Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs are a crispy snack packed full of flavour.
Ground pork is mixed together with red curry paste and other Thai ingredients like long beans, fish sauce, and coconut. Gently pan-fried in a little oil they transform into addictive crispy meat morsels.
We love serving these Thai-inspired pork meatballs as an appetizer at dinner or canapés passed around at a party. Garnish with cilantro and serve with toothpicks for an easy cutlery-free feast.
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What Are Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs?
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If you’re a lover of crispy pan-fried meatballs, like Keftedakia Roasted Greek Meatballs, you’ll love our Thai-inspired crispy Curry Pork Meatballs.
Lean ground pork is combined with classic Thai ingredients like long bean, coconut, fish sauce and red curry paste. Rolled into balls, the mixture is then pan-fried in oil until the exterior is browned and crispy.
These “Thai flavour bombs” are the perfect appetizer to serve at a Thai-themed dinner or as cutlery-free canapés to pass around at a party with toothpicks.
Ingredients
Before making this recipe at home open your fridge and cupboards to gather your ingredients and add any items you need to your grocery list. You’ll need:
- Egg
- Ground Pork
- Fish Sauce
- Thai red curry paste
- Baking Soda
- Brown Sugar
- Cilantro
- Lime Zest
- Long Beans
- Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- Cornstarch
- Kosher Salt + Pepper
- Vegetable Oil
Directions
Follow these easy step-by-step cooking instructions to make fool-proof curry pork meatballs at home!
- In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg. Add the ground pork, fish sauce, curry paste, baking soda, brown sugar and 2 tbsp of cold water and mix to combine. Add the cilantro, lime zest, beans, coconut and cornstarch, mixing until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Using your hands, shape the mixture into small meatballs, about 2 heaping tablespoons each. Place them on a baking sheet.
- Pour oil into a wok or skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat (370 F).
- Set a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Working in batches fry the meatballs until they are crisp and golden brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 3 minutes. Drain the meatballs on the wire rack until slightly cooled.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve on their own as an appetizer or with steamed rice as a main course.
Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs Recipe Tips
This mouth-watering Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs recipe is quick & easy to make at home. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.
- Prepare the meatballs by shallow-frying them in a large skillet, ideally nonstick. You can also toss them in oil and cook them in your air fryer is you prefer.
- We like to use 100% lean ground pork when making Thai meatballs but you can use a mixture of minced pork and beef, chicken or turkey if you prefer.
- We’ve used canola oil to fry the meatballs but you can use any vegetable oil like coconut oil or peanut oil.
- You can use store bought Thai red curry paste or if you like to make things from scratch we’ve included a homemade Thai red curry paste recipe below.
- We’ve used brown sugar in this recipe but if you have palm sugar in your cupboard use it as it’s a more authentic sweetener used in Thailand.
- We’ve added lime zest to give the meatballs a citrusy flavour. If you have fresh lime leaves you can substitute them for a more traditional flavour just ensure they are very finely chopped.
- Long Beans are a popular vegetable used in Asian cooking and can often be found at supermarkets in Chinatown. Interestingly, they’re a member o the asparagus family. If you don’t have access to them you can substitue with green beans.
- We’ve used shredded coconut in this recipe but if you have fresh coconut you can grate it and add it to the meatballs.
What To Serve With Thai Curry Pork Meatballs
There’s nothing more comforting than plopping a flavour-packed spicy meatball in your mouth!
We typically prepare these pan-fried Curry Pork Meatballs as an appetizer at a Thai dinner party or as a canapés that can be passed around at a party with toothpicks.
You can transform this meatball snack into a full fledged meal by serving them with popular Thai rice and noodle dishes like Spicy Thai Basil Fried Rice, Thai Glass Noodle Stir Fry Pad Woon Sen or Khao Pad Sapparod Thai Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice.
If you’re hosting a Thai-themed dinner party we suggest serving these meatballs with popular main course dishes like:
- Gaeng Phed Ped Yang Roast Duck Thai Red Curry
- Thai Tamarind Prawn Curry
- Crispy Tod Mun Pla Thai Fish Cake
- Kanom Jeeb Thai Steamed Dumplings
- Moo Ping BBQ Grilled Thai Pork Skewers
- Thai Prawn Panang Curry
- Crispy Thai Prawn Omelette
- Red Thai Pork Curry
- Gaeng Keow Wan Thai Green Curry Chicken
- Thai Pork & Beef Mince Curry Khua Kling
- Chiang Mai Noodles “Khao Soi”
- Pad Kra Pao Thai Basil Stir-Fry
- Thai Beef and Pumpkin Curry
Storage
We like to double the recipe so we can enjoy these pork curry meatballs weeks or months after making them.
Once you’ve prepared the meatball mixture you can simply scoop a portion the raw pork into an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to prepare the meatballs simply thaw in the fridge overnight and then roll them into balls and prepare them per recipe instructions below.
If you’ve already cooked the meatballs and have leftovers store them in an airtight container in your fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheat the cooked meatballs in the oven, air fryer or microwave until cooked through. We prefer the oven or air fryer as this method helps create a crispy exterior, while a microwave will make them moist as they cook in their own steam.
Homemade Red Curry Paste
Feel free to use your favourite store bought Thai curry paste at the grocery store or prepare from scratch in your kitchen.
Use a mortar and pestle to grind all the ingredients together until you’ve created a smooth and fragrant mixture. This homemade Thai red curry paste recipe yields 4-5 tablespoons.
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, roasted until brown
- 2 cardamom pods, roasted until brown
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10, large red dried chillies (seeds removed soaked in water for 10 minutes then finely chopped)
- 1 tsp galangal, skin removed and chopped
- 2 tsp lemongrass, chopped
- 1 tsp kaffir lime peel, chopped
- 1 tbsp coriander root, chopped
- 3 tbsp shallots, chopped
- 3 tbsp garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 10, Thai red chillies
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How To Make Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs
Thai Red Curry Pork Meatballs
Equipment
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Large Skillet
- French knife
Ingredients
- 1 Egg
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp Lime or Lemon Zest
- 1/2 lb Long Beans chopped
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- 1/4 cup Cornstarch
- Kosher Salt + Pepper
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg. Add the ground pork, fish sauce, curry paste, baking soda, brown sugar and 2 tbsp of cold water and mix to combine. Add the cilantro, lime zest, beans, coconut and cornstarch, mixing until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Using your hands, shape the mixture into small meatballs, about 2 heaping tablespoons each. Place them on a baking sheet.
- Pour oil into a wok or skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat (370 F).
- Set a wire rack on a cookie sheet. Working in batches fry the meatballs until they are crisp and golden brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 3 minutes. Drain the meatballs on the wire rack until slightly cooled.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve on their own as an appetizer or with steamed rice as a main course.
Nutrition
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