From Lauren: I’ve admired Jean’s creative and grain-free recipes, and am delighted that she will now be a monthly recipe contributor on Empowered Sustenance. You can learn more about her at the end of this post!
For years, I never cooked a curry dish at home because I was intimidated by all the different spices that I was not familiar with. Little did I know, it’s actually very easy to make a curry meal with the addition of a few new kitchen staples, like curry paste and fish sauce, which I cannot imagine living without these days.
What I love about cooking with these strong spices and flavors is that they turn boring old ingredients like ground beef into an instant flavor-boosting, impressive dish. It’s a great way to add variety into your weekly meals, especially if you are on a budget, and you can enjoy takeout flavors at home without the not-so-great ingredients that are commonly used in Asian restaurants like inflammatory oils and MSG.
About the ingredients in Thai Curry Beef Meatballs
Green curry paste – Curry paste is a mixture of dry and fresh herbs that’s been blended together to form a paste. A little goes a long way because of its concentrated flavors. Check the ingredients to make sure it’s gluten free.
Tomato paste – I like to use tomato paste in meatballs because it gives the dish some depth, and it actually helps to bind the meat together without the use of eggs or flour.
Fish sauce – Ever since I started cooking with fish sauce, I’ve been using it daily and not just in Asian dishes. It is packed with salty, umami flavor that balances out the richness in meat recipes. If you have trouble finding fish sauce, you can also use tamari sauce or coconut aminos for these Thai Curry Beef Meatballs.
Coconut milk – You’ll need full-fat coconut milk from the can for this recipe. You want a thick and creamy curry sauce and you can only achieve that by using the real stuff!
- 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- ¼ cup chopped basil leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ inch ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp green curry paste, recommended brand here
- 1 tbsp tomato paste, recommended brand here
- 2 tsp fish sauce, recommended brand here
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ small onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ inch ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp green curry paste
- 1-14 oz can of full-fat coconut milk, recommended brand here
- 2 tsp fish sauce + more, to taste
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- Lime wedges, for garnish
- Mix all ingredients for the meatballs, except coconut oil, in a large bowl. Use your hands to form into golf ball sized meatballs.
- Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the meatballs in the skillet for 6-8 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Remove the meatballs from the skillet and set aside.
- Add diced onions into the skillet and cook in the leftover beef fat until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, ginger, and Thai green curry paste, and cook stirring for 1 minute.
- Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and turmeric powder, then add the meatballs back in the pan. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens and the meatballs are cooked through.
- Add more fish sauce, if needed. Serve with lime wedges.
About Jean Choi
Jean Choi is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, recipe developer, and food photographer at What Great Grandma Ate. She started her blog to share her story of overcoming years of digestive issues and adrenal fatigue, and to help others realize that nutrient-dense allergen-free cooking can be simple, easy, and delicious. Jean believes that the food you love should love you back through healing and nourishment. For more of her real food recipes and SoCal adventures, follow along on her Instagram and Facebook.
I’m allergic to tomatoes, any suggestions for a substitute? It says they help bind everything, so I don’t want to leave it out and have them fall apart.
You can just use an egg then. It might seem a bit wet, but it’ll be fine once you cook them.
This looks delicious! I, too, have always been intimidated by the number of spices used in a curry. But I just might give this a whirl 🙂
Thank you! This recipe is easy without too many unfamiliar ingredients!
Hey, this was a delicious recipe. Thanks! I made it into a one-dish meal by slicing on the diagonal a bunch of vegetables – I used onion, carrot, summer squash and green beans – and putting them into the sauce to simmer when I added the meat. Five minutes later, I was eating. Yum.
What a great idea! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
wonderful recipe, and yes have not dared make curries at home before for the same reasons, love the new twist, at least for me, on as you describe as boring ground beef, with curry flavors, so thank you for this recipe!
Thanks so much. So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for a delish meal! Easy to add other veggies ect because of the liberal amount of sauce. I did add an egg to keep it all together a bit more. I was wondering for next time, how do I add more heat? The paste I found didn’t offer “degrees” of heat options.
You can try adding cayenne to the meat and/or the sauce!
Hmm …. well explained your recipe, gave me mouth water just looking (Paleo Thai Curry Meatballs) do you have Channel on YouTube?
I am a cook and interested in learning !!!!
I do have some cooking videos on my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/empoweredsustenance
Hi I was interested to know if this meal can be frozen, or with the coconut cream separate, I know fresh is much better but I’m trying to find tasty meals for my daughter for after her baby is born. Thanks
I just made this for my family & it was a BIG HIT! Thank you! I have a few picky eaters, so I doubled the recipe & decreased the amount of ginger. FANTASTIC! I added some grated zucchini & grated carrots. My kiddos ate it over basmati rice & I ate mine over bok choi! This recipe is a KEEPER!!!
I’ve never had any dish with curry but this one seems easy and tasty! Would this be a good first green curry dish to try? I still have to find a couple ingredients. I’m not really fond of turmeric but I just may not have had it in the right dish.
I read all the comments and liked the one who added the onions, carrots, summer squash and green beans. I almost always add extra veggies to everything I make