stand mixer - which makes it very easy to combine well.

4. To make things even easier (less chopping), you can grab frozen ginger cubes from trader joe’s. Each cube is 1 tsp - make sure to thaw them first!

Ingredients for meatballs

• 1 LB ground pork (fat % of choice but super lean might mean you need to grease your cookie sheet)

• 3 TB minced ginger

• 1.5 TB minced garlic

• 1 TB fish sauce

• 1 tsp ground pepper

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 cup finely crushed ritz crackers or panko

Ingredients for sauce

• 3 TB lime juice

• 3 TB fish sauce

• 1 TB sugar

• 1 clove minced garlic

• minced hot pepper such as jalapeno

Toppings (optional)

• chopped peanuts

• chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix until combined on a low speed.

3. shape the meat into balls using a cookie scoop - if you have it.

4. Arrange on a cookie sheet (greased if fat is 10% or lower).

5. Bake 12-15 minutes (until cooked - about 165 degrees internal temp).

6. Serve with rice, top with sauce and toppings of choice.