Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
Published 9/20/2024
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Get sassy with dinner and make our Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs! This is a Fit Foodie classic and a personal favorite of mine. They’re super simple to whip up, too, because the chicken meatballs are baked and then tossed in a simple homemade kung pao sauce.
If you don’t know what to make for dinner. Make these Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs ASAP. Remember FFF’s Healthy Kung Pao Chicken that we posted 1,000 years ago? Well, we based this sauce off of that very recipe. Why? Because it’s gotten rave reviews from so many FFF readers, we thought we’d re-invent it with an amazing baked chicken meatballs recipe!
I do want to make a quick note that this kung pao sauce is NOT authentic. It’s very much a “Minnesota-nice, I’ve got about 5 minutes to make dinner” kind-of-sauce.
What You Need for Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
We actually tested this recipe with both ground chicken and ground turkey, and both of them work. YAY! Here’s what else you need for the ground chicken meatballs:
- onion
- flour (any kind)
- rolled oats
- sriracha
- salt
- pepper
- garlic
Make them g/f: You can easily keep these flavorful kung pao meatballs gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour blend and certified gluten-free rolled oats. We love the texture rolled oats give these baked meatballs and I’m sure you will too!
You Must Try Our Kung Pao Sauce
Once you’ve got your meatballs in the oven, it’s time to make the kung pao sauce! Now, I’m sort of biased about Fit Foodie’s kung pao sauce, but it’s pretty damn good! I love it mostly because it’s made with honey and not another refined sugar. It’s also super basic with just 5 total ingredients.
- soy sauce (or tamari)
- sriracha
- red chili sauce
- honey
Is this kung pao sauce super spicy?
I would say it’s medium or…Minnesota spicy? You can totally control the spice by adding more soy sauce and/or honey!
How to Serve Your Meatballs
- Appetizer: these meatballs are perfect for a high-protein app. Just pop a toothpick in each one!
- Make it a meal: serve your meatballs over white rice and your favorite veggie such as air fryer broccoli.
More Meatball Recipes
- Green Curry Sweet Potato Chicken Meatballs
- Red Coconut Curry Meatballs
- Healthy Rosemary Thyme Balsamic Meatballs
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs Skewers
More Stir Fry Recipes
- Kung Pao Shrimp
- Our Best Healthy Stir Fry Recipes
- Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
- Healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
Baked Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 1/3 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour, option to sub all-purpose or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup rolled oatmeal
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
For the Kung Pao Sauce
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce, option to tamari or coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoon sriracha
- 2 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
- 2 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 400ºF and spray a baking sheet with coconut oil cooking spray. Set aside.
- Next, prep chicken meatballs mixture by placing all ingredients into a large bowl mixing until combined.
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop (note: these are bite-sized, not giant!), scoop out a heaping scoop of mixture and mold into a ball with your hands. It works best if your hands are slightly wet with water. Place on baking sheet and repeat.
- Bake meatballs at 400ºF for 25-28 minutes or until the top begins to turn golden brown.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prep the kung pao sauce, by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Once the meatballs have slightly cooled, toss in sauce. Serve hot!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Had a hard time finding just chili paste . Is roasted red chili paste ok? Thanks!
Chili paste should be rather easy to find. Did you look in the Asian section at the grocery store? Roasted red chili paste sounds like it should be fine!
Hi. Can I use “quick oats” in place of rolled oats?
Absolutely!
These were soooo good! I tried them last night and subbed coconut flour for normal flour. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ve loved all of your recipes I’ve tried so far!
WOOOOO! This is one of my favorite recipes 🙂
Can anyone give me any ideas as to what to serve with these? Thanks!! 🙂
I’ve served them over brown rice with some Asian green beans!
Thank you, Lee! That sounds wonderful 🙂
Can you recommend a rolled oat substitute?
My substitute for rolled oats, which mom used as her meatloaf binder, is fresh bread crumbs (made by pulsing in the blender.) As a binder, fresh breadcrumbs create a softer meatball or meatloaf, less dense. Use about 2 slices for each pound of ground meat.
Looks yummy. Are the calories stated per 1 meatball?
I can’t imagine it’s for the whole recipe anyway!
thanks 🙂
Just came across these while working on my weekend menu plan. I can’t wait to give them a go! They look great.
When I put the recipe in MFP it says 158 cal per serving. I didn’t substitute anything… hmmm
2G F
8G P
29G C
Is what I get…
These look really good and I can’t wait to make them….do you have any nutrition information on this? Gonna make these for a Super Bowl party this weekend!!
Hey David. I just updated the information in the post. Best.
I made a double batch of your meatballs last night and they were all consumed in one sitting. The heat level was perfect for most folks but a couple of people added more sriracha at the table. I’ll be making these again. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
WOOO! So glad you loved them Cindy. I’m glad they weren’t TOO spicy and that people had the option to add more sriracha!