What is it with kids and meatballs? If I were the betting kind, I could place money on it that if I asked my kids what they wanted for dinner they would reply with ‘pizza or meatballs’ every.single.time. And I can literally the count the times they have had meatballs on two hands, but it’s still up there.
I picked up some nice pork from the farmers market the other day, and decided to finally give in and make them up a little batch of honey and garlic pork meatballs. Half for them this weekend as mama is not going to be home (woohoo – more on that below), and half for the freezer for when the next inevitable request comes along. For tips on freezing, make sure you check out the notes below.
These Honey Ginger and Garlic Pork Meatballs are baked, not fried, and the sauce they are baked in makes a great sauce for pouring over some noodles and veg when you are ready to serve up.
Aren’t these little chubby hands just the cutest? My 3 year old won’t nap anymore so she has become my assistant during ‘styling time’ when the youngest is napping.
Now I know you are just dying to hear about why I won’t be home this weekend 😛 I will be heading to the International Food Blogger’s Conference (IFBC), and am so so excited to be doing something just for me for a change. It is going to be jam-packed! I will be sampling local food, partaking in a farm-to-fork tour through the historic Sacramento delta, learning lots and lots about the whole farm-to-fork movement Sacramento is so well-known for, and hopefully meeting some lovely fellow bloggers while I am at it. Sounds fun, right? Make sure you are following me on Instagram so you can get a glimpse of some of the fun (and food, of course) along the way.
Oh and yes, I made these garlic and ginger pork meatballs for the hubby and kids for while I was away. I was so adamant I was going to let them fend for themselves (by fend for themselves, I mean my husband has to cook, they are only 2 and 3 after all)…but all the talk of pizza, burgers and ice-cream stuffed doughnuts (???) the hubby keeps telling me he will be subjecting the kids to this weekend, made me cave and make them at least one nutritious meal. That was probably his plan all along 😕
Are your little ones meatball crazy as well? I would love to hear from you if you try them out, so be sure to pop back and leave a comment.
- 600 g Pork mince
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tbsp ginger finely grated
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp avocado oil (or cooking oil of choice)
- salt and pepper to taste
- soba noodles, black sesame seeds and chopped green onions to serve
- 1/2 cup tamari
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup raw honey
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Preheat oven to 425F
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Pop the pork, breadcrumbs, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, sesame oil, green onion, egg, and salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix well to combine
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Place a large deep-sided roasting tray (like the kind you would bake a roast in) in the oven for 5 minutes or until very hot
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Using a tablespoon, roll the pork mixture into balls and set aside. Once the roasting tin is hot, pour in the avocado oil, and add the meatballs. Pop into the preheated oven and cook for 5 minutes
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For the sauce, place the soy tamari, mirin, sesame oil, vinegar and honey into a small bowl and mix to combine
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Remove the meatball tray from the oven. Pour the honey mixture over the meatballs and toss carefully to coat. Pop back into the oven for 15 mins
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Serve the meatballs with the noodles and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds and green onions
To freeze: prepare the pork mixture, roll into balls and place on a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray. Pop the baking tray into the freezer until the meatballs are completely frozen. Transfer to a ziplock bag, and freeze until ready to use.
This was great! Only problem was i could not tell when to add the Avocado oil, the instructions just say oil, oil and oil. There are a couple of oils being used in this recipe. coat is miss spelled in the instructions for #6.
Thanks for the feedback Lyle, I am so glad you enjoyed them! I have updated the recipe to specify exactly where the avocado oil needs to be used just in case anyone else has this problem as well. Cheers
These were amazing. I had to make a few adjustments (soy sauce instead of tamari, and rice wine vinegar and abpinch of sugar instead of mirin, brown rice noodles instead of soba) because my store selection was limited, but the flavors were still so great. I’m just regretting I didn’t make more. Looking forward to trying the recipe as it is written, but even with a couple necessary tweaks, it still came out delicious! The kids loved it too.
Oh I am SO glad Liz, especially that the kids loved them – that’s always a huge bonus right!! Thanks so much for taking the time to pop back and let me know 🙂
After the time you stated my meatballs were still abit pink inside. Is the Sauce supposed to be thick because mine was still runny, what did I do wrong?
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that Hayley. I have never had either of those problems with this dish, and we make it all the time! Maybe your meatballs were a little bit big? The sauce isn’t super thick, it should be of a pourable consistency, but sticky enough to stick to the meatballs. I hope this helps!
These sound delicious… and very Vietnamese inspired- yum. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hope you love them as much as we do 🙂
These meatballs looks so awesome!! Definitely saving this recipe!
Oh thanks Jenni, they are always popular around here!
I am a huge meatball fan! This recipe is next on my list.
I am a huge meatball fan! This recipe is next on my list. Do you think it will taste good without the honey?
The honey makes the sauce nice and thick and sticky, but you could try it with some maple syrup instead, I think that would still taste good 🙂 Let me know how you go!
So many things I love about this recipe – easy instructions, quick prep time and the meatballs look fabulous! Thanks!
Thanks Judy 🙂
You had me at Garlic and Meatballs! These look absolutely amazing! Yummy!
Garlic is everything 🙂 Thanks!!
Used this recipe for recent cocktail party that I hosted. The crowd went wild! Than you. Excellent with Chardonnay, too.
Oh I am so glad to hear this!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 And I will be sure to try with some Chardonnay next time!
I used this recipe for a recent cocktail party. The crowd went wild! Simple & delicious. Thanks!!!
love the flavors in this = definitely one I have to try
Hope you love it if you do!
Love all the extra Asian flavours you had added to these. Bet they taste amazing.
Oh they do 🙂
Big kids love meatballs too – well this big kid does anyway ! Hey, I’m sure your husband’s not going to panic whilst you’re away but autocorrect has changed panko to panic in your recipe 🙂 I was writing up a ragu recipe a couple of weeks back and it kept changing it to argue!!!
Haha thanks for letting me know Nancy 🙂 He did not panic, but he did go to bed at 8.30 every night 🙂