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Sweet chili meatballs is one of those “from the pantry” recipes that come in handy right now.
Eating On A Dime
The heading says it all. During this uncertain time, many are running out of provisions and some are very hard to come by. Many of us have to tighten our belts too with furloughs, reductions in hours or just plain unemployed and waiting on those benefits.
About the only place you can save on is food, but it’s good to know there’s some delicious “cheap-and-cheerful” meals out there that make it a bit better. There’s the old staple of beans and rice, combined so well in a Jamaican coconut rice, and if you have a pound of ground beef or turkey, there’s these meatballs.
If You’ve Got It Flaunt It
Are you lucky enough to have a bag of pre-made meatballs hiding in your freezer? You got lucky because you can use them in this!
I’m a big proponent of using what you have under ordinary circumstances, but now, it’s become a necessity, but you have several ways to make these chili meatballs.
Even if you make your own meatballs, my simple recipe lends itself to many substitutions. Now, I understand that green onions/scallions are hard to come by. Not an issue here. Just use regular onion or substitute the dehydrated kind you have on your spice shelf.
No panko crumbs? Use ordinary or even soft bread crumbs. As for the cilantro, use parsley or dehydrated cilantro–or leave it out. Of course the flavor changes somewhat, but it’s still good.
Turkey–Yes!
As always, ground turkey is interchangeable with the ground beef in this recipe. Ground chicken will work too as well as ground pork.
And if you don’t have chili sauce–this is the kind like Heinz makes–but you have ketchup, just mix the ketchup with a teaspoon or two of chili powder.
The Recipe
Sweet Chili Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef see notes
- 12 oz sweet chili sauce divided
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line a large baking sheet with foil then spray with non-stick spray.
- Mix 1/3 cup of the chili sauce with all other ingredients in a large bowl. Reserve the remaining chili sauce for later.
- Shape meat into 1 in/2.5 cm balls and place on prepared sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way through.
- Remove cooked meatballs to a large bowl and coat with the remaining chili sauce.
