These Korean-inspired Turkey Gochujang Meatballs are delicious, seasoned with ginger and spices and finished with a sweet and spicy, gochujang glaze.
Korean Gochujang Meatballs
Korean Gochujang MeatballsThese Gochujang Meatballs make a great appetizer or make them a meal with some brown rice and kimchi. Also great for meal prep! I have TONS of meatball recipes here. Try these Italian Turkey Meatballs, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, Sheet Pan Turkey Meatball Dinner and these Chicken Romano Meatballs, to name a few.
I’m obsessed with gochujang, a thick, spicy red chili paste and one of the backbone ingredients of Korean cooking. I love the kick and depth of flavor that it adds to everything you stir it into — a little goes a long way.
This dish is excellent as an appetizer served with toothpicks, or make it a main dish for dinner over rice for 4 servings by increasing the the meatballs, about 5 per person.
Tips To Meal Prep Gochujang Meatballs
This also makes a great meal prep dish! To meal prep for 4 days, you will need 3 cups cooked brown rice. You can cook the rice or buy frozen brown rice for convenience (I love Trader Joes!). Divide 3/4 cup brown rice per serving with 5 meatballs and transfer to meal prep containers. I love these glass meal prep jars . Refrigerate for the week. To reheat, microwave 2 to 3 minutes, until hot. You can also freeze them in a freezer safe meal prep container, then transfer to the refrigerator the day before eating. You can see more meal prep recipes here.
How To Make Korean Turkey Meatballs
More Asian Recipes I Love:
- Easy Wonton Soup
- Asian Glazed Drumsticks
- Chicken Zucchini Stir Fry
- Grilled Bourbon Chicken
- Salmon with Maple Soy Glaze
Korean-Inspired Turkey Gochujang Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Gochujang Glaze:
- 1 tablespoon gochujang, check labels for gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce, use gluten-free soy sauce for GF
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
For the meatballs:
- 1 pounds 93% lean ground turkey
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, use gluten-free soy sauce for GF
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs, use gluten-free panko for GF
- 1 large egg
- 2 scallions, chopped, white and green part separated
For Garnish:
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
- scallion greens
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover 1 large sheet pan with foil and lightly spray with oil.
- Combine glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.
- For meatballs: Combine all ingredients from turkey to scallions (whites only) in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Using your hands, form into 21 round meatballs, about 1 oz each. Place the meatballs, evenly spaced, on the prepared sheet pan. Baked for 20 minutes in the center of the oven.
- Preheat the broiler on high and position the rack about 5 to 6 inches from the heat, second rack from the top.
- Brush the meatballs with glaze and broil about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a platter and top with sesame seeds and scallions.
- Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer or with rice if desired as a main dish.
Korean inspired meatballs but the cuisine category is Chinese, Japanese lmao
This recipe was a huge hit with my husband and teen daughter. I used “Mother In Law’s Gochujang Fermented Chile Paste Concentrate” from Harris Teeter for the glaze, and doubled it based on the comments. I also used the standard 1.3lb package of turkey – the only change to the recipe was to add an extra 1/4 cup of panko. Served with sticky rice and sugar snap peas – delicious!
So good! It was my first time making these, but they will now be on my regular rotation! So flavorful and they come together quickly! I doubled the recipe so I would have leftovers and some to freeze. So glad I did!
Wow talk about delicious! If you are looking for an Asian inspired meatball recipe this is it. I made for lunch with some jasmine rice and cucumbers. These would make a great appetizer for a party as well! I actually used the air fryer but cooked a bit too long but still delicious. I thought they were too wet when rolling them but NO it’s perfect. Mine came out to only 15 meatballs the size I made them.
Excellent! Ground turkey can be iffy because it’s bland. These meatballs are seasoned perfectly.
Delicious. One of my favorites! The flavor is wonderful. I always double the sauce and serve with rice and veggies.
I never expect a lot when it comes to ground turkey, so I was completely amazed at the amount of flavor these meatballs have. I served with rice and broccoli and my whole family loved it. Definitely double the sauce- it’s too good. I’ll be making this again for sure!
These meatballs are a family favorite. All 5 of us love them. The sauce is so good; I double it. We make this for dinner 1-2 times a month. Love the flavor.
Could make these the night before then reheat them up in the crockpot the next day? I think these would be amazing at a Pot luck I’m going to.
sure!
I make this regularly and my whole family loves it. Loads of flavor. I make a double batch so it takes me longer but even with a single batch, plan for more like an hour- 35 min is unrealistic. I spend 10-15 minutes on the garlic and ginger alone! But super tasty recipe like most of her stuff!!
Use a microplane grater for the garlic and ginger. I keep the ginger in the freezer and don’t even peel it before grating. It is very quick.
Hey, so cool to see you use gochujang in recipes! Looking forward to trying these Korean Turkey Meatballs but want to flag for your team that in the recipe, under cuisine it’s labelled “Chinese” and “Japanese.” I’m sure it’s just an oversight since your gochujang salmon is correctly labelled “Korean.” Gochujang is a uniquely Korean ingredient and it’s awesome to see you using it!
Because of all of the awesome reviews, I have these on the menu this week, but am wondering if I can make these with ground chicken breast instead of turkey? We are not a fan of ground turkey at all, and ground chicken is what I have. Thanks!
These were SO good and very easy to make. Definitely a new staple in my house.
Big hit at our house! My husband always looks so disappointed when I tell him something is made with turkey but he LOVED these!
These were amazing and super simple to make! I did a test batch early in the day thinking if the kids didn’t like them, I’d bring them to my sisters for our Sunday happy hour. They finished the entire tray within minutes and asked for another batch. That good! My first batch I (wanted but they just grabbed with their hands) served on skewers as an appetizer. For the second batch, I made the meatballs a little bigger and served over sticky rice with a shredded cabbage coleslaw side salad. Super good.
I did double to sauce so I could drizzle on the rice
soo good! I didn’t have gochujang so I subbed for sweet chili sauce, absolutely delicious!!!! cant wait to make them again! Served over rice with some veggies!
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!! Followed the recipe exactly as stated. But I doubled the glaze to pour onto rice. Thank you Gina for such a great recipe!
This was soooooo ABSOLUTELY THE GREATEST recipe!!! The only thing I did differently was to double the sauce!!!!
This was great! I didn’t have an egg, so I used 2 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce. So moist! I also made them a bit bigger and baked them for 25 minutes, flipping once halfway, before the glazing step.
I also doubled the sauce to dribble the extra over the meatballs, brown rice, and steamed broccoli.
These are outrageously good! You’re the one who turned me on to gochujang and I can’t get enough.
I serve these meatballs as a meal in bowl form over some ginger-infused jasmine rice and roasted carrots. Just outstanding. I am literally always disappointed when I reach the bottom of my bowl and feel like I could eat a whole other serving!
We typically do not like ground turkey but these meatballs were terrific!
Really tasty and Will make again! Great for tasty meal prepped lunches for the week!
I couldnt Find the gochujang paste but found the sauce ! Do I use The sauce as is or do I still Add the other ingredients for the glaze ?
Can this be made without the Gochujang sauce? Is there any replacement for it?
Loved this one!
So delicious! I made 12 large meatballs instead of smaller ones and served 3 per serving on top of half rice/half cauliflower “fried rice” and a side of roasted broccoli as a main meal.
These were quick and easy too. Happy that I discovered this recipe during football/holiday season because these will make great appetizers.
Question: if I wanted to prep these ahead of time so that all I had to do was throw them in the oven before serving, how would you suggest doing that? Cook the meatballs all the way through and then freeze, whip up the sauce just before serving, warm up meatballs in oven?
Yes that should work.
These are super easy and they taste as great as the look! I usually make a double batch so I have some for now and some for later. Great with cauli-fried rice too.
Has anyone made these with ground chicken? Was going to try it tonight
I love this recipe! I was thinking of turning it into a meatloaf. Has that been done before? Any tips would be appreciated.
Sure just form it into a loaf and use the same bake time as my meatloaf recipe.
i really want try this recipe. but i cant do spicy foods right now. do you have any suggestion
Hello! What brand of gochujang do you use? I’m looking on Amazon and some look like thick pastes while others are sauces that are pourable. Just wondering what to buy. Thanks!
Annie Chun’s
I bought kroger brans
Gina, I have been following your weekly meal plans, and they have been a lifesaver! The grocery list & ww points are such a win. Thank you for making healthy eating so much easier!
For this recipe, is there anything I can swap for the gochujang? I can’t eat anything spicy :'( I’m such a wuss! Could I use teriyaki or hoisin? Or what would you suggest?
I have made this a few times now and it truly isn’t spicy. I even doubled the sauce last time and it still wasn’t spicy. My friend who hates spicy food loved this!
I stumbled across this recipe yesterday while sitting on a plane looking for something easy/healthy/delicious to cook when I landed. I showed it to my fiance and he all but begged that I made this one. This may be too bold of a statement, but I think I can say this is my favorite skinny taste recipe I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a TON of them) Incredibly delicious, easy, and used a ton of pantry/fridge staples. When I made the grocery list, we only needed turkey, gochujang, and scallions! I love recipes that don’t require a ton of random ingredients I have to buy. I served it over the birdseye brand roasted garlic cauliflower rice and it was perfect. I one and one halved the recipe so we could have some lunch leftovers (my fiance eats a lot). Followed the recipe exactly except I only added the one egg because 1.5 eggs is hard 🙂 The meatballs were perfect! this will have a permanent spot on our menun rotation!
By chance do you know if this would work with premade meatballs?
It wont taste Asian
Absolutely right. I tried it tonight.
Either way the flavor of the glaze is amazing!
Would these be considered gluten free? Want to take them to a potluck at work. TIA
Not completely. They could be if you use gluten free ingredients as a swap.
Is there a reason not to use ground turkey breast to make these lower WW points?
You can of course, but I find it comes out dry.
I just made these today. So easy and so good! Will definitely male them again! Yummmmmmmm!
Loved these! Will definitely make again and would even serve as a party app.
Can you use Red Chili paste instead of the gochujunag? I’ve been to 4 stores and I cant find it anywhere. Thanks!
So good… thank you so much for sharing all your recipes!
All the family love them?
So yummy and very easy! I made this for lunch at work and pair it with a side of rice. I usually skip toasting the sesame seeds, just because I don’t want to do the extra work.
I just made these to prep for the week and… WOW! These are so incredibly flavorful! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
How spicy is this “gochujang”?
Not very spicy at all. Less than sriracha by far.
Gina your site is one I come back to again and again. Made these tonight and they are so good. Love the sauce. I have one question-for anyone- how do you keep your meatballs round??
Egg should keep this round and together. when i make regular meatball i just use the egg to keep them in plce
Has anyone tried freezing these? Trying to decide if I should just double the recipe!
I didn’t see any response to this, so I will experiment tonight. I’ve made this 4 times and always a hit! I’ll freeze and top with green onions and sesame seeds after thawing. Trying to find an extra appetizer for my niece’s wedding.
How were they after frozen? Cooking for one I can’t eat the same thing for 7 days lol
Fine!
These are so delicious Gina! Thanks for all the great recipes, they’re always a hit in my house!
We have a snow day today… and I’m making these, but converting them to burgers! Yum!
Loved that the Asian flavors were cooked right into the meatballs, rather than just trying to add flavor from (my daughter’s go to) sweet and sour sauce. Plus the glaze had a great extra kick. I had been looking for other ways to use the Gochujang sauce and these meatballs hit the spot. Served them with the brown rice and some lemon sesame snow peas for a tasty balanced meal. I know I can always count on your site for great recipes, and now I have another one for my files. Thanks!
The recipe looks good and I think I will try it ???? Thank you for stating to substitute GF Panko to make it GF. You might want to add a statement to the soy sauce ingredient as well. Most soy sauces contain wheat or gluten. You can buy GF soy sauce but people new to being GF might not know to replace the soy sauce. Thanks for all your great recipes!
Thanks Judy!
HI! Can you use something else instead of the Gochujang sauce? Not that I would be adverse to trying it, but I am moving in a few months, and I don’t want to buy something that I will probably only use 1x, maybe Hoisin sauce??
I loved these! I used a tablespoon measure to scoop out the meatballs and only wish I’d made a tiny bit more glaze. Also, I added a tiny bit of honey at the end. Anyhow, I served with brown rice as suggested for a main, and green beans with soy. Delish – filling yet light, and a great way to use gochujang! Thanks Gina!!!
ps: I might also try this as mini gochujang glazed meatloaves!
These were truly delicious and easy to make. A keeper recipe for sure!
These were just delicious! I actually found the Gochujang sauce at the local Walmart. I did end up having to add additional breadcrumbs to keep the mixture from being so wet. I think it was the ground turkey I had. The family LOVED them, and the recipe is officially in the rotation here. Thanks for your work!
Awesome!!
I had to double the breadcrumbs, as well. But these were delicious!
These were a home run with my family! Very tasty and easy to throw together. I served them with some leftover rice and roasted baby bok choy. Definitely going in the rotation!
These were so easy to make, and so incredibly delicious!!!! I want to try the sauce on chicken!
I made these last night- I had some Gochujang leftover from a never-made Blue Apron meal and I was so happy to get to use it! This was really delicious and overall very easy. I was trying to streamline the prep and the clean-up so I cheated and used jarred garlic and ginger but honestly, the flavor still tasted great! I think fresh is always best but I keep the other around for when I’m in a pinch. Thank you, Gina, for always providing new and delicious recipes!
You’re welcome Megan!
What can I use to sub for the Gochujang, unable to find it in the stores.
I was able to find at Wegman’s.
Nice pictures! They look delicious
If there are 16 ounces in a pound, how do manage to make 21 one-ounce meatballs??
There are other ingredients in the meatballs in addition to the meat to increase the weight.
These were insanely delicious! Made tonight with your cauliflower fried rice and I’m in heaven:)
OMG! My husband loves meatballs and he’said obsessed with Gochujang! Can’t wait to make these for him!
My husband and I really enjoyed these! Great flavors! I was shocked that they crisped up on the outside like regular meatballs because I’ve never had luck with turkey meatballs getting that crust on the outside. Another winning recipe. Thanks! 🙂
You’re welcome Jamie! 🙂
Gina, I have been looking for a recipe like this! Can you please provide a recommended time for the Instant Pot? Thank you. ♥
These looks really delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe out!
WOW! What a flavorful recipe. Nice of punch of asian flare while maintaining a healthy note. I used ground pork and honey instead of turkey and brown sugar. I also added the sesame seeds into the glaze. Definitely making these again and using the Turkey.
These turkey meatballs looks great. Thank you for sharing.
– Gustavo Woltmann
Where can I get Gochujang?
In an Asian market, or on Amazon!
World Market too!
Kroger & Target carry it in the Asian aisle!
Wow! These look delicious! I am obsessed with all of your Gochujang recipes! Your Korean beef bowl and Gochujang glazed salmon were amazing. I recently found out that I have a gluten sensitivity. Wondering if you or your readers know of a good gluten free brand?
Haven’t tried this but it has very good review on Amazon (and after looking at the ingredients and reviews i think i’m going to get some for me even though i don’t need gluten free products). Wholly Gochujang https://www.amazon.com/Gochujang-Gluten-free-Unpasteurized-Artisanal-Korean/dp/B00O2RXEVY?th=1
I use these ones 🙂 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073RVRLBZ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1
Now I’m torn! Do I make these or the Italian crockpot ones for tomorrow?
Hello! I was so excited to find this recipe. It sounds delicious, and since it’s marked “Gluten Free,” I knew it was something I could eat. Unfortunately, I see that panko breadcrumbs are an ingredient. Those are made from wheat, therefore not gluten free. Any suggestions for what to replace that with (or if binding is even necessary). Also, would you be comfortable removing the GF icon?
Thanks for the great recipe and ideas.
There are GF Panko breadcrumbs available, I have now noted that on the recipe, thanks for noticing!
No offense, but if you have Celiac’s/a gluten sensitivity, shouldn’t you know gluten-free replacements for recipes already? Or know where to search to find them?
That’s a little unkind. It seems as though it was helpful and Gina updated her post. I think you owe Kathy E an apology.
I found out I have Celiac’s a week ago, there are so many things I’m still learning. Perhaps this person is also still learning what the best alternatives are? I know I am.
It’s only breakfast time and these photos have my mouth watering! I haven’t tried Gochujang, but I’m hoping to find it in the grocery store so I can try these! They look yummy and healthy! Thanks!
Check Amazon if you can’t find it local.
These look fabulous! Thanks Gina – I am loving gojuchang paste and always looking for new ways to use it!