Ben’s telling me the Super Bowl is going to be a blowout this year. Yay? Nay? Seeing as how I didn’t even know North Carolina had an NFL team prior to last weekend, I’m guessing I won’t be glued to the television to find out, but despite my lack of football knowledge I can totally appreciate the fact that it’s the Super Bowl’s 50th this year, so we’ve decided to plan a super spread including dips, chili, drinks, bites, and Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs to celebrate! Oh yes, take-out meets football food in these perfectly poppable party bites with just the right amount of tang and spice. If you like Kung Pao Chicken, you’re going to flip for the adorable, 1-bite meatball version!
We’ve been in a meatball making mood over the past couple of weeks. Lincoln’s been requesting them plus they’re easy to make, bake, then freeze and pull out any night of the week for a nearly instant dinner. I use a standard mixture for my everyday meatballs which includes whatever ground meat we have in the fridge, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce, and ketchup, but we wanted to up the ante for the Super Bowl and had us a trial meatball-making run this past weekend. Test batches included Jalapeno-Cheddar BBQ Meatballs (crazy good but the BBQ sauce kind of overpowered the jalapeno flavor,) Dairy-Free Swedish Meatball Stroganoff (NOPE,) and Kung Pao Meatballs. Spoiler alert – the Chinese take-out inspired bite was our favorite! Tender chicken meatballs are baked then tossed with a tongue-tingling Kung Pao Sauce, finished with a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, green onions, and sesame seeds, and then delivered to your face via toothpick skewer. How much fun is that?! I feel like I made 100 batches (ok 5) of these meatballs to get the sauce just right. For some reason the sauce from my Kung Pao Chicken Lettuce Wraps wasn’t translating when multiplied to get the right amount for a batch of meatballs, so I decided to start from scratch and finally got that perfect balance of salty, tangy, and just a touch sweet, aka…drool!
Start the Kung Pao Meatballs with 1lb ground chicken. I used 99% lean but you could use a blend of chicken breast and thighs – whatevah you like!
Add the ground chicken to a large bowl with 1 chopped green onion, 1 whisked egg, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, lots of salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs.
My gluten-free bread crumb of choice is Rice Chex blitzed in a food processor – works every time! If you don’t need to eat gluten-free I’d recommend panko bread crumbs instead.
Mix the ingredients together with your hands until just combined (the mixture will be really sticky, but that’s ok!) then form into 16 balls and place onto a foil-lined, nonstick-sprayed baking sheet. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, get the super easy Kung Pao Sauce simmering on the stove. That’s just a mixture of gluten-free tamari or soy sauce (dish won’t be GF if using soy sauce,) chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, sugar, and a pinch of red chili pepper flakes that’s thickened with gluten-free flour (I used brown rice flour) whisked into water. Simmer until the sauce has thickened slightly then take it off the heat (it will continue to thicken as it cools.)
Add the cooked meatballs into the sauce then stir to coat. Heavenly!!
Once the sauce has thickened a bit more, transfer the meatballs onto a platter, drizzle with the remaining sauce, and then sprinkle with chopped peanuts (unpictured here because I’m losing my mind,) chopped green onions, and sesame seeds. Set out a bowl of toothpicks then let your guests go to town!
You don’t need to wait for the Super Bowl to enjoy these tasty meatballs. Make a fun fusion dinner with the family, or bake for your next girls night or friends get together. Whenever you get around to making them, I hope you enjoy!
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title: “Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs” ShowToc: true date: “2024-10-31” author: “Christine Pabon”
Published 9/20/2024 If you don’t know what to make for dinner. Make these Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs ASAP. Remember FFF’s Healthy Kung Pao Chicken that we posted 1,000 years ago? Well, we based this sauce off of that very recipe. Why? Because it’s gotten rave reviews from so many FFF readers, we thought we’d re-invent it with an amazing baked chicken meatballs recipe! I do want to make a quick note that this kung pao sauce is NOT authentic. It’s very much a “Minnesota-nice, I’ve got about 5 minutes to make dinner” kind-of-sauce.
What You Need for Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
We actually tested this recipe with both ground chicken and ground turkey, and both of them work. YAY! Here’s what else you need for the ground chicken meatballs:
onion flour (any kind) rolled oats sriracha salt pepper garlic
Make them g/f: You can easily keep these flavorful kung pao meatballs gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour blend and certified gluten-free rolled oats. We love the texture rolled oats give these baked meatballs and I’m sure you will too!
You Must Try Our Kung Pao Sauce
Once you’ve got your meatballs in the oven, it’s time to make the kung pao sauce! Now, I’m sort of biased about Fit Foodie’s kung pao sauce, but it’s pretty damn good! I love it mostly because it’s made with honey and not another refined sugar. It’s also super basic with just 5 total ingredients.
soy sauce (or tamari) sriracha red chili sauce honey
Is this kung pao sauce super spicy?
I would say it’s medium or…Minnesota spicy? You can totally control the spice by adding more soy sauce and/or honey!
How to Serve Your Meatballs
Appetizer: these meatballs are perfect for a high-protein app. Just pop a toothpick in each one! Make it a meal: serve your meatballs over white rice and your favorite veggie such as air fryer broccoli.
More Meatball Recipes
Green Curry Sweet Potato Chicken Meatballs Red Coconut Curry Meatballs Healthy Rosemary Thyme Balsamic Meatballs Sweet and Sour Meatballs Skewers
More Stir Fry Recipes
Kung Pao Shrimp Our Best Healthy Stir Fry Recipes Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
