Tender & juicy Thai Coconut Cocktail Meatballs are simmered in the most tantalizing creamy, tangy coconut chili sauce that everyone will go crazy for! Perfect make ahead appetizer for stress-free entertaining!
I love Thai food for its multidimensional layers of flavors. I also love meatballs because, well, meatballs. So I’ve combined my two loves to create this dynamic combo that’s can’t-stop-eating-delicious. These thai coconut cocktail meatballs are unbelievably moist and seeping with flavor from not only toasted coconut but splashes of Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, soy sauce, ginger, salt, and pepper. The meatball ingredient list is somewhat lengthy, but the ingredients just take seconds to throw together in a bowl. I like to sear my meatballs first in the oven (so they don’t fall apart) and then finish them in the slow cooker. Cooking meatballs in the slow cooker is my absolute favorite method because instead of just pouring sauce on the meatballs and coating the outside, the meatballs actually soak up the low and slow flavorful saucy bath for taste bud exploding pleasure every time.
THAI COCONUT COCKTAIL MEATBALLS
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The sauce bath is the exquisite combination of creamy coconut milk, Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, honey, red wine vinegar, lime juice, ketchup and soy sauce. If you have never cooked with Asian Sweet Chili Sauce, you are going to fall in love. Its one of my cooking obsessions. To me, the dynamic sauce is the perfect balance of tangy sweet heat derived from red Thai chilies, sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger – a dynamic flavor combo all in one bottle! When we add our creamy coconut and other splashes of flavor, we have a delectable combination that’s so good it will make your mouth cry. (AKA drool like there’s no tomorrow).
Another winning aspect of these Thai Coconut Cocktail Meatballs is you can completely customize the heat by adding more sriracha to taste at the end of cooking so they can be more sweet or more chili. Either way, these irresistible Meatballs will have you licking your lips, and strongly tempted to lick the slow cooker itself. I won’t judge.
Want more meatballs recipes?
- Cheesy Chicken Meatballs
- Peach Riesling Glazed Meatballs
- Teriyaki Meatballs
- Spicy Chicken Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs
- More appetizer recipes…
Tools used to make this Thai Coconut Cocktail Meatballs recipe
Baking Sheet: A nice big baking sheet is a must have for any kitchen. This half pan sheet is large than a regular cookie and works great for anything you’re baking.
Mixing Bowl: These mixing bowls are perfect for mixing and serving. I love the varied sizes so I always have to right size bowl for all my mixing needs.
Cookie Scoop: Cookie scoops are my favorite way to portion dough and batter when I’m baking. This set has 3 different sizes so I get the right amount in each scoop.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes toasted*
- 22 saltine crackers crushed (approx. 1 cup)
- ⅓ cup dry minced onion
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce Mae Ploy
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoons black pepper
Asian Sweet Chili Sauce
- 1 cup quality coconut milk
- ¼ cup Asian sweet chili sauce Mae Ploy
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1-2 teaspoons Asian chili sauce sambal oelek
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add eggs and gently whisk. Add all remaining Meatball Ingredients and mix until well combined. Roll meat mixture into desired meatball size**. Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Meanwhile, add all of the Asian Sweet Chili Sauce Ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Layer the bottom of your slow cooker with some sauce, followed by meatballs, then sauce, repeat layers.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours, gently stirring an hour after cooking. When done, taste and stir in additional Asian Chili Sauce for spicier, honey/brown sugar for sweeter or lime juice for more tang.
Notes
**Makes approximately 60 meatballs using 1" cookie scoop or heaping 1 tablespoon.
Nutrition
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Betty Jean Parsonson says
These are incredible. What a wonderful flavor. I used pork and beef. Next time I might try ground turkey. I also think these would make very good hamburgers. Served it over pasta ………perfecto