Asian Barbecue Chicken Meatballs are jumbo-sized and a fun and tasty way to change up your grilling routine and your meatball routine!
These Asian Barbecue Chicken Meatballs were super-fun to work on and may have created a grilling monster. Not only did I try a fun grilling accessory from NordicWare, but this girl finally used hubby's big-boy grill all by herself.
After a less-than-successful grill-lighting tutorial from my husband, my confidence about this new experience was slightly shaken. Our grill is a well-loved 12-year-old gas grill so lighting it can be tricky. When the time came to light the grill for this meatball grilling endeavor, I lit it like a champ. Woohoo....girl grill power!
Tips for making perfect meatballs:
- When mixing up anything with ground meat like meatballs or meatloaf, get all the ingredients except the ground meat mixed together first then add the ground meat. This ensures the ingredients are more evenly distributed throughout the meat. Also, just use your hands. You can mix more thoroughly with your hands than you can with a spoon. (Wear disposable gloves so nothing gets under your fingernails.)
- A large 1 ½-inch cookie scoop works well to form meatballs,
- Take a handful of the meatball combination on the palm of your left hand, portion it with the cookie scoop with your right hand onto a baking sheet.
- After portioning the meat mixture, roll into neat balls with your hands. Here I just eye-balled the meatballs into 12 even portions. I'm digging jumbo meatballs as they're less work!
- I probably didn't need to, however, I brushed the meatball griller with vegetable oil before placing the meatballs inside. They released very easily.
This sauce is easy to pull together while the meatballs cook. I like to keep a good inventory of Asian staples and pantry items on hand such as:
- Soy sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Unseasoned rice vinegar
- Oyster sauce
- Chili garlic sauce
- Fresh ginger
Keeping items such as these on hand allows you to pull together an Asian-inspired meal like this in no time!
Let's eat!
More meatball recipes you'll love:
- Middle Eastern Spiced Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
- Chicken Meatballs Marsala with Baked Parmesan Polenta
- Meatballs in Spicy Curry
- Turkish Turkey Meatball Lettuce Wraps with Tzatziki
- Pepper Jack Stuffed Meatballs with Chipotle Sauce
- Moroccan Meatball and Vegetable Ragout
Asian Barbecue Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 bunch scallions - white and light green part only, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup panko
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ pounds ground chicken - preferably a combination of white and dark meat
- canola oil - for grill pan
Sauce
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce - or to taste
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
- 2 scallions - white and light green part only, thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
Meatballs
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat (approximately 375 degrees) or preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine first 11 ingredients in a bowl. Add the ground chicken and mix well. Brush the meatball griller with canola oil. Form into 12 jumbo-sized meatballs and place in the wells of the griller.
- Place meatball griller on the grill or in the oven. Cook for 15-18 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 165 degrees.
Sauce
- While the meatballs are cooking, combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook 10-12 minutes or until heated through.
- Serve sauce over meatballs. Garnish with sliced scallions.
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
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