Thai Turkey Meatballs With Spicy Cilantro Dip

Serve these low-carb meatballs as an appetizer at your next party or as a meal with brown jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. If you don’t love spicy food, remove the seeds from the jalapeño peppers before adding them to the dipping sauce.  

Thai Turkey Meatballs With Spicy Cilantro Dip

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup (120ml) cilantro leaves (about 1/2 bunch)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut milk, well-stirred
  • 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño pepper
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce or low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 pound (454g) ground turkey
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) almond flour or finely ground almonds
  • 1 tablespoon safflower oil

Directions

To prepare the dipping sauce, combine the coconut milk, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice (reserve the zest for the meat mixture) and the salt in a blender. Blend until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the lime zest, egg white, fish sauce, curry paste and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Add the turkey and almond flour and blend thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Form the mixture into 24 meatballs using about 1 tablespoon meat mixture for each.

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the meatballs are no longer pink in the center, 8–10 minutes. Serve meatballs with the sauce for dipping.

Serves: 8 as an appetizer | Serving size: 3 meatballs, 1 tablespoon dip

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 140; Total fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 2.6g; Monounsaturated Fat: 2.1g; Cholesterol: 44.8mg; Sodium: 338mg; Carbohydrate: 1.5g; Dietary Fiber: 0.05g; Sugar: .15g; Protein: 11.8g

Serves: 4 as an entree | Serving size: 6 meatballs, 2 tablespoons dip

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 280; Total fat: 18.7g; Saturated Fat: 5.1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 4.1g; Cholesterol: 89.6mg; Sodium: 677mg; Carbohydrate: 3g; Dietary Fiber: 0.1g; Sugar: .3g; Protein: 23.5g