Orange Chicken Meatballs
on Apr 26, 2017, Updated May 14, 2024
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I feel like this post has been a long time in the making! My Whole30 Orange Chicken is one of my favorite recipes and I knew there had to be many other ways to enjoy the beautiful orangey asian sauce. So Orange Chicken Meatballs are now a thing and they are here to stay!! Every since Trader Joes started selling ground chicken I have loved experimenting with new ways to use it in all of my favorite recipes like meatloaf and meatballs! I love meatballs because I feel like my recipes, no matter what flavors you add, start with a basic formula. Ground meat + egg + almond flour + spices. Simple and effective. For this one I added in ginger and garlic powders then also got crazy and cooked down a little carrot, green bean and cabbage to add some more texture to the balls. Now be warned that ground chicken is much softer and more (sorry to use this word) moist, than ground turkey. For this reason I highly suggest getting a scooper like this if you don’t have one and scooping them onto a cookie sheet rather than rolling them in your hands. Otherwise they will be sticky and there will be chicken all over the place and no one will be happy! So once you scoop those up, throw them in the oven and make a quick sauce! I really like a sweet sauce so I added 1 date to this sauce and blended it in a blender but you can forgo the date and just pour everything in a pan if you want! I of course serve this over cauliflower fried rice and now, always use the TJs frozen cauli rice for it. Easy. Peasy. And now that i’m mentioning products I use, I highly suggest the coconut aminos from Thrive Market!! I LOVE them! Okay have I convinced you enough?
HUBBA HUBBA AM I RIGHT?!
Paleo meals are a wonderful addition to a healthy lifestyle, here are a few more to try:
Lemon Garlic Chicken Salad on Paleo Ranch Buns
Paleo Chili Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Pin these Orange Chicken Meatballs to save for later!!
Orange Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ cup shredded carrots, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup finely chopped green beans
- ¼ cup shredded cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup almond meal
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Orange Sauce
- 1 cup orange juice
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pitted date, soaked in hot water to soften
- 2 teaspoons arrowroot powder + 2 tablespoons cold water, combined
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Â Place a small skillet over medium high heat and add in sesame oil. Â Then add in carrots, green beans and cabbage and cook down just until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine ground chicken, egg, almond meal, coconut flour, garlic powder, ground ginger, salt and pepper. Â Then add in the veggie mixture and stir until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop chicken into balls on the pan. Â Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to do this as the mixture will be too moist to roll in your hands. (It makes 12 balls)
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until cooked through.
- While meatballs are in the oven, combine orange juice, apple cider vinegar, coconut aminos, garlic powder, ground ginger and the date in a blender and blend on high until the date breaks down.
- Powder the sauce mixture into a medium skillet over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Â Once it is boiling, add in arrowroot & water mixture while whisking vigorously to combine. Â This will thicken the sauce. Â Lower the heat.
- Once meatballs are done, transfer them from the baking sheet to the pan and coat them with the sauce.
- Serve over Cauliflower Fried Rice!
Notes
- I used bags of pre shredded carrots and cabbage!
- If you want to eliminate a step and make it less sweet you can remove the date from the recipe and add all sauce ingredients straight into the pan instead of blending!
Oh my gosh. I’ve never had anything like this. And way easier than it seems at first. I didn’t have enough almond meal, so I used made up the difference in bread crumbs (oops – not paleo at all!). Worked like a charm.
Delicious, Kelsey! I’ll definitely make these again.
That’s great!!
Made these for dinner tonight but only had ground turkey so that’s what I used. They were delish and I will definitely be making them again!
Love using what’s on hand!
This recipe is on the menu for this evening! Â I have no dates. Â Do you think a little honey would work ok?Â
You can give it a shot, not sure because the consistency is different than dates.
Made these tonight for the first time and they are amazing! My husband loves orange chicken and he said these definitely need to be added to our normal recipe rotation!Â
So wonderful! Love when the hubby is on board!
I’ve been craving Orange Chicken for a while now.  These meatballs were AWESOME.  I opted to double the recipe and freeze a batch of meatballs for a night when I’m too tired to cope.  Another plus?  My kids loved it too! Â
Genius idea to make a sublet batch and freeze!
So good. Family favorite.Â