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These flavor packed Mongolian-Style Meatballs are made with simple, yet bold ingredients and are ready to eat in just thirty minutes! Believe me when I say you’re going to be positively addicted to this homemade sticky sauce.
Easy to make all beef meatballs coated in a Mongolian-style sticky sauce, then served over a fluff bed of white rice? Count me in!
These meatballs are perfect for an easy weeknight dinner at home, entertaining party guests, or as an appetizer. However you serve them up, Mongolian-style meatballs are going to satisfy and impress!
The sticky sauce is the real star of the show here, honestly.
You only really need five ingredients to make it, six if you count the optional red pepper flakes (which I cannot recommend enough if you like a little spice).
Notes of salty soy sauce, sweet brown sugar and savory fish sauce are the most predominant flavors at play in the sauce that will have you going back for every last drop.
And it bears repeating – this recipe is SO easy! The ingredients for the meatballs just need to be combined, then they’re baked in just a few minutes to perfection.
While they bake, the sticky sauce needs to be made by just combining all ingredients in a saucepan and stirring over medium heat until sticky… Seriously, these scrumptious Mongolian-style meatballs couldn’t be more delicious or easy to make.
Ingredients
The meatballs call for:
- Ground beef – I love beef meatballs for this recipe, but turkey or chicken can be substituted to better fit your diet.
- Onion – A yellow or white onion will work.
- Panko breadcrumbs – This kind of acts as a thickening agent that keeps the meatballs in the perfect shape.
- Garlic powder – Toss a little extra in there if you want… I won’t tell!
- Soy sauce – Low-sodium soy sauce or tamari are best to keep the meatballs from being too salty.
The scrumptious sticky sauce needs:
- Water
- Brown sugar – Light or dark brown sugar will both do the trick.
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce – Hoisin sauce is a good substitute if you have a fish allergy.
- Garlic powder
- Red pepper flakes – Even if you’re not into spicy food, a tiny sprinkle of these flakes adds the perfect amount of flavor!
Can I use frozen meatballs?
Okay, so here’s the deal – yes, the sticky sauce can coat cooked meatballs, whether they’re made fresh or from frozen.
However, with the very short prep required to make the homemade meatballs, it’s so worth that minimal added effort! I find that my homemade meatballs are always better than frozen.
Can I use another ground meat?
Ground turkey or ground chicken would work but they have less fat so they might be a bit on the drier side.
I would suggest finding dark ground turkey if you’re going the turkey route!
Ground pork would be lovely too but it’s fattier so you might get more fat run off on your baking pan so make sure you use a rimmed one!
What can I serve Mongolian-style meatballs with?
I love putting it over a bed of white rice and then drizzling extra sauce on top!
Meatballs are the perfect appetizer or easy dinner! Here are more of my favorite meatball recipes.
One-Pot Sticky Asian Meatballs
Moroccan Turkey Meatballs
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Mongolian-Style Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound (454 g) ground beef, 85/15 or 90/10
- ½ onion, chopped
- ½ cup (30 g) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
For the sticky sauce:
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) water
- ⅓ cup (73 g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (59 ml) low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (204 °C). Grease a baking pan.
- In a bowl combine the ground beef with the onion, panko, garlic powder and soy sauce. Mix until the ingredients are just combined and don’t overwork the mix.
- Scoop out 1 tbsp beef and shape into a ball. Place in the baking pan and repeat the process with the rest of the meatballs. Spray with oil and take to the oven.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until done. Remove from the oven.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan stir together the water, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and garlic powder. Cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until the sugar is caramelized and the sauce is sticky.
- Transfer the baked meatballs to the sauce and toss to coat.
Amazing! Made it for dinner tonight and my husband was not very excited when I told him I was going to try it out buttttt after his first bite he was sold! The meatballs turned out perfect and the sauce is deliciously sweet and sticky. We served it with brown rice and broccoli with a dash of everything but the bagel seasoning since we were out of sesame seeds. Will definitely be adding to our regular rotation!
Made this when my in-laws were visiting this past weekend, and it got rave reviews from everyone! I stir-fried some veggies and served those alongside the rice and meatballs. I will definitely make this again!