It’s time to make healthy eat look good ya’ll! Look good and taste DARN GOOD! Let’s start off with these 5 Spice BBQ Meatballs with a Saucy Orange Hoisin Sauce. A paleo friendly iron rich meal that leaves you feeling… well… saucy. Wink Wink.
Alright now, I’ll put the humor away. I’m on a New Year’s “feeling focused” high this week. Let’s hope it last. Gosh darn it feels good. Like the smudge has been wiped clean from my eyes and I can see the positive perspective. You feelin it? If not, that’s okay, just keep the ONE focus and it will come around.
Speaking of focus, let’s focus on easy meal prep recipes, easy Paleo friendly 30 minute meal recipes, easy stress free friendly recipes, and easy freezer friendly recipes. And let’s wrap it all up all into one with this 5 Spice BBQ Meatball recipe, Mmm k? Stay with me here, stay focused.
You see, after I took that reader survey a couple weeks ago, I realized that the majority of you all (hello readers) would like more healthy gluten-free meals in 30 minutes or less and that can feed a whole family. That being said, this is the Paleo friendly meatball recipe might just kick off that request, give or take 10 minutes. Cool?
It’s made with natural grain free ingredients, mostly unrefined sugar, and did I mention it is so so tasty? Yes you can serve it with Rice noodles… mmmm just look how tasty.
OR, LIGHTEN IT UP and serve these saucy meatballs with cauliflower rice, carrot rice, broccoli rice, or all!. All pair really well with the meatballs, just depends on your dietary needs. Which leads me to the other main reason I posted this recipe. Dietary needs.
Did you know that each recipe I create has a specific focus for your dietary needs? Hey, I try my best to keep us all feeling nourished here. And, of course I want to make sure that we can educate each other on why certain nutrients work better together.
For instance, I paired the lean beef in this BBQ meatballs recipe with a saucy orange sauce and optional broccoli rice. Oranges and Broccoli are high in Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the body absorb non heme (plant based iron) and heme (animal based) iron. And further more, heme iron also increases the amount of non heme iron your body is able to absorb. WHOA, loving this FOOD SYNERGY!
That means you’re getting more bang for your buck nutritionally when you combine the two together. You absorb more iron from the beef in the meatballs, giving you energy and . Plus you get a boost of immunity from the orange and broccoli (Vitamin C). Now we can all feel good about feeding our families and fueling our bodies. Amen amen!
Although, if you serve these meatballs as an appetizer at a football party, maybe just call them saucy and good for you. You could even serve them with veggie chips, and no one will ever know they are getting a boost of Iron. See, sneaky sneaky.
Healthy food does not have to be boring. Eating right (for you) does not have to be complicated. If you are low in iron, watching your sugar intake, and needing to push that protein, this is the dish for you. I know I sound like an ad or like a corny PBS commercial, but it is true. Food really does have its purpose. And today that purpose is to make you and your family feel superFOOD good.
I can sense you all are getting HANGRY! Saucy snappy recipe coming right up!
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Saucy Paleo 5 Spice BBQ Meatballs
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 meatballs 1x
Description
5 Spice BBQ Meatballs with Orange Hoisin Sauce (Paleo Friendly)
Ingredients
FOR THE 5 SPICE MEATBALLS
- 1 lb lean ground beef – 85% fat to 95% works best and grass-fed is best source (see notes)
- 1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon 5 spice (Asian Spice)
- 1–2 Tablespoons gluten free Tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3–4 Tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch (depends on meat – if using higher fat content, you will need more starch)
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 Tablespoon sesame seed mixed into the meatballs to mix in last, optional
FOR THE ORANGE-BBQ HOISON SAUCE
- ½ cup gluten free hoisin sauce (for paleo version, see notes)
- ⅓ – ½ cup naturally sweetened BBQ Sauce or unsweetened tomato sauce (here’s a great lower sugar BBQ sauce)
- ⅓ cup onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic or ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Cilantro and sesame seeds to garnish
See notes for what to serve it with.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Make sure your meat is cleaned and ginger is finely grated. Then place all meatball ingredients in a large bowl, add the whisked egg last.
- Using a hands or a stand mixer, mix all ingredients until combined. Add optional sesame seeds. I find a stand mixer works best to get a good even mix.
- Next Roll 5 spice meat mixture into balls (a little larger size than a golf ball)
- Place on greased or lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 450F for 12-14 minutes, turning halfway, until they are firm and slightly cooked/browned. Once cooked, discard the extra the grease or extra fat from the pan. Place the meatballs on plate in a bowl while you make your sauce.
- While the meatballs are baking, feel free to mix up your your Orange Hoisin sauce.
- Blend together all ingredients listed in the orange hoisin sauce. Best to use a hand held blender, food processor, or blender. Then pour the sauce in medium pan or deep skillet.
- Bring to a soft boil then reduce.
- Place your baked meatballs in sauce. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes turning and coating all the meatballs evenly.
- Once cooked, remove and Garnish with extra cilantro, chili pepper flakes, optional sesame seeds.
- If not serving right away, keep in sealed container in fridge or freeze for later.
I like to serve these as appetizer, with steamed broccoli rice, or cooked rice noodles.
Notes
Serve with broccoli rice, cauliflower rice, white rice, rice noodles, or even as an appetizer.
For paleo hoisin sauce, check out Eat Drink Paleo’s homemade hoisin recipe
For natural gluten free hoisin sauce, we use Wok Mei.
- If using 85% fat content meat, you will need to add 4 tablespoon of starch, versus 3. Adjust if needed.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Main, Appetizer
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 meatballs
- Calories: 280
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 1120mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 16g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 16g
- Cholesterol: 100mg
Keywords: bbq, 5-spice, meatballs, paleo, gluten free
Cotter Confession -> These are the meatballs that I hid from my husband (aka the Kiwi) so that I could have them all. If you follow me on IG stories, you will have seen my sneaky wife moves. Shame on me, but hey, at least I was well energized afterwards. Poor Husband..
What’s the first dish you made this year that left you feeling refreshed, nourished, and healthy?!
Meatball lovers, this one is for you! Veggie lovers, you can TOTALLY use this sauce and make your own veggie meatballs or cook with gluten free tempeh!
Cheers!
These were so good! I had turkey and used that. They came out great. That sauce is incredible! So much flavor.
★★★★★
These are my kind of meatballs !! I love these ! Love the pork and the green onions with the Orange Hoisin sauce 🙂 Yummy !!
★★★★★
Glad it worked out Adela!
Hi,
Do you think the meatballs can be cooked in advance, then frozen, then put sauce and frozen meatballs in crockpot? Do you think the sauce would burn up?
Hi Heather! Yes, you could totally cook the meatballs in advance and freeze for later. Simply thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before adding to a crockpot with the sauce and heat on low for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.
Welp, this didn’t go as planned. The meatballs just wouldn’t come together. I added 5 Tbs. of arrowroot powder trying to get them to meld, but it made them taste chalky in the end. The sauce was excellent, but I think next time I’ll use gf oat flour instead of arrowroot.
★★★
That’s so strange! I’ve never had that happen. Did you let the meat chill long enough, in meatball form? I would try GF flour or tapioca flour next. So sorry!
love this recipe. really tnx
★★★★★
Thanks!
I signed up just to make this comment. This recipe is INCREDIBLE.
The best meatballs I’ve ever made. I hadn’t even finished before I got up and helped myself to three more.
For the sauce, I actually used my own homemade Whole30 hoisin sauce and my own homemade whole30 BBQ sauce. Wonder if I’ll ever be able to replicate it again? 😉
Thank you so much for this!
★★★★★
Oh Dori, just you made my day! Hehe.
p.s you must share that secret sauce 😉
Yes! I’m so happy it’s the start of a new year. Definitely feeling focused and motivated! Out with the bad and in with the new! These BBQ meatballs look like they would be perfect for the Super Bowl!
★★★★★
Informative post
it was awesome.
great! Thank you for the feedback. 🙂
interesting ! Thanks for information !
Thanks for sharing
Thank you!?
I am very happy with this post Thank you for sharing this
Thank you, I appreciate it!:)
Very helpful article, Thank you for sharing. I love you
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★★★★
nice post thanks
good job site
Thank you!
Well, this is my first visit to your blog! Your blog provided us valuable information .You have done a marvelous job
★★★★★
look so beautiful and interesting-That dish looks very attractive. I will proceed to do it now!
This looks really fantastic! I loved more when it’s extra spicy.
Do you do any type of sauce or seasonings for the rice noodles you serve with the meatballs?
I used the extra sauce from the meatball pan. You could also use a little bit of sesame oil and pepper. Hope that helps!
Yumm! I have a quite similar recipe to yours. It’s very easy and fast to make! Can’t wait to try your version. Thanks for sharing.
OH i’d love to know your recipe! Do share. <3
YUMMM!
One of my favorite foods are meatballs and these are not disappointing! I would eat these any night of the week!
I would love to try these. They look sooo good!
I’m drooling all over my keyboard Lindsay! These look incredibly yummy! That sauce!!
Thank you Mary Ann! I’ll share with you any day!
These look absolutely perfect!
I like the simple recipes that are great. Looking forward to the next post.
Our 10 year old Cole would go crazy for these!
Alll the meatballs, please. These look SO good- and love that they’re virtually guilt free!
For sure! Meatballs are my weakness so guilt free makes me happy haha
Oh Gurrllll!!! I love reading your nutrition info on these posts. I’ve just taken a basic nutrition course, and it’s so interesting. Your info always get me curious. Okay. Point number 2… loving the darker background in this post. Looks gorgeous with that dark sauce and the pop of the bright rice… and lastly… that nail colour!!!!! ?
Okay. I’m done now.
OMG were you reading my mind? haha, I was just about to talk about to post this on IG and mention my love for the dark background with red nails. LOL! and the nerdy nutrition. Same brain wave! YEA!
I don’t know what I’m admiring most. The stunning photography here, or this absolutely delicious meatballs recipe. OK, probably both! Love the twist here with the addition of that orange hoisin sauce. Ha ha ha, hiding this from your husband, that’s hilarious. Mind you I’d have to hide these from Lynne so yeah, I can see why you had to do that! Remembering the one focus!!:-)
Haha yea! glad we are not alone in hiding food from spouses. What’s lynne’s favorite dish of yours?
Looks soooo good!!!
Thanks Natalie! Let me know if you try it!
These are awesome!
These look so good – cannot wait to try this recipe!
Keep me posted Michelle!
OMG that is hysterical about hiding them from the hubby. I don’t have that problem with my boyfriend. It’s hard enough to get him to eat well. You fueled your husband for years so he shouldn’t complain!
Haha true! But I’m guessing your boyfriend will start craving your food more and more!
Love the idea of using these as an appetizer!
Totally!!
Love the orange you’ve added to the sauce! This recipe makes me even more excited to get my hands on your cookbook!
Oh thank you friend!! That means so much.
You know me… I’m all about the balls! HAHAHA!
I need to try these when I get home. I immediately thought of your sriracha balls, which we loved.
Happy New Year Brother!
Yep! I thought of you when making these. Thinking… brother would love these
What delicious looking comfort food, count me in!
You’re in!
Yes! I’m so happy it’s the start of a new year. Definitely feeling focused and motivated! Out with the bad and in with the new! These BBQ meatballs look like they would be perfect for the Super Bowl!
New and feeling healthy! ?
SO MUCH FLAVOR. These sound perfect, Linds!
You’d love them friend