Thai Turkey Zucchini Meatballs
These easy weeknight Thai meatballs are kid friendly and delicious! With a creamy red curry and coconut milk based sauce, these tender and flavorful Turkey Zucchini Meatballs are ready in about 30 minutes!
When it comes to our family weeknight dinners, we strive for easy, healthy, and delicious! Just like our Masaman Beef Curry, this is one of those recipes that we keep in our back pocket and enjoy often – its relatively simple to make, and the entire family adores it!
Its flavorful enough that my husband and I love it, while still being a kid-friendly dinner! We always serve this with a side of rice (try it with Instant pot coconut rice!) and a simple veggie. And don’t forget mango rice for dessert!
How to Make Meatballs without Breadcrumbs
Traditionally in meatball recipes breadcrumbs are used as a binding agent to help hold everything together. This recipe for thai meatballs doesn’t use a binding agent, and yields soft and tender meatballs that kids love.
Here are a few tips for making the best zucchini and turkey meatballs without breadcrumbs:
- Zucchini is a really “wet” vegetable. After shredding, make sure that you squeeze out as much of the excess moisture as you can. I like to place my shredded zucchini in a double layer of paper towels and squeeze as much of the liquid out as you can. This helps the meatballs stay together better.
- Do not over mix your meatballs – mix until just combined to not get
- This recipe for thai turkey zucchini meatballs calls for an exact amount of coconut milk – and you will have some left over! It seems like a tiny amount to waste, but under no circumstances are you to add this leftover coconut milk to the meatballs or the sauce! It is measured perfectly, and this extra amount makes the thai red curry sauce too thin to adequately cover the meatballs. I mean, it won’t ruin your dinner, but its much better if you follow the recipe. Instead, I suggest adding this extra coconut milk to your rice as it cooks. You don’t need to adjust the liquids (cook rice at a ratio of 1 part rice, 2 parts water), just throw it in!)
Its a great recipe for a weeknight because it only takes about 30 minutes to make start-finish, and its soo tasty! We love thai flavors, and anything with sauce to pour over rice or soak up with bread is a big hit in our family (we can’t live without our carbs).
Its quick, its delicious. Even both kiddos really loved this and we will definitely be making it again! (Yes, the 4 year old and the 11 month old both ate it and liked it!)
How Your Kids Can Help in the Kitchen:
- Kids aged 1-3 can help you measure everything, plus stir together the sauce ingredients.
- Kids aged 4-6 can help do everything above, plus help you open the cans of coconut milk and tomato paste and shred the zucchini.
- Kids aged 7-10+ can help do everything above, plus help you mix and shape the meatballs.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
These Thai Zucchini Meatballs are a great weeknight meal with lots of flavor, but healthy, too! These meatballs are kid friendly!
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Thai Turkey Zucchini Meatballs
These Thai Zucchini Meatballs are a great weeknight meal with lots of flavor, but healthy, too! These meatballs are kid friendly!
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Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 374kcal
Ingredients
meatballs:
- 1 lb ground turkey
- ½ cup shredded zucchini
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ⅛ cup green onions finely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- ½ teaspoon red curry paste
- 1 Tablespoon coconut milk
sauce:
- 1 + 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 3 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat a large 12" skillet on medium-high heat with 3 TBSP of oil.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.1 + 1/2 cup coconut milk, 3 Tablespoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon red curry paste, 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- In another medium bowl combine the ingredients for the meatballs, mixing thoroughly (the best way is to get dirty and use your hands).1 lb ground turkey, 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce, 1/8 cup green onions, 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, 1/2 teaspoon red curry paste, 1 Tablespoon coconut milk
- Form the meat mixture into about 1 1/2" balls.
- Add the meatballs to the hot skillet in a single layer and cook until brown, about 2-3 minutes, turning occasionally (you don't have to cook them all the way through).
- Pour the sauce over the meatballs, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered.
- Serve with rice or noodles and garnish with fresh cilantro. Spoon up all that extra sauce over your rice!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe for thai turkey zucchini meatballs calls for an exact amount of coconut milk – and you will have some left over! It seems like a tiny amount to waste, but under no circumstances are you to add this leftover coconut milk to the meatballs or the sauce! It is measured perfectly, and this extra amount makes the thai red curry sauce too thin to adequately cover the meatballs. I mean, it won’t ruin your dinner, but its much better if you follow the recipe. Instead, I suggest adding this extra coconut milk to your rice as it cooks. You don’t need to adjust the liquids (cook rice at a ratio of 1 part rice, 2 parts water), just throw it in!)
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 120mg | Sodium: 330mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g
I hate critiquing recipes but the sauce just did not work for me. Too much tomato taste and it was a bit spicy for my kiddos even without the red pepper flakes.
Thanks for trying the recipe and for sharing your thoughts! I totally understand that every family has different taste preferences, especially when it comes to spice levels. This sauce is on the mild side for most, but I know even a little bit of curry paste can feel bold if you’re used to very subtle flavors. If you’d like to adjust it in the future, you could try reducing the tomato paste slightly and using just a teaspoon of curry paste for an even milder flavor. I appreciate your feedback and hope you find other recipes on my site that are a great fit for your family!
Is there no salt at all in this recipe?
You get all the salt you need from the fish sauce! However, if you feel you need more salt, feel free to sprinkle some salt over the dish when you sit down to the table.
@Jenni, I did a little bit of salt but followed otherwise the recipe really closely and my kids loved it! Will definitely keep doing this!
My family absolutely loved this recipe! I was a little nervous about using all of the ingredients that were a bit new to us, but the meatballs turned out perfectly and we ate every last one they were so good!
These look AMAZING – and I love that they only take about 30 minutes!! I can’t wait to try them out!
My mom is allergic to fish. How can I replace the fish sauce?
Hi Naomi! Fish sauce is a tricky one to replace! There are recipes out there for making your own vegan version, but they require seaweed and a bunch of hard to find ingredients. If interested, you can find it here: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6610-making-a-vegetarian-substitute-for-fish-sauce. You could simply substitute with soy sauce, but it won’t give you the full depth of flavor that fish sauce brings. I would suggest using a vegan Worcestershire sauce – you can find them at Whole Foods or other health market stores. Golden Mountain Seasoning sauce would also be a good replacement, but probably harder to find.
Made these for dinner last night, and they were amazing! I love that there’s hidden veggies in them too!
How is it that I’m reading this at 8:30 in the morning and I want it for breakfast? Wonderful flavors and it sounds like a really healthy meal. I need to mix this recipe into our week.
Yum, these sound tasty!