Orange Chicken Meatballs are a new family favorite around here! I love that they are Whole30/Paleo (my kids don’t know that) and the flavor in that sauce is just insane!
Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- Kid-Friendly: My kids are a huge fan of this recipe! I mean, who doesn’t love meatballs!
- Flavor: The sauce is INSANE! So much flavor packed in there!
- Leftovers: Trust me, you are going to want to make extras so you have some leftovers waiting for you the next day!
What You Will Need
Meatballs:
- ground chicken – love the leanness of ground chicken, but it still doesn’t seem to get too dry. I have made this with ground turkey and it does work as well! I just prefer ground chicken.
- egg: this helps bind everything together as it cooks.
- almond flour: this also acts as a binder
- seasoning: onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, ground black pepper
- orange zest: this helps bring some of that natural orange flavor right inside the meatball
- olive oil: this is used to help coat the pan before searing the meatballs
Sauce:
- orange juice + orange juice concentrate + orange zest: helps create that major orange flavor!
- garlic + coconut aminos + sesame oil: these help create that Asian-inspired flavors
- tapioca starch : helps thicken the sauce
How to Make Orange Chicken Meatballs
Step One: Combine your sauce ingredients and let simmer.
Step Two: Combine your meatball ingredients and form into meatballs.
Step Three: Sear meatballs on sides then continue cooking until fully cooked.
Step Four: Remove meatballs and add sauce to skillet. Add tapioca starch and whisk until sauce thickens.
Step Five: Combine sauce and meatballs; stir to combine.
Step Six: Serve and enjoy!
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Orange Chicken Meatballs
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 22–24 meatballs 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Description
Orange Chicken Meatballs – a flavorful and delicious weeknight dinner option the whole family will love!
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- zest of 1 orange, minced
- olive oil
Sauce:
- 1 1/5 cups orange juice
- 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch (added later)
Add-Ins:
- 2–4 cups fresh broccoli florets
- Cauliflower Rice
Instructions
- Combine: Combine orange juice, orange juice concentrate, orange zest, garlic, coconut aminos and sesame oil in a small saucepan. Let simmer while making the meatballs.
- Combine: Combine ground chicken, egg, almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and orange zest in a medium mixing bowl.
- Scoop: Use a cookie dough scoop to scoop out approx. 1 1/2 tablespoons of meatball mixture, forming a ball, and place on a large plate. Continue until all of the meatball mixture is used. (See Notes)
- Skillet: Take large/medium cast iron skillet and bring to medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and use a spatula to spread evenly to coat the pan. Add chicken meatballs and sear on all sides, about 3 minutes.
- Cover: Turn down heat to medium and cover. Let cook 10-15 minutes, moving around frequently, until fully cooked (165 internal temperature – I recommend using a meat thermometer).
- Sauce: Once meatballs are fully cooked remove them from the skillet and place on a plate; set aside. In the same skillet you cooked the meatballs, pour in the sauce that has been simmering. Add in the tapioca starch and whisk continually, bringing the sauce to simmer. It will slowly start to thicken. Once sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, add the meatballs back in. Toss to coat the meatballs. Remember the sauce will thicken even more as it cools a little.
- Broccoli: If you are making broccoli to go with this you can add that in at this point, cover the dish and let the broccoli steam for a few minutes (just don’t let the sauce go above a small simmer or it may get gummy). You can also just steam your broccoli separately and then add in to the sauce or serve it on the side.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Ground Chicken: Ground chicken can be very sticky so it helps to have a little bowl of oil next to you when you are making the chicken meatballs. Get a little oil on your fingers and then rub on the inside of the cookie dough scoop before scooping up the meatball mixture. The place directly onto the plate and just reform as necessary.
- Other Options: If you aren’t concerned with Whole30/Paleo then feel free to serve with regular rice for a gluten-free option!
Keywords: orange chicken meatballs
Emily says
This recipe was perfect. The instructions gave all of the details I needed. Huge hit for the whole family.
★★★★★
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed this one, Emily!!
lauren says
Making these tonight (rated 5-star as I’m sure they will be). I haven’t used orange juice concentrate / had it since childhood. Can you use orange zest or extract to avoid it? thanks in advance!
★★★★★
Erin says
You can just use orange juice in place of the concentrate!
Susan says
Great recipe! Meatballs were very moist and the sauce was very good. Was very cautious with the orange juice since I’m not a big fan of fruit sauces, so cut it down to 3/4 cup and used chicken broth for the remaining liquid. It worked for us and we really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Lisa says
Can you leave out coconut aminos or is there a sub?
Erin says
Hi Lisa – common substitutes include soy sauce or tamari, although neither of those are Whole30/Paleo (just an FYI) – so it depends what you are looking for!
Jaime says
The recipe sounds delicious. Just wondering if Orange Juice Concentrate is technically Paleo before I make it. I looked it up but get conflicting results. Thank you!
Erin says
Hi Jaime – yes, orange juice concentrate is paleo as long as the ingredients are limited to just “orange juice concentrate” and there are no extra sugars added. Hope that helps!
Michelle Missman says
Would love the nutrition info to go with so I can track it! Trying this recipe tonight!
Erin says
Hi Michelle! Working on getting nutrition info up (it’s a process) – excited for you to try them!
Trisha says
Such an easy and delicious weeknight meal! I was craving an Asian-inspired healthy entree and this is phenomenal. Highly recommend and will be sharing with family/friends!
★★★★★
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Trisha! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave your review + feedback – I really appreciate it!
Marie says
Delicious! I used ground turkey and subsituted cornstarch for tapioca because that’s what I had. It was like a sweet and sour sauce without the sugar! I think I will try sauce (maybe spice it up a bit) on grilled scampi next.
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed it, Marie! Love the idea of adding the sauce to shrimp 🙂
Shannon says
This was so good! My husband and picky daughter gobbled it up. I don’t like things with too much sauce and we only used about half the amount. Bonus, I’ll have sauce for the next time I make these, since I’m freezing the rest!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Shannon! So glad you liked it 🙂 Yeah, I purposefully made it so their was a good amount of sauce with this one – so I totally get if that isn’t your thing, but such a good idea to freeze it! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback – I really do appreciate it!
Carla Grimm says
Quick question- these look amazing but my daughter has an egg allergy. Do you think an egg replacer would work? Thanks!
Erin says
Hi Carla! Hmmm… I honestly don’t know. I have only ever made them with egg! I know I have had good luck with egg replacers in baking, but I have never tried them in something like this – let me know if you try it though!
Jasmine says
Yum! It really hit the spot on day 3 of whole 30! I used ground Turkey because that’s what I had and substituted arrowroot powder for tapioca powder because I had that too.
★★★★★
Erin says
I am so happy you enjoyed them, Jasmine! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback – I truly appreciate it!
Sue says
This looks and sounds delicious! Is orange juice concentrate the frozen stuff? I guess I’m not familiar with anything besides o.j. in the refrigerated section, or the tube of frozen orange juice in the freezer aisle… thanks!
Erin says
Orange Juice Concentrate is in the frozen section! I is what you add to water to create orange juice!
Amy says
This was delicious!! My whole family loved it. I doubled the recipe and it turned out great. The sauce is mind-blowingly good and easy!!
★★★★★
Erin says
I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it, Amy! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review + feedback – I really appreciate it!