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These Thai Coconut Curry Turkey Meatballs are such a fabulous dinner that is decadent, yet healthy. Curry spiced ground turkey meatballs smothered in a delicious creamy red curry coconut sauce that is sure to be your new favorite meal! Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, and Paleo too!
Meatballs: a family favorite!
I’m back with MORE meatballs! We really can’t get enough. I have a knack for finding our favorite flavors, and making a meatball out of it! Whether it be my Pizza Meatballs, Chicken Satay Meatballs, Enchilada Meatballs, or Moroccan Meatballs.
BUT……These meatballs you guys. I’ve been thinking about them non-stop. The creamy coconut red curry sauce is sooooo dang good, I was licking my bowl clean. I also loved the fresh ginger and bell pepper to really add a more depth of flavor. Another reason I can’t stop thinking about them is that EVERY PERSON in my family keeps asking me if we’re having these for dinner again.
Mr. Wholesomelicious has now claimed these as his new favorite dinner. And just to give you some perspective, he’s had the same favorite dinner for over 5 years. For him to de-throne that meal, and place this one at the very top, really says something about how tasty these are.
How to make Thai Coconut Curry Turkey Meatballs:
- To start, you will mix together a quick blend a few spices, some almond meal, and fresh basil to your ground turkey and sausage.
- Roll them into small balls, and place them in the oven. This will make A LOT; I think it made about 45 meatballs for us. Which was a good thing because we absolutely needed those leftovers.
- Place them on a large baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes.
- While the meatballs are baking, whip up the sauce in a large skillet. This is a nice blend of ginger, bell pepper, onion, Thai curry paste, and coconut milk. You’ll saute the veggies first, then add in the paste and coconut milk.
- Once the meatballs are done baking, add to the sauce:
Recipe Notes and Tips!
- Just a few notes about the meat. I use a blend of ground turkey and ground turkey sausage. The sausage can be difficult to find, and even more difficult to find without sugar or other additives. So keep that in mind when shopping, or use plain grass-fed ground beef and pork.
- I had planned on making these all in one skillet, but decided it would be easier to bake in the oven with the amount of meat that I had.
- I topped the sauce and finished dish with fresh cilantro and lime. So much yummy, comforting, and tangy flavor in these meatballs! I know you will absolutely love, and if you’re obsessed with this recipe like we are, you will also love my Thai Curry Chicken Zoodle Soup!
Serving and Storing:
I normally serve this over spaghetti squash, but you can also serve over rice or cauliflower rice. (Short on time? Try my quick & easy 10-minute rice hack!) My Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice would be perfect! My kids wanted this over regular pasta, which they absolutely loved.
The sauce will taste even better the next day! You can store in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the meatballs and reheat on the stovetop when ready to serve.
Grain-Free Thai Coconut Curry Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 lb ground turkey sausage*
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp ground basil
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 14 oz can + 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil or cilantro
- 1 tsp salt + more to taste
- 2 limes , Juiced
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 375.
- MIx together the ground turkey and sausage in a medium sized bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together curry powder, basil, ginger, garlic powder, and almond flour. Add to the turkey mixture and incorporate well. Finally, add the egg. Form the meatballs into 1 -1.5 inch diameter balls, and place on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
- While meatballs are cooking, make the sauce. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat, add coconut oil. Add the chopped veggies: onion, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 5-7 minutes until onion is translucent. Add curry paste, than all of the coconut milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes until the curry paste is completely mixed into the sauce. Add salt, and more to taste if needed.
- Add meatballs to the sauce, and cook for another 5 minutes. Finish off with lime juice, then top with fresh basil or cilantro.
- Serve hot over Spaghetti squash, noodles, zoodles, rice, or cauliflower rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m making this tonight and debating cutting the recipe in half… do you have a feel for how many meatballs the recipe made? Or would you say your picture represents a real single serving (implying that the total amount is 6-8x what you’re showing)?
This generally makes a lot of meatballs, like around 40. You could cut it in half, but it’s good to have the leftovers! They are so yummy and will last a week.
Seriously SO good! And easy to make! Win-win. Even my picky (because he’s an AMAZING chef himself) boyfriend approved of this meal! I’m currently doing the Whole30 (he’s not), and served this over cauliflower rice. He would have preferred regular rice over the cauliflower,but he survived. 😉 Can’t wait for the leftovers for lunch this week. And I can’t wait to make this for guests! First recipe I’ve made from your site…and I’m hooked. 😉
So glad you loved it Miranda! Seriously one of my all time favorite dinners too 🙂
I just realized that I don’t have enough coconut milk for the sauce (I only bought 1 can). Is there anything I can use to substitute?
Just use the one can! It won’t be as creamy, but plenty saucy 🙂
Thanks! My husband and I absolutely loved this!
Awesome! Glad it worked out and you loved it!
Any substitutes for the red curry paste that would be whole 30 approved? I have red curry powder and am wondering if there’s a way to use this with additional whole 30 ingredients to substitute?
Hi Kasi, the Thai Kitchen brand of red curry paste is Whole30 approved. If you can’t find that one, go ahead and substitute with red curry powder and a little apple cider vinegar. You may need an extra tbsp of curry powder. Hope that helps!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was so good!!! I just wanted to drink the sauce, but I was reasonable and poured it over cauliflower rice.
So glad you enjoyed Heather!!
My husband went crazy over this and asked that I make it every week. I omitted the almond flour (nut allergy) and served over cauliflower rice. Delicious. The sauce would also go well with chicken thighs. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
You are welcome!! So glad you loved it!!
I made this last night and it was amazing! The flavors were wonderful and the recipe was very filling! My boyfriend enjoyed this as well. I made this with ground chicken and ground turkey. I am definitely keeping this as a staple.
So glad you loved it Ashleigh!
This meal absolutely rocked! Thank you! I made it nut and egg free to suit my daughter’s allergies by subbing 4 Tbsp coconut flour for the almond flour and egg and it worked beautifully!!
For a pic of the yumminess check out @heather_d_mortimer on Instagram!
So glad you loved it!!
I’m with Marla above. What are the nutritional facts?
Hi Gina, Nutrition facts are as follows: 450 calories per serving, 34 g fat, 28 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates. You can look up the rest at Yummly, by clicking on the orange Y button above!
Can’t find the orange Y anywhere on my screen. Has this been updated or may appear differently on my iPad? I’ve made this recipe multiple times and it’s becoming something I come back to! Would love the nutrition facts!
Hi Chelsie, your eyes are not deceiving you, the orange Y is gone from my site. Anyhow, I do have the calories and macros for this recipe only. You could plug in the ingredients to my fitness pal if you want more details, but here they are: Calories: 450 per serving, 34g fat, 28 G protein, 9g carbohydrates. Hope that helps!
Hi – planning on making this. It looks delicious! Can you tell me what a serving is? For example, one cup?
Depending on your size of meatballs, around 6-8. And with about 1/2 cup of sauce.
Can’t wait to try this! Just wondering what the nutritional facts are? Like fat, carbs, protein per serving?