These versatile keto Vietnamese chicken meatballs are vibrant, flavorful, and great meal for meal prep.
This meatball recipe is simple, and it takes just an hour from start to finish. If you haven’t eaten Vietnamese meatballs before, you’re in for a treat!
Why use ground chicken for meatballs?
I prefer to use ground chicken over any other type of meat to make meatballs. The finished product is melt in your mouth delicious. I recommend using a mix of ground breast meat and thigh meat. I’ve found that using only ground breast meat leads to a tougher, drier meatball. However, the combination of dark and light meat yields a perfect, tender, and juicy meatball. If you have a grinder attachment on your mixer, try grinding your own!
Because ground chicken is so soft, it’s important to use a proper binder. Most meatballs contain binders like bread crumbs or panko crumbs, but these meatballs are mixed with almond flour. Nut flours are nutritious, packed with extra protein, and keep these Vietnamese meatballs tender and low carb.
Meatball Making Tips
Ground chicken is sticky! To mitigate this, I recommend getting your hands damp before rolling. Keep a bowl of water nearby and lightly dampen your palms after rolling every other meatball.
Place your rolled keto meatballs onto a parchment-lined pan. If they are soft, pop them in the fridge for an hour to set up before cooking. You can also freeze them. See below for details.
How do you freeze uncooked meatballs?
Place the rolled meatballs in a single layer onto a baking sheet. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them into the freezer for 1 hour. Transfer them to a resealable plastic bag, seal tightly, and store them in your freezer for a month.
Ingredients for Keto Vietnamese Meatballs
- Ground chicken thigh meat (dark meat)
- Ground chicken breast (white meat)
- Almond flour
- Green onions
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Soy sauce (or coco aminos)
- Sesame oil
- Fish sauce
- Salt
- White pepper
- Red chili flakes
How to Make Keto Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place all listed ingredients into a large bowl.
- Gently combine until all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not overmix. If chicken mixture is too soft, add another 2 tablespoons of almond flour to the mixture.
- Form into 1 1/2 ” round balls and place onto a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until multiple meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Serve in lettuce wraps with chopped carrots, chilis, and shirataki noodles. Or, top with sriracha and serve over stir-fried vegetables, zoodles, or keto-compliant noodles.
Keto Vietnamese Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken thigh meat dark meat
- 3/4 pound ground chicken breast white meat
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 3 medium green onions finely chopped
- 2-3 stalks lemon grass white parts only, minced (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or coco aminos
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried chili flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place all listed ingredients into a large bowl.
- Gently combine until all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not overmix. If chicken mixture is too soft, add another 2 tablespoons of almond flour to the mixture.
- Form into 1 1/2 ” round balls and place onto a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until multiple meatballs register 165 degrees F.
- Serve in lettuce wraps with chopped carrots, chilis, and shirataki noodles. Or, top with sriracha and serve over stir-fried vegetables, zoodles, or keto-compliant noodles.
- Recipe yields 24 meatballs with a serving size of 4 meatballs per serving.
