Thai Style Meatballs & Peanut Dipping Sauce

I was in the mood for meatballs, but I also recently had Italian food. I wanted something different, so I looked up a few recipes for Thai meatballs (I had them in a restaurant once and loved them). A lot of the recipes I found had Thai fish paste in it...sounds yucky.  I don't like fish, and I don't like paste. I'm suuuure it's a delicious addition to many dishes, but it wasn't something I had on hand. So I decided to take a little from all of the recipes I found and make up my own...

Cooking experiment! 

And a successful experiment it was!  Here's the recipe I came up with, and immediately added to my recipe book for my kitchen because it was so tasty.   They have a bit of a kick to them, you can leave out the red pepper flakes if that's not your thing. But honestly, they're delicious the way they are!

Not the best picture... pardon the paper plate!

Ingredients Needed
Meatballs - Thai Style

~1 pound of ground beef (I had a little over a pound, maybe 1 1/4 pounds)

3 tablespoons coconut milk

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon (heaping) cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper (optional, but adds a delicious kick)

1 teaspoon (heaping) basil

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 tablespoons peanut butter (I used Skippy Chunky, the chunks of peanuts added a yummy crunch)

1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs 

1/4 cup water 

Splash of soy sauce

Zest of 1/2 lime

Peanut Dipping Sauce

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup crunchy peanut butter 

1 lime, juiced. (Zest optional)

For meatballs, mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Form meatballs into walnut sized spheres. I was able to make 21 meatballs. Bake in oven @350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes, or fry in peanut oil. 

Mix together the peanut dipping sauce in a medium sized bowl. Serve with jasmine rice.

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Enjoy!