If meatballs wore hats, these would wear many.
This is one of those recipes that you can pull out at the last minute and whip up for lunch, dinner, a snack, or as hors d’oeuvres. My favorite kind of recipe is one that has big flavor with just a few ingredients. Bonus for minimal time spent. Double bonus for versatility. This recipe gets check marks for all of the above!
Are you still picturing a meatball wearing a fedora?
In all seriousness though, these have made an appearance at many parties that I’ve catered, and they’re always a hit. They are the perfect small bite. Flavor-wise, they pack a wallop. Best of all, they can be made ahead and they reheat beautifully, which is probably my #1 tip when it comes to entertaining: Make as much ahead of time as possible!
Some serving suggestions:
As hors d’oeuvres with toothpicks and a simple sauce of 2 parts coconut aminos to 1 part toasted sesame oil and a bit of grated fresh ginger. You can add honey and/or paleo friendly sriracha to taste, if desired.
They make a great summer lunch with a light salad of thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with some ume plum vinegar (or your favorite variation), a drizzle of olive oil and fresh herbs such as cilantro, chives, and mint. (Or see my recipe for Sesame Cucumber Salad!)
Or paired with cold sesame noodles: 4 ounces of sweet potato or kelp noodles tossed with 2 T tahini, 1 T coconut aminos, 1 T sesame oil, some grated ginger, and a dash of sriracha if you like them spicy. (Or see my recipe for Sesame Zoodles!)
They also happen to taste a lot like the inside of a wonton, so are great in bone broth. And I’d be lying if I said I never ate them cold, straight out of the fridge.
Ginger Scallion Pork Meatballs
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 15-20 minutes
yield: about 30 small meatballs / 6-8 servings
1 tablespoon avocado oil or coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons coconut aminos
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 bunch green onions (about 10), minced
1 1/2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with the oil.
- In a large bowl, mix together the coconut aminos, sesame oil, fish sauce, coconut flour, green onions, and ginger. Add the pork and mix with your hands until well combined.
- Roll into golf ball-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until thoroughly cooked and golden brown.
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ariyele ressler says
YUMMY!
aseafish says
Any of these variations will be a welcome departure from the plain meat and veggies rut I’ve been in lately. I must confess, though, I’ll try them with meat other than pork. I love it, but hubby won’t touch pork. Hmm, that would mean more for me, though, wouldn’t it?
zenbellyblog says
hehe I’ll let you make that call 😉 if you do decide to share, ground dark meat from chicken or turkey make a great substitution for the pork in this recipe!
Alicia says
I made this two nights ago and it turned out OK with ground beef. My husband and I both thought ground pork would be much better. Or, as I see Simone suggested: dark ground white meat. I can say it was yummy with beef, but I’d imagine it would surely be better with ground pork.
Thanks for another awesome recipe, Simone!!
Chef Art says
you always should mix different kinds of ground meats together for optimal flavor. Beef alone doesn’t do it for me. Add ground lamb, pork, veal etc. Do three of them for the best meatloaf.
zenbellyblog says
Most of the time, yes, but your comment doesn’t seem to apply to this recipe, which is all pork, and delicious on it’s own!
Alima Frank Deneke says
Was I reading that correctly that you make sesame noodles from sweet potatoes? I’ve been eating paleo for a long time but that’s one I’ve never heard of! Can you use your spiralizer for those? Do you just boil them?
zenbellyblog says
You actually CAN make noodles out of a sweet potato with a spiralizer, and then saute or boil… but what I used was sweet potato noodles that I bought from an Asian market. I’m guessing they’re hight carb, and obviously more processed than what you’d like at home, but the texture is incredible! You can get them on Amazon: http://astore.amazon.com/zenbelmostlyp-20/detail/B005S9U0A8
Alima says
Thanks! Definitely high carb, but I’ll have to try them when I’m looking for a splurge!
Thanks so much for all your recipes- they are truly the best! I haven’t made anything of yours that wasn’t absolutely amazing and not just in a paleo way, but real world amazing too! I made your pizza crust for the third time last night and my husband declared it was as good as the pizza from our favorite authentic pizza place in town! 🙂
Ann Baker says
Made these tonight, amazing! Best paleo recipe i have ever tried! I have multiple food issues and these have so much flavor without any fodmap or eggs, etc. i did add a chia egg and lime jiuce and zest. Thank you!!!
vinzsalvador23 says
Great! Thanks for sharing. Must try
Jmillergal says
How many net carbs?
zenbelly says
I don’t know because I don’t list that information, but you could definitely run the recipe through whatever app or system you regularly use and find out!
Sam says
Super tasty and I love how the ingredients are almost all pantry items. I just need to buy pork and green onions and bam, no throwing out half a pepper or a bunch of cilantro at the end of the week.
I like either pan-frying or baking them in a cast iron pan, that way I can fry cauliflower rice in the leftover juices.