Last updated on June 6th, 2018 at 02:07 pm
These spicy chicken Indonesian Meatballs come complete in a creamy coconut curry sauce that really is quite easy to prepare and are out of bounds delicious!
Monday Meatball Mania is back and better than ever with these out of bounds delicious Indonesian Meatballs! In case you forgot, I started this Meatball-a-thon last month with my friend Nagi from RecipeTin Eats. The rules are simple, one meatball recipe every last Monday of every month, and that’s it as far as rules go. Whatever crazy and tasty meatball concoctions we come up with, we’ll share with you. Anything goes.
Why meatballs? Because meatballs are great, they’re versatile, and they’re great in and on everything. You can bake them, you can fry them, you can slow cook them, you can stuff them with cheese and make them all gooey and delicious, they’re great in sandwiches, spaghetti and meatballs, meatball casseroles, meatballs in soups, meatballs on pizza, I’d even put them on a salad, the sky is the limit.
Since I was talking about taking you on a trip around the world with my food, without leaving the comfort of your home, I thought these Indonesian meatballs, or Bali Balls as we like to call them, would be perfect. I love experimenting with different cuisines and using the spices and herbs that are commonly used in different areas, so today we’re travelling to Indonesia. I’ve never been, but my dad has and said it’s simply beautiful there, so maybe some day hubs and I will travel there and I’ll get to experience their food first hand. For now, I’m sticking with the internet and my personal experience of what Indonesian cuisine is like.
There is one little Indonesian place that I know of here in Calgary and that’s at the Market on Macleod (yes, that’s what it’s actually called) which we frequent quite often, at least a couple times a month. That’s where I started loving Indonesian food and all the different and amazing spices and herbs they use in their cuisines.
The main ingredients in this recipe that I think are really important and I would not skip these, are the lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves. They really make this dish and give this dish its wonderful aroma and flavor. I usually buy my Kaffir lime leaves at the market and because I never use them all at once, I actually just put them in a ziploc freezer bag and freeze them until next time I’m ready to use. I find that they last for months in the freezer and don’t lose their flavor and aroma at all.
I decided to go with a chicken meatball here but beef or pork is great as well. The sauce is to die for, a creamy coconut sauce made with red chili paste, curry powder and of course infused with lots of flavor from the lime leaves and lemongrass. I could put that sauce on everything and drink it out of a glass, it’s so good. And yes, it’s perfect with these meatballs.
Give these a try, you’ll never buy frozen meatballs again.
Embrace the meatball!
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Indonesian Meatballs
Ingredients
For Meatballs
- 1 1/2 lb ground chicken
- 1 cup bread crumbs, I used Panko
- 1 red chili pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
- 5 green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp red curry paste optional
- 2 tbsp peanut oil for frying meatballs
For Sauce
- 2 stalks lemongrass *
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 14 oz unsweetened coconut milk (1 can 403 ml)
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 5 fresh Kaffir lime leaves
- 2 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut optional
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl add all the meatball ingredients, except the peanut oil, and mix well using your clean hands. Shape the meat mixture into 1 inch meatballs. You should get around 40 meatballs.
- In a skillet heat the peanut oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and fry until golden all around, should take about 7 minutes. If your skillet isn't large enough you may need to do this in a couple batches. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside.
- Trim the top and base of the lemongrass stalks and peel off any dry or tough outer layers. Using a meat mallet, pound the lemongrass stalks until well bruised to release the flavor.
- In the same skillet that was used to fry the meatballs add the chicken broth, red curry paste, unsweetened coconut milk, curry powder, salt, pepper, Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. Stir everything together and bring to a boil.
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet, toss them around to cover them in the sauce, then cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, uncovered over medium-low heat.
- Remove the lemongrass and lime leaves from the sauce.
- If you're adding the shredded coconut, add it now and stir. I added this for a bit of sweetness to the sauce, but this is totally optional. You could also add a tsp or so of brown sugar.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve over cooked rice.
Video
Notes
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
Nutrition
Made this dish on Saturday night and had friends over for dinner and it was delicious. Every body loved it will definitely be making it again
Hi Jo,
I came across your site yesterday when I was looking for chicken piccata recipe. I made it and it was a success! My husband is a native Italian and a good cook, he is pretty picky on food especially when it comes to Italian dishes. But he loved the chicken that I made yesterday, great recipe! I think I will be visiting your site often 🙂
Btw, I stumbled upon this recipe because I saw “Indonesian” written on the title so I was pretty curious about it. I’m a native Indonesian, born and grew up in West Sumatera area. We are pretty popular in Indonesia as being good cook and our traditional dishes -famously known as Minang cuisines, originated from our ethnic Minangkabau- are also very popular in all over Indonesia and in the neighboring countries. We cook a lot of curry type dishes, and I’m saying this without bragging just as a statistical fact that Minang curry dishes, is probably one of the types that Indonesians look up too the most when they cook this kind of dishes. But Indonesian cuisines are very diverse just like the people. So different flavor from different place is common for us 🙂
My introduction is very long, but this recipe is the reason why I wanted to comment. It looks like a pretty good dish even though I have to say that we don’t have any traditional dish like this 🙂 and If I may comment further, there are a lot of ingredients that we don’t use at all in our dishes (red curry paste for instance, is not Indonesian. Our curry is quite different from Thai’s). But I understand as you said that you have never been in Indonesia but you tried some Indonesian dishes which you used to based the recipe upon. As an Indonesian I really appreciate that you highlighted my country and wrote this recipe!
If you want my suggestions for a more traditional taste of Indonesia, I’d be happy to share some recipes 🙂
Cheers,
Meri
Thanks for your comment! I’d love some Indonesian recipes, feel free to email me at jo@jocooks.com.
Hi there what’s the white sauce drizzled over them looks like yogurt?
It’s actually yogurt, which I thinned out a bit with some milk, just so that I can drizzle over the meatballs.
where have you been all my life! I came across the Indonesian meatball recipe on facebook. I made them and they are seriously so tasty. I used half the amount of panko as I try and prep for lunch weekly. was sick of the boring ones I would always make for lunch. I plan to search for some more low cal recipes on your site.
thanks again!
These sounds amazing, next up on my list. The only change I’ll probably make is a technique I’ve found works great with Green/Red Curry Chicken; instead of just adding the red curry paste into the pot if you fry it with oil first (a tablespoon of coconut oil is perfect!) on a hight heat and then slowly add a few spoonfuls of coconut milk you’ll get a phenomenal base that just isn’t possible when adding it to the other liquids. I will report back, thank you!
Hi Michael, can’t wait to hear how it turned out!
Would it be possible to throw everything in the crockpot? Dog days of summer here and i am hoping to just come home and eat….
Hi Sak! I have to say I haven’t tried these in a crockpot so I cannot tell you with certainty, but you can definitely do meatballs in a crockpot, so I think this should work. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how they turned out.
OMG these meatballs was amazing!! I was too worried about the coconut milk curdling so I just made everything on the stovetop. I am so happy my lazy mentality didn’t win over this one because the sauce was so so so GOOD!! It smells so good right now in my small apt., my neighbors are probably drooling right now. Thanks for this great recipe
So glad you liked them! 😘
Hi
Can I substitute bread crumbs with potato or tapioca flour? We are gluten free and dairy free and looking for substitutes. This looks delicious !
I haven’t used tapioca flour before so I can’t advise you there, however I have used potato flour in meatballs and I know it works great. Would love to hear how they turn out!
Thanks you – I will. Looks heavenly. Can I leave out the coconut milk? just found out my son cannot do coconut milk 🙁
The coconut milk really does give it that nice creamy taste, but perhaps try replacing it with heavy cream.
Hi Jo, thanks for sharing this recipe. Made it night before last with pork mince and it was a huge hit. Only thing is I needed to double the sauce quantity. I understand this pushes up the calories, but mainly added more chicken stock. DELISH!
Glad you liked it Marg!
Hello,
Do you use red chili paste or red curry paste?
Thanks Anita. We updated the recipe as it was red curry paste. Thanks for catching that! Hope you tried them and know you will like them
This looks unbelievably delicious. I always have a hard time finding that kind of lime leaf, but I’ll have to look for this recipe!
Thanks Jennie! I find it at the market and whenever I do, I buy a whole lot and freeze it. Let me know how you like the meatballs. 🙂
I’m going to make your Indonesian meatball recipe. Can you give me some ideas on a couple of side dishes to go along with the meatballs? Love your recipes!
Hi Carol! I served these meatballs over some rice, but it works on mashed potatoes as well. I’d also serve some steamed broccoli or green beans with it, really nice.
Brilliant – another wonderful way to serve chicken – such great flavors!
These were so fun to create and so awesome and full of taste
yummy!