Name: Pork Meatball Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 lb ground pork; 1 heaping tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced; 1/4 cup green onions, minced (white part only); 2 teaspoons garlic, minced; 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce; 1-2 teaspoons garlic chili sauce; 1 tablespoon soy sauce (sub Tamari for gluten-free); 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste; 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (reg. or gluten-free); 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Published on 01/16/25

by Erin Jensen

Our Pork Meatballs recipe is big on flavor and easy when it comes to assembly. If you’ve got 30 minutes and just a few simple ingredients, you have enough time and resources to make up a batch for an easy lunch or dinner for the week!

Homemade pork meatballs do it all, don’t they? Simple to make, easy to eat, and wildly versatile. These tender meatballs could be served with a simple starch and a veggie or thrown on top of our banh mi rice bowl. No matter how you serve them, this easy recipe is sure to please.

Looking for More Recipes Like This?

If you love meatballs as much as we do, you definitely need to try our oven baked meatballs and our homemade marinara sauce.

What You Will Need

ground pork – A slightly sweet and tender meat that lends itself perfectly to meatballs.
fresh cilantro – One of our favorite herbs to add freshness.
green onion and fresh garlic – Just a bit to add a little bit of heat.
fish sauce & soy sauce – Hard working ingredients that pack in the flavor. You could always sub soy sauce with coconut aminos if that’s preferred.
garlic chili sauce – One of our favorite ways to quickly enhance the garlic flavor in any dish.
lemongrass paste – Adds just the right amount of acidity to balance out all of the savory flavors.
bread crumbs – Helps to keep the meatballs from getting dry or tough.
kosher salt & ground black pepper – Just a bit to enhance all of the other fresh flavors.

How To Make Pork Meatballs

Start by gathering and measuring all of your ingredients. Then simply add the ground meat and everything else into a medium bowl and mix together until you notice a uniform consistency throughout.

Ground pork, cilantro, green onions, garlic, fish sauce, garlic chili sauce, soy sauce, lemongrass paste, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl before being mixed together & after being mixed.

Next, use a small cookie scoop to gather about 1-1.5 tablespoons of the meat mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat this process until all of the pork mixture has been used up. Depending on the size of your scoops, you’ll end up with 18-20 ping pong sized meatballs.

Pro Tip

Rub a bit of olive oil on your hands to keep the meatball mixture from sticking while you form them into balls.

How Long To Cook Meatballs

Bring a large cast iron skillet up to medium high heat and add the meatballs. Make sure that they get seared on all sides and let them cook on the skillet for 10-15 minutes until they’re golden brown. Use an instant-read thermometer to ensure that the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees before removing them from the skillet.

Cooked pork meatballs in a cast iron skillet.

Once fully cooked, remove these flavorful meatballs from the hot skillet onto a clean plate or directly onto your bahn mi rice bowl! The pork and fresh herbs totally compliment the pickled veggies, our favorite sauce of spicy mayo, and fluffy rice.

Storage & Freezer

Make a double batch and freeze half in a freezer-safe container or freezer bags to make for a quick weeknight dinner! These will last in the freezer for 3 months and the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Pork meatballs in a bowl with rice, pickled vegetables, sauce, and cilantro.

Recipe FAQs and Tips

meatballs: This recipe makes 18-20 meatballs.
serving: We made this easy meatball recipe specifically for our bahn mi rice bowl, they would be delicious served with a sticky sauce to turn them into asian pork meatballs.
leftovers: Store leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Pinterest image showing pork meatballs and the title, "The BEST pork meatballs packed with flavor!".

Made these juicy pork meatballs and loved them?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!

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