We are big fans of spicy food at our house and I’m always trying to figure out different foods and flavors we can try. This recipe reminds me a lot of my dad, one of his signature dishes he would make a lot was kung pao chicken, and the flavor is pretty similar. We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of his sudden and unexpected passing next week, so I wanted to share this spicy pork meatball recipe that makes me think of him.
One food that has been hard to find safe options for my family is meatballs. They always seem to have egg in them and breadcrumbs. Sometimes when I’ve attempted to substitute out the egg in other meatball recipes, they usually don’t turn out right flavor or texture-wise, and a lot of breadcrumbs I’ve found also seem to contain dairy or egg in the mixture. Because of this, I actually make my own allergen friendly breadcrumbs (I’ll be sharing that recipe soon). These pork meatballs have amazing flavor, the texture is perfect, and I find myself making this recipe quite often because we all love it!
Ryan loves this recipe, and when our young toddler asked me, “can we have meatballs?” I knew we had found a FAV.
What Makes This Recipe So Great
- Egg, Dairy, & Gluten Free: Despite being free from these top allergens, it tastes so good! I typically make this recipe with peanuts as well, but I’ve made it without and it turns out really good still.
- Easy To Make: After a long day working and taking care of kids, I usually have less stamina to make dinner, but these come together really quick and easy.
- It’s Delicious: Adult and toddler approved! My toddler surprisingly doesn’t mind the spice in these.
Ingredients & How to Substitute
- Ground Pork – This will be the based of your meatballs, I love how ground pork really takes on the flavor of the recipe, whereas I find beef tends to change the flavor a bit.
- Gluten Free Breadcrumbs – I make mine homemade by crumbing up gluten free bread in a food processor and baking on low heat in the oven with some oil at 300 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. It turns out perfect. If you can find gluten free breadcrumbs that’s great too!
- Ginger – I love the fresh flavor ginger adds in this recipe.
- Sriracha Sauce – Like I said before, we love spicy foods! I did recently make this recipe with double the sriracha than what this recipe calls for and it came out way too spicy, so adjust as needed for your family!
- Salt – Adds a little extra flavor to the meatballs
- Sesame Oil – This has a pretty distinct flavor and I prefer it for this recipe, but if you can’t have sesame, use whatever kind of cooking oil works for you!
- Rice Vinegar – You could use other white vinegar if necessary.
- Liquid Aminos – This is what we use as a soy sauce replacement, if you can have soy sauce, I would recommend using normal soy sauce! If you can’t have soy, I’d recommend looking into coconut aminos.
- Coconut Sugar – If you can’t have coconut, brown sugar is a great substitute.
- Cornstarch – This helps the sauce thicken. I haven’t tried substituting it with other starchy flours, but I’ve heard those can be a good recplacement.
- Celery – This adds some vegetables to the meal and a little bit of crunch!
- Red Bell Pepper – Again, adds some vegetable to the meal, as well as color.
- Water Chestnuts – I love how crunchy water chestnuts are and they’re delicious in any kind of stir fry recipe, I love them in this meatball recipe.
- Green Onion – Adds flavor and color!
- Peanuts – Optional! If you have a peanut allergy or even if you just don’t have peanuts on hand, this is still a really great recipe without!
Some Recipe Tips
Make sure you don’t make your meatballs too thick or they’ll have a hard time cooking through evenly. You’ll naturally get a bit of a crispier outside from frying, but if you make them too big the middle will take too long to cook through. I always check with a meat thermometer to make sure my meat is cooked as well as not overcooked.
This recipe goes great over rice! Be sure to cook up your steamed rice at the beginning so that it’s ready to go with the meatballs when they’re done!
This Recipe Includes A Top 10 Allergen:
Check the Ingredients and Substitutions list above for easy ways to make this safe for you!
Spicy Pork Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/2 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sesame oil or other oil for frying
Sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp liquid aminos
- 2 tsp sriracha sauce
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar, or other sugar
- 4 tsp cornstarch
Other
- 2 sticks celery chopped
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 4 oz can water chestnuts
- 3-4 green onions chopped
- 1/4 cup peanuts optional
Instructions
- Combine all the meatball ingredients & mix together well with hands.
- Divide and form the meat mixture into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls.
- Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat & add sesame oil once heated.
- Add the meatballs to the pan and cook through on all sides - you can check the pork doneness with a meat thermometer, it should read 170 degrees ferenheit.
- Remove meatballs and add celery, bell pepper, water chestnuts, peanuts (if using), & the whites of the green onion to the pan, add more oil if needed, and stir fry for a few minutes.
- Add the meatballs back into the pan and pour in the sauce mixture.
- Cook until sauce is thickened.
- Serve over steamed rice, garnishing with the greens of the green onions & enjoy!
