Thai Red Curry with Baked Chicken Meatballs

This Thai red curry with baked chicken meatballs is the perfect 30 minute meal. Zesty and juicy meatballs are tossed in a rich and flavourful curry sauce served over steamed rice. This dairy free dinner recipe is a simple and delicious twist on a classic weeknight dinner.

One of my go to pantry staple, weeknight recipes has to be a Thai-style curry. I always have a couple of jars of premade curry pastes on hand as they are the answer to quick and easy meals that are not short on flavour.

This recipe is one that I love when I still want something quick and easy, but also want something a little different. Baked chicken meatballs are so simple to make and require little effort as the oven is doing the work for you. The result is also meatballs that are perfectly cooked and tender every time. You wont want to cook meatballs any other way!

For more about these delicious Thai-style baked chicken meatballs, I have a whole post dedicated to these so you can make a batch for meal prep or just high protein snacking!

While the meatballs are baking you can bring together your super simple curry using a Thai red curry paste and cook some rice. It really is that easy to make a delicious dinner that everyone will love!

Key Ingredients

If you make Asian inspired recipes at home often, its likely most of these ingredients will already be in your pantry.

Note: All ingredients and their quantities are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Chicken mince – I like to use store bought chicken mince to make this recipe quick and easy but you can also chop up chicken breast and/or thigh in a food processor.
• Garlic and ginger – to add a bold flavour to both the meatballs and the curry sauce. You can use fresh or you can use jarred (just make sure it doesn’t contain any unwanted additives!).
• Soy sauce – adding umami and saltiness.
• Fish sauce – I know it can be polarising but it adds so much extra flavour, especially to the curry sauce. I highly recommend trying it!
• Chilli flakes – adding a little spice to the meatballs. You can skip if you don’t love chilli, however this amount is still fairly mild.
• Sesame oil – for flavour and to add moisture to the meatballs as chicken is quite lean.
• Breadcrumbs – helps to bind the meatballs and keep them moist.
• Thai red curry paste – use a good quality brand for the best flavour. I like the Ayam brand which you can get at Coles or Woolworths.
• Coconut milk – use a full fat coconut milk to ensure a thick, rich curry sauce.
• Lime – cuts through the spiciness of the curry and adds freshness.

Step-By-Step Instructions

To make this easy dinner, we first need to get the meatballs in the oven. For this, you’ll just need a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. I also like to use a cookie scoop to help form the meatballs but you can easily just use a spoon.

Add the chicken mince along with all of your flavourings to a large mixing bowl and use the wooden spoon to mix everything up well.

Chicken mince can be very sticky which makes handling it a bit messy. To make it easier, rub a little oil onto your hands before rolling the meatballs. This prevents the mixture from sticking to your hands making your meatballs cleaner, plus the extra little bit of oil on the outside helps the meatballs to get nice and golden in the oven.

Roll all of you meatballs and place on a lined baking tray and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning once as they cook.

While the meatballs are in the oven, make sure you have your rice cooking and then get started on the curry sauce.

Start by cooking together the garlic and ginger with the curry paste until fragrant. Add in the coconut milk and mix well to combine.

Stir through the soy sauce and fish sauce and let the curry simmer gently for about 10 minutes to thicken.

Once the meatballs are done, add them straight into the curry sauce and toss to combine. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes until the sauce has coated the meatballs.

Serve over rice with a lot of fresh lime. You could also use cauliflower rice instead for a low carb option.

More 30 minute meals:

One Pot Spicy Sausage Pasta
Egg Fried Rice with Prawns
Crispy Black Bean Tacos
Chickpea and Lentil Curry

This post was originally published on the 29th December 2019. It has been republished to include better instructions, more helpful information and new photos.