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Air Fryer Asian Meatballs made with ground turkey, rice and edamame is a healthy dinner idea or lunch and great for meal prep!
Air Fryer Asian Meatballs
If you have a package of ground turkey you’ll love these meatballs. Cooking meatballs in the air fryer is perfect for those summer days when you don’t want to turn on your oven or stove. These easy Air Fryer Asian Meatballs come together quickly and are a one-bowl meal, making them perfect for weekday dinners or meal prep. Of course, you can use your oven if you don’t have an air fryer. These meatball bowls are packed with flavor, loaded with protein, and kid-friendly. More air fryer recipes to try are these Mediterranean Meatballs, Air Fryer Salmon, and Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
Asian Meatball Ingredients
- Binder: A large egg and panko breadcrumbs bind the meat together so it doesn’t fall apart.
- Flavor: Minced garlic, grated fresh ginger, scallion whites, and soy sauce make these Asian meatballs taste amazing.
- Ground Turkey: Buy 93% lean ground turkey.
- Rice: Combine brown rice with sesame oil and scallion greens.
- Edamame: Heat two cups of shelled edamame.
- Toppings: Sesame seed, cilantro (optional), and sriracha (optional)
How to Make Asian Turkey Meatballs
- Mix the Meatballs: Crack an egg into a medium bowl and beat with a fork. Add the panko, garlic, scallion whites, and two tablespoons of soy sauce and combine. Mix in the turkey with a fork, being careful not to overdo it. Roll the mixture into 16 meatballs, about one ounce each. Place them on a
parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside. - Air Fry Raw Meatballs: Spray the air fryer basket generously with oil. Place the meatballs in an even layer, and cook them at 400°F for eight to 10 minutes, turning halfway through.
- Batch Cooking: If the meatballs won’t all fit, cook them in batches. Cover the first batch with foil, and if needed, warm them in the air fryer for a minute before serving.
- Rice: Stir the sesame oil and scallion greens into the brown rice while the meatballs cook.
- Asian Meatball Bowls: Divide the rice between four bowls, and top each with four meatballs and a half cup of edamame. Drizzle each with two tablespoons of soy sauce (and sriracha if using) and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and cilantro.
No Air Fryer? No Problem!
Bake the meatballs in the oven at 400°F for 20 minutes.
What to Eat with Asian Meatballs
I like eating these Asian turkey meatballs in a bowl with brown rice, edamame, and sriracha, but you can switch things up with whatever you have.
- Rice: Substitute quinoa, vermicelli, or soba noodles with brown rice.
- Low-Carb Base: Use zucchini noodles, hearts of palm noodles, or cauliflower rice.
- Vegetables: Swap the edamame for bell pepper, cucumber, or avocado. Or try it with this Asian Cabbage Mango Slaw or Sesame Orange Broccoli.
- Sauce: If you don’t like sriracha and want more sauce for your bowl, drizzle on some hoisin or make this Asian Carrot Ginger Dressing.
How to Meal Prep Meatballs
Leftover meatballs are perfect for meal prep. They will keep for up to four days in the fridge or three months in the freezer. You can also double this Asian meatball recipe if you want extra to freeze.
- Flash freeze them first on a parchment-lined sheet pan so they don’t stick together.
- Once frozen, transfer them to a zip-locked bag or freezer-safe container.
- Thaw them in the fridge overnight before eating or microwave them straight from frozen.
To pack the bowls for lunch, store everything in single-serving containers and microwave until warm.
Variations
- Gluten-Free Meatballs: Use gluten-free panko and tamari or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
- Poultry: Swap turkey with ground chicken.
- Panko: Regular breadcrumbs will work if you don’t have panko.
More Ground Turkey Meatball Recipes You’ll Love
- Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce
- Italian Turkey Meatballs
- Turkey Meatball Stroganoff
- Greek Turkey Meatballs
- Turkey Meatball Tortellini Soup
Air Fryer Asian Meatballs
Air Fryer Asian Turkey Meatballs with rice and edamame is a healthy meal for dinner or lunch and great for meal prep!
Yield: 4 servings
Serving Size: 1 bowl
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup plain panko breadcrumbs
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 3 medium scallions, finely chopped (greens and whites separated)
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce, plus more for topping
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
- Olive oil spray
- 3 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 cups shelled edamame, heated
- Sesame seeds, for topping
- Sriracha sauce, optional for topping
- fresh cilantro, optional for topping
Instructions
- Crack the egg into a medium mixing bowl and beat with a fork. Add the panko, garlic, ginger, scallion whites, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and mix to combine.
- Add the turkey and with the fork, mix to combine, being careful not to over-mix. Roll mixture into 16 evenly sized meatballs, about 1 ounce each, place on a parchment lined sheet pan and set aside until ready to cook. (Thoroughly wash your hands and work surface.)
- Spray the air fryer basket generously with olive oil.
- Add the meatballs in an even layer, cooking in batches if needed, and cook at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through cook time. If cooking in batches, cover the first batch in foil and, if needed, add it back to the air fryer for 1 minute to warm before serving.
Oven Method
- Bake the meatballs in the oven at 400°F for 20 minutes.
To assemble bowls:
- While the meatballs are cooking, combine the rice with the sesame oil and scallion greens.
- Add ¾ cup each of rice to 4 bowls.
- Top each with 4 meatballs and ½ cup edamame.
- Drizzle each with 2 teaspoons soy sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds then top with sriracha, if using.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Notes
Bake the meatballs in the oven at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 bowl, Calories: 483 kcal, Carbohydrates: 49 g, Protein: 37 g, Fat: 16 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Cholesterol: 130 mg, Sodium: 736 mg, Fiber: 11 g, Sugar: 3 g
Really enjoyed this! Appreciated that it was easy, quick, and healthy. I added some finely chopped carrots to the meatballs and used a garlic brown rice quinoa microwaveable rice and loved it.
Excellent! Definitely a keeper! It was quick and easy – and most importantly delicious! Cooking the meatballs in the air fryer is a must! It added an extra crisp that is often missing with ground turkey!
This was SO delicious and so easy to make. I drizzled a mayo sriracha sauce and used red onion cause that’s what I had in the fridge. Definitely a keeper!
Sooo easy and sooo incredibly delicious!! Thanks for all your recipes. They’ve been fantastic!
These are absolutely amazing!!
Thank you ever so much for all your work creating recipes! I’ve only been following for over a year, but your recipes and meal plans have helped tremendously!
The flavor was great! I had trouble getting the meatballs to form, maybe because my jarred ginger was too moist? I baked the meatballs, and they turned out well, just not as pretty as the air-fried pic. I’d make again.
Mine are not near as pretty, but they sure are yummy!!! Everyone loved them 🙂 This is our 2nd time having them
Let me say I love Skinnytaste and have many things in rotation. I also have made plenty of recipes that are bland. I usually know how to embellish while cooking just because I’ve cooked so many of Gina’s recipes. (Always double sauce, add way more garlic…). These were bland even with me adding as I cooked. Thank goodness I made the carrot ginger dressing as suggested in the preface of the recipe. It saved the dish. I made double and froze half. Think I’ll make a spicy glaze for the next batch. No disrespect. Just yet another bland recipe.
As someone who is not confident in the kitchen, this was an easy recipe to follow and dish to make — and it was delicious!
Made them in the oven with some roasted sweet potatoes because not a huge rice family. Way better than the store bought teriyaki /Asian meatballs. And edamame – big yes!
Another wining recipe from Skinnytaste. We loved these flavorful meatballs. Thank you for the recipe!
Another winner from Skinnytaste. We loved these flavorful meatballs! Thank you for the recipe.
This is my go to turkey meatball recipe. I always come back to it because my 2 year old and husband devour these. This time around, I swapped the sides for string beans and made it in the oven because I was making a triple batch. I’ve also frozen these in the past with no issues. I used pre chopped garlic and frozen ginger cubes from TJ’s and saved a bit of time prepping. 10/10
Great!!
Delicious! Will definitely make again!
There are so good! Any idea how many calories the meat balls are with out the rice and edamame?
I use a cookie scooper and 1 lb of meat made exactly 20 meatballs, which came out to 41 calories per meatball when I entered the ingredients into myfitness pal.
Loved! Not sure if the Mediterranean meatballs are better or the Asian, regardless, they will be made again and again.
Is there a way to make these in the crockpot instead?
I have not tried
Super easy to make and super yummy to eat. Didn’t even heat up my house.
SO delicious and SO filling! Don’t change a thing!
This was delicious! I love making meatballs but they’re always kind of time consuming. These were so fast & easy! No pan frying, no waiting for the oven to preheat. Cooking the brown rice took the longest time. Good flavors. Will definitely be making again!
Fantastic meatballs! I didn’t do the rice and edamame — did my own wild rice recipe – but the meatballs are definitely 5 stars in our house!
This was absolutely delicious!! So easy to make and so flavorful!! Definitely making it again!!
Made this last night with some changes because of what I had/didn’t have on hand. Jasmine rice instead of brown, no edamame, and Tabasco sauce instead of siracha. Loved the flavor of the meatballs! Thanks for another great recipe.
I have an air fryer with racks (not the basket), does that affect any cooking directions?
Should be similar!
Delicious, didn’t have edamame, used garlic sautéed broccolini. Great flavors!
Was very flavourful without alot of sauce. Loved it!
We all loved this! Meatballs were delicious!
Hi, loved the meatballs, however, I only had ground beef. I followed the remainder of your recipe exactly, great flavors
Is there a veggie option for the turkey?!🤤
In place of turkey?
Yes, a vegetable substitute for vegetarians
Yum! We loved these, I screwed up and added the scallions to the turkey and would do it again as well next time as it was sooo good! I think it needs more sauce though so we’ll add a little something next time, but super tasty and definitely a winner!
Where can I find edamame? Would it be in the produce section? I have heard of it but have never seen it at Walmart. Is it in a bag? I also shop at Costco, but again have never seen it. Thanks! Would love to try this-I love meatballs!
Its usually sold frozen.
Thank you!
Quick, easy and tasty! We paired ours with some cold kimchi. Delicious.
Love this Recipe. I used ground,chicken instead of Turkey. Turned out delicious
I have not made this yet, but I will–very soon. I’ve been on a ground turkey binge and I love my air fryer, especially in the heat of summer. Add brown rice and edamame = bingo, my taste buds are exploding. Keep up with air fryer recipes, please.
Looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it