Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs

4.69 from 16 votes
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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.

Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs
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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!

Meatballs on pan

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!

Healthy Baked Chicken Meatballs

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.
Healthy Kung Pao Meatballs

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4.69 from 16 votes

Baked Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs

Our Kung Pao Chicken Meatballs are a high-protein, high-flavor kind of meal! Serve them over rice, with your favorite stir-fried veggie and you've got yourself a healthy dinner idea.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 28 minutes
Total: 38 minutes
Servings: 4
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Ingredients 

For the Meatballs

For the Kung Pao Sauce

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

Calories: 213 kcal, Carbohydrates: 5 g, Protein: 24 g, Fat: 11 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 1 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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About Lee Funke

Lee is the founder of Fit Foodie Finds and based in Minneapolis, MN. She started this website in 2010 as a way to share her love for real food and wellness. The internet has changed so much since then and so has Fit Foodie Finds. Today we're a female-run recipe website publishing hundreds of tried and true recipes developed and tested by our team.

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Randi
Randi
April 3, 2017 4:07 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
My husband and I love these! I am going to make a few extra batches and freeze them! Do you cook them the same amount of time when you use the frozen meantballs?

Lindsey
Lindsey
January 24, 2017 8:13 pm

I made these tonight with white meat ground turkey and they were very good! I thought they were super spicy- a bit much for me so how can I tone that down a bit? Is it the chili paste that gives it the most heat? Just reduce that? Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely use again.

Aileen marroquin
Aileen marroquin
December 16, 2016 4:32 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
WOOOOOOWWWWW! these are AMAZING! MY FAMILY LOVED THEM, I recommend this recipe to anyone its ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Served them with a side salad and was delicious. Will keep this recipe forever!

Jamie
Jamie
November 21, 2016 5:59 pm

Loved it!!!

Chelsea @ Chelsea's Healthy Kitchen
October 19, 2016 7:59 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
I’ve made these a few times – me and the boyfriend love them! I’m not usually a big fan of spicy foods, so I tone down the sriracha in the sauce just a bit, but otherwise follow the recipe exactly.

Scott Sasso
Scott Sasso
October 2, 2016 8:08 pm
Recipe Rating :
     

5 stars
Turned out great. Put them over soba noodles with sugar snap peas and peppers (some scallions and sesame seeds on top too).
One question: Do you actually make oatmeal and put it in or just rolled oats themselves?

Melanie
Melanie
September 6, 2016 9:53 pm

If I were to make these a larger size instead of bite size, how long should I bake them for? It’s just me, so making a lot of bite sized meatballs would basically be an entire meal. Plus.

Kandis
Kandis
September 6, 2016 1:28 am

Made these yesterday-ran out of flour so just doubled the oatmeal (I use a lot of it when making chicken loaf or meatballs anyway). These were a BIG hit, We will be having these often..to be sure! Thanks for sharing

Megan
August 31, 2016 9:04 pm

Hi!!! I made these for dinner tonight and they were fantastic!! I used ground turkey instead of chicken and chili sauce in place of chili paste because trader joes had neither of the original ingredients. And, served over rice. Mine looked nowhere near as pretty as yours, but it was delicious!! Thank you for the recipe. Have a great night!

Liz
Liz
July 18, 2016 6:57 am

Hi! Cant wait to try these! Having a cocktail
Party! What would be the best to make these ahead? Make the balls(lol) then that day reheat and sauce?