I haven’t done meatballs in a while and I wanted to see if I could put an Asian twist on some of the meats I had in the fridge. Well, I had ground pork and ground beef – so it was an easy one. Tons of limes are found throughout my house because I love them to bits – so I tossed some lime juice in pretty much everything I could and called it a day.

These meatballs pack a bit of a punch, so if you’re the type of person that doesn’t like the heat, de-seed your chili peppers! The taste? Well, the taste is great. The meatballs don’t bring an over-seasoned taste, they are holding on to the bland side a bit by themselves. But when you combine it with the dipping sauce with all of the pan drippings, it’s a fantastic combination. You can either serve the sauce on the side, or you can pour it over all the meatballs before serving.

I just wanted to say on a side note that I rolled some of the meatballs in sesame seeds, but not all. It was more of a play to see how they’d look in photos and see if they looked nice to present. I thought it did, but you can let me know your thoughts too! I didn’t think that they added much flavor or addition to the dish, but they do contain some carbs so just be careful with that if you’re going to do it also.

Many of the sesame seeds fall off of the meatballs as you pick them up to eat, so if you’re dead set on doing this, you could first dip them in the sauce (it’s a bit sticky) and then dip them in sesame seeds.

Yields 20-30 Meatballs with Dipping Sauce (Depending on Size)

The Preparation

Thai Style Meatballs:

16 ounces ground pork
16 ounces ground beef
4 medium green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 medium bird's eye chile pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup almond flour
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons sesame seeds, optional

Sweet Chili Lime Sauce:

1/3 cup sugar free apricot preserves
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons lime juice

The Execution

1. Add 1 lb. Ground Pork, 1 lb. Ground Beef, 4 stalks Spring Onions (chopped), and 3 medium Red Chili Peppers (chopped, about 70g) to a large mixing bowl.

2. Mix everything together well, then add 2 tbsp. Gluten Free Soy Sauce, 2 tbsp. Lime Juice, 1 tsp. Salt, 1 tsp. Garlic Powder, and 1 tsp. Ginger Powder.

3. Mix everything together again and then add 1/4 cup Honeyville Almond Flour on top. Mix well until almond flour is absorbed into mixture.

4. Roll out the meatballs to the size of your preference. For me, this made 22 meatballs. You can get anywhere from 20-35 meatballs with this recipe.

5. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. of both olive oil and sesame oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop the meatballs in, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. The meat should sizzle when you drop it in.

6. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook for about 3 minutes.

7. Flip the meatballs over, cover, and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

8. In a small pan, add 1/3 cup Sugar Free Apricot Preserves, 1/4 cup Water, 2 tbsp. Lime Juice and 1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes.

9. Bring sauce to a rolling boil and let reduce while stirring occasionally. Once the meatballs are cooked, add all of the pan drippings to the sauce and continue to reduce until you find the consistency you want.

10. Optional – coat meatballs in sesame seeds and serve with a side of dipping.

This makes a total of 6 servings of Thai Chili Lime Meatballs. Each serving comes out to be 541 calories, 44.2g fats, 5.3g net carbs, and 28.3g protein.

NUTRITION	CALORIES	FAT	CARBS	FIBER	NET CARBS	PROTEIN
16 ounce ground pork	1193	96.1	0	0	0	73.4
16 ounce ground beef	1152	90.7	0	0	0	77.9
4 medium green onion	19	0.1	4.4	1.6	2.8	1.1
1 teaspoon salt	0	0	0	0	0	0
1 teaspoon garlic powder	10	0	2.3	0.3	2	0.5
1 teaspoon ground ginger	6	0.1	1.3	0.3	1	0.2
3 medium bird's eye chile pepper	4	0	0.8	0.1	0.7	0.2
2 tablespoon soy sauce	17	0.2	1.6	0.3	1.3	2.6
1/4 cup almond flour	162	14	6.2	3.6	2.5	5.9
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil	179	20.3	0	0	0	0
1 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil	181	20.4	0	0	0	0
6 tablespoon sesame seeds	271	23	12.4	6.7	5.6	8.1
1/3 cup sugar free apricot preserves	44	0	22	8.8	13.2	0
1/4 cup water	0	0	0	0	0	0
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes	1	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1
2 tablespoon lime juice	8	0	2.6	0.1	2.4	0.1
Totals	3247	265.1	53.7	21.9	31.8	170
Per Serving (/6)	541	44.2	8.9	3.7	5.3	28.3