Asian Sesame + Cilantro Meatballs

If I ever ask Jeff for suggestions of what I should add to the dinner menu for the week, he always (aaaaaalways) requests Asian food. Every time. It’s gotten annoying, honestly. I don’t even bother asking for his help with menu-writing now, because I know he’ll just say, “Something Chinese!” and I’ll ask for more details and he’ll go, “I don’t know, just something Asian.” Super helpful, thank you dear. So I’ve experimented quite a bit with Asian recipes over the last few years, and I guess I have him to thank for it—we have a lot of favorite dinner dishes now that I probably wouldn’t have tried on my own, without him constantly asking me to make Asian food for him. Thanks for being a pest, I guess?

This recipe for Asian Meatballs is a family favorite—it’s quick to put together, it’s delicious, everyone in our house loves it (including Forrest, who is unbelievably picky these days and has an approved eating list of about 10 food items, so earning a thumbs up from him on a dish is a pretty big deal), but my favorite thing about this dinner? These meatballs freeze beautifully. I almost always double the recipe to stick some in the freezer and have a quick dinner ready to go another night. As much as I love cooking, I also really love not cooking.

The sesame oil in the meatballs and sauce is amazing, and the cilantro adds so much yummy flavor. I like to use both ground turkey and ground beef in this recipe (although you don’t have to—you could use all beef  or turkey if you’d rather), so you still get all that delicious beef flavor with a little less fat and grease.

I always end up with about 40 meatballs using this recipe. 20 seems to be about right for 1 dinner plus some leftovers for our family (2 adults and 1 kid eating), so I always freeze the other 20 (or I’ll even double the recipe to end up with 3 dinners in the freezer—yessssss). To freeze your meatballs, stop after shaping the meatballs, then place them on a cookie sheet to flash freeze (I like to line my pan with parchment paper if it’s going into the freezer). Just stick the whole pan of raw meatballs in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

After about half an hour, pull the pan out and pop the semi-frozen meatballs into a freezer bag. When you’re ready to prepare your freezer meal, let it thaw in the bag in the refrigerator, or place the bag in a bowl of cool water to thaw, then line the meatballs up in a baking dish and bake as directed in the recipe. They taste just as great coming from the freezer as they do on day one!

Mmm, I love it. Love to eat it, and love to know that there’s more of it sitting in the freezer, waiting for a day that I’m too busy or lazy to cook. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Once a Month Meals.