Asian Chicken Meatballs made gluten free, flour free, keto, low carb, paleo and easy for a satisfying meal or appetizer! Bake or air fry instructions are included. Just 2 grams of total carbs per serving!
Keto Low Carb Chicken Meatballs
When you're looking for a change of pace from the traditional beef keto meatballs, chicken is a fabulous option.
While ground chicken can often be bland, adding in the right amount of spices can make for a pretty tasty meatball with some Asian flavors!
Carbs in Chicken Meatballs
Our juicy meatball recipe has just 2 total grams of carbs for 3 meatballs and just 154 calories! All the nutrition information is at the bottom of this post on the printable recipe card.
This is a great recipe for meal prep for the week ahead! You can make the meatball form and not bake them, just freeze and then thaw the night before you want to bake them.
Or you can bake them and freeze and then thaw and reheat in a preheated oven, 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or air fry for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
You could also air fry from frozen but cooking time to reheat through will vary depending on how large you made your meatballs.
Baked Meatballs
Baked meatballs just make life easier. You can certainly pan sear these if you prefer a more crispy outer coating, but baking means you can just forget about them and move on to something else.
These baked meatballs are tender and juicy and full of Asian flavor!
What is Coconut Aminos?
Coconut aminos is a savory condiment that is similar in taste to soy sauce. It's a great alternative option for those who can't have soy due to an allergy.
I found it years ago when I was no longer eating soy or gluten, though today you can find gluten free soy sauce but I prefer the flavor of coconut aminos.
My family loves all kinds of meatballs, but if you've got a few picky kids in the bunch, throw them some chopsticks to eat these cooked meatballs and a side of Coconut Aminos as the dipping sauce and watch them go at it.
For my kids it's always about the chopsticks really. You could also swap the coconut aminos with soy sauce but since my oldest has a soy allergy, we choose coconut aminos instead. Taste just like soy sauce, but not as salty in my opinion.
Asian Meatballs
The meatball ingredients of most Asian recipes I've seen always include fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seeds and green onion or scallions.
So of course these are included in this recipe, but no sesame oil or any oil is needed since we are baking the meatballs and not stir frying them.
Don't skip on buying fresh ginger and use a ground or dried ginger, it just won't be a fresh and tasty.
You can actually freeze fresh ginger for 2-3 months and you can also use it frozen right out of the freezer using a really good grater. I'd suggest peeling the fresh ginger before freezing it though, that way you can easily grate the frozen ginger and not have to worry about defrosting it to peel the skin.
Can I replace the pork rinds?
If you don't like pork rinds you can replace them with almond flour in the meatball mixture.
Can I replace the ground chicken?
Sure if you don't want to use ground chicken, just replace with ground beef, ground pork or even ground turkey.
If you can't find ground chicken or sometimes called chicken mince, you can take use your food processor and make it ground chicken breast to get the same effect .
Can I make these meatballs in the Air Fryer?
Yes you can make these gluten free meatballs in the air fryer if you prefer but the meat mixture is two pounds so you will need to make them in two batches in order to have a single layer on the basket of the air fryer.
Be sure to use parchment paper in the basket as well.
Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F. Place half the meatballs in a single layer on the baking tray and air fry for 10- 12 minutes.
Check internal temperature is 165 degrees F and remove to a covered container to keep warm then finish cooking the rest of the meatballs.
Low Carb Sides to Serve
These delicious meatballs can be made in under an hour and is perfect to serve for a party as an appetizer!
Or add a keto side dish, like my Slow Cooker Cabbage, or Mashed Cauliflower and you've got an easy meal any night of the week that the whole family will enjoy.
More Low Carb Keto Gluten Free Meatball Recipes
French Onion Soup Pork Meatballs (you can also just make them beef meatballs)
Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Slow Cooker Cheesy Stuffed Turkey Meatballs
Asian Keto Chicken Meatballs
Keto Asian Chicken Meatballs (Nut Free)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce
- ½ cup finely crushed pork rinds
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 scallions or ¼ cup chopped
- optional toppings: sesame seeds, chopped scallions, coconut aminos, red pepper flakes, fresh herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet pan or use parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add all ingredients except optional toppings and mix until combined.
- Using a greased large cookie scoop, or measure 1 ounce (35grams) each of chicken and roll into balls. Place in a single layer onto a prepared baking sheets pan. Top with sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake meatballs for about 20 minutes or when they are slightly browned on bottom and edges and internal temperature is 165 degrees F. Serve with a drizzle of coconut aminos, chopped scallions and more sesame seeds if desired.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Lana Drew
Have you used anything in place of the pork rinds? I can't eat pork :-).Lana
Brenda
you could use a flour
Jay Alhadeff
I was thinking of trying either keto breadcrumbs or almond flour.