The Best Sticky Asian Glazed Meatballs Recipe | Modernmealmakeover.com (2024)

This is the best sticky Asian glazed meatballs recipe; they are the perfect sweet and flavorful dinner entree. Tender ground turkey meatballs are coated in a homemade sticky Asian glaze, making them an irresistible dinner for the whole family, or even an appetizer for game day!

This versatile Asian glazed meatballs recipe has quickly become a favorite in our house. These meatballs can be an easy weeknight meal, or even an appetizer if you are hosting friends or going to a game day party. These turkey meatballs are tender, flavorful, and delicious, especially smothered in a homemade sticky Asian glaze made with hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha. These tasty Asian meatballs will disappear from your plate before you know it!

An added bonus to these Asian style meatballs recipe? It is super easy to make them healthy! Made with ground turkey, these Asian meatballs are lower in fat and packed with protein. This Asian meatballs recipe is also very simple to make. To make the meatballs, you will combine your ground turkey with sesame oil, bread crumbs, ginger, garlic, and eggs. Mix them up with your hands to make sure that it is thoroughly mixed. Once they are mixed, roll them into individual balls and bake them in the oven. While they are baking, you can make your glaze, which is just as simple to make as the meatballs! To make the homemade Asian glaze, mix together hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, honey, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha on the stove top until your sauce thickens. As soon as you take your turkey meatballs out of the oven, toss them in the glaze. That’s all that there is to it! Your Asian style meatballs are ready to serve.

Ingredients for Your Asian Meatballs Recipe

• Ground Turkey: Ground turkey, pork, chicken, or even ground beef are all great options.
• Sesame Oil: Adds a delicious Asian flavor to your ground turkey in the Asian style meatballs.
• Plain Bread Crumbs: I recommend using plain bread crumbs over seasoned for these Asian glazed meatballs.
• Ground Ginger: Fresh grated ginger can be substituted for ground ginger in this Asian meatballs recipe.
• Eggs: Eggs bind together the Asian style meatballs and are essential in making homemade meatballs.
• Minced Garlic: If you don’t have minced garlic on hand, you can substitute it with garlic powder.
• Hoisin Sauce: Hoisin sauce can be found down the Asian isle in your local grocery store. It adds that delicious sweet and sour flavor to the meatballs.
• Rice Vinegar: I recommend rice vinegar, but it can be substituted with apple cider vinegar in this Asian meatballs recipe.
• Honey: Honey adds a nice sweet flavor to the homemade Asian glaze and also gives it that sticky texture.
• Soy Sauce: I recommend lite soy sauce in this Asian meatballs recipe to cut down on the salt content in this dish.
• Sriracha Sauce: Add more or less to taste or it can be omitted all together.
• Rice For Serving: vWhite rice, brown rice, or noodles are all great options for serving with these Asian turkey meatballs.
• If you’re anything like me and love Asian flavors, you will probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry already.

How to make Asian Glazed Meatballs

• Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil.
• Step 2: In a medium size mixing bowl combine ground turkey, 2 tsp. sesame oil, bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1 tsp. garlic and eggs that are lightly beaten. Mix ingredients with your hands until they are all incorporated well.
• Step 3: Scoop our 1-1/2 inch meat mixture and form into individual balls.
• Step 4: Place meatballs on a prepared baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the inside is no longer pink.
• Step 5: While meatballs are in the oven, prepare Asian glaze by adding hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, honey, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp ground ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha sauce to a large skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until sauce becomes slightly thick.
• Step 6: Remove meatballs from the oven and place them directly into the Asian glaze and toss to coat meatballs well.
• Step 7: Serve immediately over rice or noodles and garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onions if desired.

Popular Substitutions & Additions

Meat: I prefer to use ground turkey in this Asian meatballs recipe because of the lower fat content in the meat. If you’re worried your meatballs might be a bit dry with turkey, you can always use ground pork, chicken, or beef, but keep in mind those meats do have a higher fat content.

Breadcrumbs: I recommend using panko bread crumbs because of the crisp texture that it adds to the Asian style meatballs.

White Vinegar vs. Rice Vinegar: Rice vinegar has a sweeter flavor whereas white vinegar is harsh and sour. Rice vinegar has a touch of sweetness and acidity which accompanies Asian flavors well. I don’t recommend substituting white vinegar in this Asian Meatballs recipe.

What to Serve with Sticky Glazed Asian Meatballs

I like to serve these Asian style meatballs over a bed of rice or noodles. If you want to add an extra side, serve your Asian meatballs with this Egg Roll in a Bowl. It pairs perfectly with the Asian flavors in the meatballs and is a good way to get in some veggies.

Asian Meatballs Recipe FAQ’s

What will keep my meatballs from falling apart?

The eggs and the bread crumbs in your Asian turkey meatballs will help them keep their shape while they are baking.

Can I garnish these Asian style meatballs with sesame seeds?

Yes, you can definitely top your meatballs with a garnish of sesame seeds. This also adds a nice extra crunch.

Will these Asian meatballs taste the same with a meat other than turkey?

They won’t taste exactly the same because every meat tastes a little different, but they will still be tasty with beef, pork, or chicken.

Other Asian Inspired Recipes You’ll Enjoy

• Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken
• Pineapple Chicken
• Baked Sweet And Sour Chicken
• Bang Bang Chicken
• Sesame Chicken
• Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl

Have you tried this recipe?

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26 Comments

1. Susan Parrish

   April 29, 2021 at 6:43 pm ·Reply

   
   Made this tonight, and it was fantastic. I followed the recipe to the letter, and made rice for my husband and riced cauliflower for me. Four meatballs were plenty for me, but I’m glad we had leftovers to freeze!

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   • April King

     April 30, 2021 at 10:24 am ·Reply

     I’m so glad you both liked them. I love that you served yours with riced cauliflower, sounds delicious.

2. Maria Balafoutis

   May 18, 2021 at 11:49 am ·Reply

   
   Very tasty meatballs. Easy recipe. My only criticism would be there wasn’t enough sauce so next time I will double it.

   • April King

     May 18, 2021 at 3:19 pm ·Reply

     Thank you for your feedback, I would love to hear how you like it with extra sauce.

3. Eileen gutkind

   July 9, 2021 at 6:23 am ·Reply

   
   This is a keeper in my recipe book. Very easy to make and the family loved it.

   • April King

     July 9, 2021 at 10:29 am ·Reply

     I’m so glad you all loved it! thank you for sharing.

4. Todd

   September 4, 2021 at 8:13 pm ·Reply

   These are amazing! Served them with jasmine rice. They are so delicious that is made it hard to believe how good they are for you. I served them after the 50 minute cardio workout. Perfect dinner!

   • April King

     September 5, 2021 at 9:25 pm ·Reply

     So glad you enjoyed them. Perfect dinner after a hard cardio session.

5. Joanne

   December 23, 2021 at 10:52 pm ·Reply

   
   Very Good! Made them for a party so I used 1lb beef and 1lb pork.

   • April King

     December 26, 2021 at 6:43 pm ·Reply

     I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them.

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6. MMJmommy

   February 22, 2022 at 8:12 am ·Reply

   
   A M A Z I N G!!!! This dish was truly delicious and super easy to make. I wanted this as a main course, so I julienned some onion, red pepper, carrots and broccoli and cooked them in a little sesame oil and served it all with jasmine rice. It was a great hit and that’s saying something with the picky eaters I have in my family!!

   • April King

     February 22, 2022 at 12:17 pm ·Reply

     I’m so glad you love the meatballs. Thank you for sharing your additions.

7. Mary D

   March 4, 2022 at 8:12 am ·Reply

   I want to make this for a party and carry it. Would this recipe hold up if I cooked in a slow cooker?

8. Mary D

   March 4, 2022 at 8:14 am ·Reply

   Can’t wait to try this recipe. I want to make these and carry them to a party. Will this recipe work in a slow cooker, cooking in the sauce?

   • April King

     March 4, 2022 at 9:23 am ·Reply

     Yes, but I would recommend baking the meatballs first, and then adding them to the crockpot with the sauce.

9. Lynn G

   March 4, 2022 at 9:48 pm ·Reply

   
   The sauce for this recipe is KILLER! Make extra or thin with some fresh OJ like I did. I also grated some orange peel into it. With that said, my meatballs (HALVED RECIPE) were kind of tough. I like the idea of the veggies mentioned in an above post. Next time….and there will be a next time, I will stir fry various veggies and remove. I will saute lean ground turkey with seasonings, pour in the pre-made sauce and finally put the vegetables back in. We served with jasmine rice and gyoza tonight.

   • April King

     March 5, 2022 at 7:41 pm ·Reply

     I love the addition of orange juice and orange peel. Thank you for sharing.

10. Mary B

    April 28, 2022 at 4:16 pm ·Reply

    Excellent!!! I Will definitely make again.

    • April King

      April 28, 2022 at 4:17 pm ·Reply

      Mary, I’m so glad you loved the recipe.

11. Whitney Hester

    November 17, 2022 at 6:14 pm ·Reply

    
    So easy, so yummy. The sauce was everything!!! Will be a staple in our home

    • April King

      November 19, 2022 at 1:16 pm ·Reply

      I’m so glad you all loved it.

12. Nicole

    January 28, 2023 at 5:28 pm ·Reply

    
    This was absolutely delicious! My family loved this recipe! I didn’t change a thing.

    • April King

      January 30, 2023 at 10:59 am ·Reply

      So glad everyone loved it.

13. Caitlin

    August 1, 2023 at 10:31 am ·Reply

    
    Meatballs were a hit with my family! Instead of baking them in the oven, I used the airfryer for time (380 degrees, 13 mins) which still left the meatballs yummy and juicy. Our favorite part of this dish – the sauce! It’s everything!

14. Domineq Smith

    August 24, 2023 at 7:37 pm ·Reply

    
    My kids demolished this meal. Love how easy it was to make and they loved the addition a some lemon scented broccolini on the side. Definitely a keeper!!

15. Stacy

    December 14, 2023 at 6:48 pm ·Reply

    
    Yummy! Served it with rice and steamed Asian vegetables. The sauce is so flavorful.