Last Updated on April 15, 2022 by Karen

These Asian-inspired cocktail meatballs are flavorful, saucy, and easy to make! Serve them as a main dish over rice or as an appetizer for your next get-together with friends.

My sister recently shared with me the healthy chicken meatballs she has been making and I was inspired to create something similar: meatballs that are full of flavors, yet healthy at the same time! I don’t usually cook with ground chicken, since it can taste a bit bland as compared to ground pork or beef, but with the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and scallions that are mixed into the meatballs in this recipe, they are bursting with delicious flavors.

These Asian-inspired hoisin cocktail meatballs make a great main dish when served over rice, and they can also be great served as appetizers. Serve them with some toothpicks or with some mini buns and cole slaw for sliders.

If you’re serving a big crowd, you can double (or triple!) the recipe, bake them in the oven, and keep them warm with the sauce in a crockpot on low. Whenever I’m serving meatballs straight from the crockpot, I’d thin out the sauce slightly with some water or sodium free chicken broth since the sauce tends to thicken up over time.

I served them with brown rice and sauteed green beans for dinner and even enjoyed the leftovers as lunch the next day! This is definitely a quick, no-fuss recipe that you’ll want to come back to again and again.

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Lightened-Up Asian Hoisin Meatballs

These Asian-inspired meatballs are flavorful, saucy, and easy to make! Serve them as a main dish over rice or as an appetizer for your next get-together with friends.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1¼ lbs ground chicken
½ cup panko
1 large egg
½ tsp fresh ginger grated
2 cloves garlic minced
¼ cup scallions thinly sliced
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

For the sauce:

¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsps rice vinegar
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
2 garlic cloves minced
½ tsp fresh ginger grated
Toasted sesame seeds and sliced scallions for garnish (optional)

Instructions

To make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, panko, egg, ginger, garlic, scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Shape into 1½-inch meatballs and transfer to a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned and cooked through.
To make the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
When the meatballs are done, discard any cooking liquid and transfer the meatballs to a mixing bowl. Add sauce and stir until the meatballs are well-coated with the sauce.
Serve warm, garnished with sesame seeds and scallions if using.