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!
free email bonus
Dinner Made EASY
5 days of simple yet flavorful recipes that take the stress out of dinnertime!
Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
Description
Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs are the perfect bite-sized, gluten-free game day or party appetizer!
Ingredients
- For the Meatballs:
- 1lb ground chicken
- 2 green onions, chopped and divided
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
- Toppings: 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, sesame seeds
- For the Kung Pao Sauce:
- 6 Tablespoons reduced-sodium gluten-free tamari or soy sauce (dish will not be GF if using soy sauce)
- 2 Tablespoons chicken broth
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch red chili pepper flakes
- 1-1/2 teaspoons gluten-free flour + 2 Tablespoons water, whisked together
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees then line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Add all meatball ingredients except half the green onions (save those for garnish) and toppings into a large bowl then mix with hands until just combined (mixture will be very sticky.) Roll into 16 balls then place onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through.
- Meanwhile, combine all Kung Pao Sauce ingredients except gluten-free flour + water in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat then bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium then drizzle in flour/water mixture and whisk to combine. Continue simmering, whisking occasionally, until sauce has slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes. Add cooked meatballs then stir to coat and turn off the heat - sauce will  continue to thicken as it cools.
- Transfer meatballs to a platter then top with reserved chopped green onions, chopped peanuts, and sesame seeds.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
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!
I made the sauce only, but will try the meatballs next time as we don’t really like the gluten free chicken meatballs we found at Costco. It was soooo good. Since our 5 and 12 yo’s were eating I substituted Thai Sweet Chili in for the chili garlic sauce and left out the red pepper flakes. Even our two picky eaters ate it all up!
[…] Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs […]
[…] https://iowagirleats.com/2016/01/27/kung-pao-chicken-meatballs/ […]
[…] Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats […]
Awesome!
Have you tried to keep these in a crock pot during a party to keep warm like some other party meatballs?
Would this be good with ground turkey?
Also what is tamari?
I do have a GF family coming to my house so these look great and I would like to make them something special.
Hi Lisa! I think this would be good with ground turkey! Tamari is gluten-free soy sauce – I really love the San-J brand of gluten-free Tamari!
Hello Iowa Girl! I am going to try this recipe real soon! Looks delicious. My question : if you want to freeze part of your batch, do you freeze the meatballs still raw or already baked? And how do you thaw/cook them after their stay in the freezer? Thank you!
Hi Anne! I would freeze them unbaked then thaw in the refrigerator 24 hours before baking as normal. I hope you love them!
[…] Iowa Girl Eats / Via iowagirleats.com […]
[…] are some more meatball recipes you might like: Kung Pao Meatballs by Iowa Girl Eats Juicy Lucy Meatballs by Cook Crave Inspire Chicken Parmesan Meatballs by Barefeet […]
We made these Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs tonight and loved them. I’m considering making these for a grad party and would like to make them in advance. You mentioned that you have froze them after baking. Do the meatballs remain as tender after thawing and reheating? Assuming you tossed in the sauce right before serving. Is this correct?
Hi Laurie, I’m so glad you loved the meatballs! You are correct on both questions – they remain just as good and toss with the sauce after thawing/before serving. I hope they work out for the party!
These are amazing. I made them exactly as written (twice) and they came out perfect!
These are delicious and unbelievably tender! The skeptic in me half-expected spongy or rubbery meatballs just because it was ground chicken. Happy to be totally wrong! (grin) The sauce is fantastic, too. Just the right amount of spice and plenty to cover the meatballs. I used sriracha chili sauce because it was what I had on hand. Great recipe — will be making again! Thank you!
You caught my eye with the Chung Pao Meatballs a few weeks ago.
This is my first recipe from you. The crowd loved them yesterday at a Super Bowl party. Many asked for the recipe. It was a great change from all the typical guac and chip items.
Looking forward to trying the chocolate peanut butter cake next.
Thanks!
So glad to hear, Janet! Thanks for the great feedback!
These were awesome. Great flavor and just spicy enough. I made the meatballs smaller by using my small cookie scoop and made 32 meatballs. I will be making these again! Thanks for a great recipe.