Today, I am sharing a delicious meatball with a twist. I have never been a fan of ground beef, so… I always make meatballs with turkey, pork or chicken…and sometimes a mix of all three. Since turkey and chicken tends to be fairly bland, I like to add various ingredients to create a tasty meatball. How about an Asian inspired chicken quinoa meatball? I like this recipe so much that these meatballs were my lunch AND dinner yesterday! 🙂
If you are looking for more low FODMAP meatball inspirations, you might like my buffalo chicken meatball recipe, found here or my baked chicken parmesan meatballs, found here.
Today’s meatball is infused with Asian flavors with hints of ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. Instead of breadcrumbs, cooked quinoa adds a welcomed texture and a fiber, magnesium and protein boost.
Quinoa takes very little time to cook–but if you want to skimp on prep time then purchase a plain pre-cooked quinoa. (Trader Joe’s carries this in the freezer section.)
These meatballs are a perfect party appetizer or can be enjoyed as a main dish served along side a kale salad, sautéed green beans or a veggie stir fry. I hope you enjoy!
Chicken Quinoa Meatballs with Soy Sesame Drizzle
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken breast
- 2 cups cooked quinoa (drained of any extra liquid)
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (use gluten free if following GF diet; I use reduced sodium San J Tamari)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger (or 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger root)
- 1 tablespoons hot sauce (without onion or garlic, I used Texas Pete hot sauce)
- Soy Sesame Drizzle
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten free if following GF diet)
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ginger or 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon corn starch whisked into 1/4 cup water
- Garnish:
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves, optional
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1-2 tablespoons, sliced green scallions (not white part).
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly oil large baking sheet.
- In medium bowl, mix ground chicken, quinoa, egg yolk, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and hot sauce.
- Form mixture into 50 small meatballs, placing meatballs onto cookie sheet close to one another.
- Bake meatballs for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.
- While meatballs are cooking, make Soy Sesame Drizzle:
- In small saucepan over medium-low heat, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, brown sugar, and sesame oil. When the mixture warms up, slowly add in cornstarch-water mixture. Stir occasionally while sauce thickens to gravy like consistency. Remove from heat.
- Place meatballs in medium bowl or on a platter.
- Drizzle with soy sesame sauce.
- Sprinkle top of meatballs with sesame seeds, cilantro leaves and sliced green scallions, as desired.
Denise Weber
This recipe sounds delicious . Would it be the same with out the sesame seeds omitted?
katescarlata
Absolutely! Easy –just don’t sprinkle them at the end.
Lisa G
In the days before my motility problems I made Asian meatballs. Just yesterday I was considering pulling out that recipe to try and revamp it into a low FODMAPS version. But you have saved me the trouble. I look forward to trying this soon. My recipe had me sautéing the meatballs; which is a stickyish time consuming mess with poultry. I’m delighted you have directions for baking the meatballs!
s
Hi Kate,
I’m a little confused about whole soybeans. On your blog and lists it looks like whole soybeans should definitely be avoided, but on the Monash ap and in some of their recipes, edamame has a green light. Can you clarify?
Thanks so much 🙂
katescarlata
Edamame–is an immature soybean–and appears to have less FODMAPs than mature soybean. So, okay for edamame–but do stick w/ limits!!