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These Whole30 Orange Chicken Meatballs are easy, delicious, and take no time at all to prepare. They’re perfect for a weeknight dinner and require only a few readily available ingredients.
This recipe calls for baking the Orange Chicken Meatballs in the oven. However, you can just as easily fry them in a skillet on the stovetop. Personally, I think they have a bit more flavour when pan-fried but baking them has its advantages. For one, you don’t end up with a messy stovetop and you can use the oven to roast other things at the same time, like the sweet potato noodles pictured below!
If you opt for the pan-fried method, I recommend using a high-walled sauté pan so that you prevent some oil splatter. Alternatively, you can and should use a splatter guard. You can buy one on Amazon or check your local dollar store!
These Orange Chicken Meatballs go great with some stir-fried veggies and/or sweet potato noodles. More and more grocery stores are selling pre-spiralized sweet potatoes, which is great as far as convenience goes but you’re paying a hefty premium! Instead, I recommend purchasing a spiralizer and the initial investment will soon pay for itself.
I have had this OXO Spiralizer for a couple of years now and I highly recommend it! It comes with three blade attachments, is easy to use, fairly compact (good for storage), and can quickly spiralize just about any vegetable you throw at it.
You’ll note that the Orange Chicken Meatballs do not call for any eggs. More and more people have asked me for eggless recipes due to allergies, aversions or added costs. Regardless of the reason, rest assured that you can achieve a fairly delicious meatball sans egg. If, however, you have no reason to avoid them, feel free to add one free-range, organic egg per pound of meat. Ultimately, the egg acts as a binder but it also adds a nice texture to the finished product.
As for the delicious, sweet, spicy, sticky Orange sauce, it’s as easy as putting all the ingredients in a small saucepan and simmering until reduced. It’s almost identical to the sauce I used to coat my Whole30 Baked Sticky Wings and I assure you, it’s every bit as delicious! You’re going to want to eat it by the spoon! Make sure you have enough restraint to reserve it for the meatballs!
Whole30 Orange Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
for the Chicken Meatbalss
- 1 lbs ground chicken
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced or finely grated
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or finely grated
- 3 green onions, finely sliced - green tops reserved for garnish
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- sesame seeds, for garnish
for the Orange sauce
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced or finely grated
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or finely grated
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- To a large mixing bowl, add ground chicken, garlic, ginger, white parts of the green onion, and salt. Using a spoon, mix to combine.
- Rub hands with small amount of avocado oil and form meatballs. Lay meatballs on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Transfer to oven and bake 25min - flip halfway.
- Meanwhile, to a small saucepan, add garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar, coconut aminos, sesame oil, orange juice and chili flakes. Set over med-low heat and cook until reduced by half. Stir regularly to avoid burning.
- Add arrowroot starch and stir or whisk until dissolved and sauce has thickened. Set aside.
- Remove meatballs from oven, brush them with the Orange Sauce and return to oven for 5 more minutes.
- Brush meatballs once more, sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with the tops of the green onion.
- Serve with sweet potato noodles and/or stir-fried veggies.
About the Author
Hi, i'm Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
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Can you substitute ground turkey for the ground chicken?
Definitely! Just be sure to pat the meat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
Do I cook the spiralized sweet potatoes?
This was my first attempt at making meatballs and zoodles of any kind. This recipe knocked it out of the park! It was easy and very flavorful. The meatballs held their shape well and were not chewy or dry at all like you find with other recipes. I did make them in the pan instead of the oven just so I didn’t heat up the house as much.
Amazing! Really happy you liked them!
Loved this recipe!! My kids gobbled it right up! I will quadruple that sauce next time! Soooooo good!
The kids are always the true judges! Very happy you all enjoyed!
This was soooo good! I served over carrot noodles (if you can find nante carrots they are HUGE and perfect for spiralizing)
My only regret is that I didn’t double the recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds wonderful!
Hi, sorry if I’m missing this, but approx. how many meatballs does this recipe make? Thanks! 🙂
The recipe will yield approximately 10 meatballs. 🙂
I could probably leave a 5 star review on every single one of his recipes, and guarantee that they were accurate, weather I’ve tried them or not! I can’t count how many genuine 5 stars I’ve already given! These were excellent! I was admittedly surprised at how well they paired with the sweet potatoes! Excellent meal, and my kids ate 3 servings! What???
Where do I find arrowroot in the market? I have looked at Walmart and Trader Joe’s without success. Thanks
these came together quickly and were a great recipe for a weeknight. i did find them a little dry tho. doubled the recipe – including the sauce. we are a saucy kind of family so next time i may triple the sauce. very tasty tho!