Juicy chicken meatballs in a creamy coconut sauce with chunks of pineapple, ginger, lime, and cilantro. It’s a sweet-savory, island-inspired dinner that’s perfect for a weeknight.
Chicken Meatballs with Pineapple
If you’re craving something sweet and savory for dinner, these easy Hawaiian Chicken Meatballs with Pineapple Coconut Sauce are a must-try. I make Asian chicken meatballs all the time, but this was my first time pairing them with a pineapple-coconut sauce, and Tommy gave it two thumbs up. While not a
traditional Hawaiian recipe, the mix of pineapple, soy sauce, and coconut milk gives that island-inspired flavor Americans often label as “Hawaiian,” making this a fun new spin on a family favorite.
Why This Works
I like to switch up dinners and experiment with new flavors, and honestly, I didn’t expect Tommy to like this so much. I typically don’t gravitate toward sweet dishes, but he loves them, including this one.
- Sweet and savory: Sweet pineapple, tangy lime, creamy coconut milk, and savory soy sauce create the perfect sweet-savory bite.
- Tender, juicy meatballs: Ground chicken stays moist thanks to scallions, garlic, and ginger worked into the mix.
- Husband-approved: A dish that satisfies both sweet and savory lovers.
- Kid-friendly: Children often prefer sweeter flavors, so this dish is guaranteed to be a hit.
- Meal-prep friendly: These reheat well, so you can double the batch and enjoy them for lunch or an easy leftover dinner.
- Dietary Restrictions: Weight Watchers-friendly, gluten-free (if subbing panko and soy sauce), high-protein, dairy-free
Ingredients You’ll Need
Below is more info on the ingredients for the Hawaiian meatballs and sauce. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
Chicken Meatball Ingredients
- Binders: Panko breadcrumbs and an egg hold the ingredients together, preventing the meatballs from falling apart.
- Aromatics: Minced garlic, freshly grated ginger, and sliced scallions
- Salt seasons the meat and enhances its flavors.
- Ground Chicken: Use 93% lean ground chicken for a high-protein, low-fat option.
Pineapple Coconut Sauce Ingredients
- Coconut Milk is the creamy base.
- Low-Sodium Soy Sauce for a salty umami flavor
- Brown Sugar for a touch of sweetness
- Lime Juice for bright acidity
- Pineapple Chunks: For the best flavor and texture, use fresh pineapple.
- Cilantro for freshness
How to Make Hawaiian Chicken Meatballs
While the meatballs bake, whip up the coconut pineapple sauce. It only takes a few minutes! See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Make the Meatballs: Mix all the ingredients except the chicken with a fork. Then, add the meat and combine it with the other ingredients. Adding the chicken last will prevent overmixing, which can make the meatballs tough.
- Bake chicken meatballs on a parchment-lined sheet pan at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Make the Hawaiian Meatball Sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients, except the cilantro, in a skillet and simmer over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
- How to Serve: Toss the cooked meatballs in the sauce and garnish with cilantro.
Variations
- Swap panko with regular breadcrumbs.
- Gluten-Free Meatballs: Use gluten-free panko and swap soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos.
- Meat Options: Substitute lean ground turkey, pork, or beef.
- What do I do with leftover coconut milk? You could make this Mango Coconut Chia Pudding or these Raspberry Coconut Chia Pudding Popsicles with the remaining milk.
- Sugar Substitute: Replace brown sugar with honey, or if you’re watching your carbs, you can omit it.
- Pineapple not in season? Use canned pineapple.
- Hate cilantro? Skip it!
- Add some heat: Simmer fresh, diced jalapeños with the sauce, or drizzle sriracha or chili crisp over your bowl.
Serving Suggestions
These Hawaiian chicken meatballs are versatile and pair well with many side dishes. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Steamed jasmine rice is a classic base to soak up all that creamy pineapple coconut sauce.
- Brown rice or quinoa is a heartier option with extra fiber.
- Cauliflower rice keeps it light and low-carb while still absorbing the sauce.
- Roasted or steamed vegetables, like broccoli, green beans, or snap peas, add crunch and color.
- Noodles, such as udon or soba, make a great base for an Asian fusion noodle bowl. Add some edamame and shredded carrots for a nutrition boost.
How to Meal Prep Meatballs
This Hawaiian meatball recipe is excellent for meal prep, providing a simple meal option during busy weeks. Double the recipe and then freeze it in one of two ways:
- If you plan to serve it for family dinner later, store the meatballs and sauce together in one large container or a gallon-sized bag. Then, make your side dish before serving.
- If you need quick lunches, freeze the meatballs and sauce in small containers. You can even freeze them with rice or quinoa so they are ready to eat when you thaw them later.
Storage
- Refrigerate the meatballs and sauce in an airtight container for 4 days.
- Freeze for 3 months.
- Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. Then, reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through.
More Ground Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Check out these five delicious ground chicken recipes for more dinner ideas to inspire your next meal!
- Chicken Egg Roll Bowl
- Chicken Nuggets
- Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Air Fryer Meatball Subs
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Chicken Meatballs with Pineapple Coconut Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 scallions, sliced thin, white and green separated
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound 93% lean ground chicken
Sauce:
- 1 ¼ cups canned coconut milk, shake can well
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 lime, juice of
- 1 ½ cups fresh pineapple chunks, diced into ½ inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- jasmine rice, optional for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F, and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and set aside.
- Place all of the meatball ingredients except the chicken (panko, egg, scallion, garlic, ginger and salt) in a medium bowl and mix well with a fork. Add the ground chicken and mix well using the same fork. Use wet hands to shape the mixture into approximately 16 meatballs.
- Arrange the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet. Bake them until they are cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- While meatballs cook, prepare the sauce.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the coconut milk, soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and pineapple. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes to blend flavors.
- When the meatballs are done, transfer the meatballs to the skillet and gently toss with the sauce and coat well. Cook another minute then garnish with cilantro.
Okay, one last comment. Some of you may be thinking, as I did, “why not just use lite coconut milk and just save the calories”. It’s a trap! I’ve made this multiple times using the lite coconut milk and absolutely loved it. Grabbed the wrong can tonight, and IT TASTED SO MUCH BETTER. Go with the regular!
Light coconut is basically coconut milk with water so I prefer to make my own.
Absolutely delicious! It was so quick and easy to put together. We will definitely be having this again.
Are points based from whole fat coconut milk or low fat?
Why separate the green and white portions of the green onion?
Just read the comments and see this question was already answered. The recipe says to garnish with cilantro and never mentions the green part of the onions again, that’s why that question keeps coming up, haha. No biggie. I doubled this recipe and was glad I did! Delish. Thanks for another good one!
I think I already commented about how much I love this recipe, but I can’t tell you how much I love it! Like a few others, I’ve put the sauce on steroids (a little chili crisp, some fish sauce and a bit of chili flakes) and add in the veggie of the month, but frankly, it’s fine on it’s own. The new thing I’ve started is making the meatballs sans ginger and keeping servings in the freezer for easy meal prep. Plain pasta and marinara? Chicken meatballs. Unused jar of butter sauce? Chicken meatballs. Protein snack? Chicken meatballs. I love ’em. Thanks for this super versatile recipe!
Love it!
This was delicious! Can’t wait to make it again!
Pretty good and pretty easy. I cooked the meatballs in a Dutch oven with some oil then finished cooking then in the sauce. Obviously that is going to add some fat but good over jasmine rice.
This is another really good recipe, served it with steamed broccoli. It will definitely be a regular meal for us!! Thank you Gina!
I cut back on the soy sauce & added some fish sauce. This is really good!
Great!!
So delicious!! I used half in half instead of coconut milk. I used all suggested remaining ingredients and this was fantastic!!! Easy to make. A different way to combine simple flavors. Thank you!
This has gone on our monthly repeat list, really great flavor!
Good, easy weeknight recipe that’s inexpensive and quick to make. Great recipe to adjust to your tastes as well I did modify the sauce a bit, because as others have said, I felt it was a bit too runny and a little flat. I added the zest from the lime, a small amount of chili garlic paste (1/4 t), about 1t mirin, and 1/2 t toasted sesame oil. After the cooked meatballs simmered in the sauce for a couple minutes, I added a cornstarch slurry (approx 2 t cornstarch mixed with 2 t water) and that was enough to thicken it to my taste. Definitely adding this to the rotation!
I usually rate 5 stars this one missed the mark on the sauce.
Let me start on the postive the meatballs are a keeper recipe tender flavorful light I weighed each out to 36 grams. Dont roll to compact to keep the light tender texture. The sauce was a no go to acidic it just did not compliment as a whole for my family. Thank you for the meatball receipe It will be a repeat on rounds for us.
This recipe is very easy and I loved it. The rest of my family did not like it but everyone’s taste is different. I must not have simmered enough because I ended up with a ton of runny sauce. Next time I’d use less coconut milk and I’d make smaller meatballs.
This was really delicious. It was different for us but very good. My husband loved it. I did use WW spaghetti bc I was tired of rice. Will not do that next time
That was very good. I used ground turkey instead of chicken. Easy to make. We had brown rice and broccoli.
Soooo good!!! Very tasty! Made it with coconut rice, it was a big success with my family. Thank you Gina!
Can you mix the pineapple into the meat balls?
Wow! Very easy to prepare. I followed the directions/ingredients exactly.
This will be on repeat.
Great!
Very tasty and great pacing while cooking. Next time I will add some chili crisp for a bit of heat
Calorie count is wrong. I added everything up and I get 452 calories. It must be the coconut milk causing the error. Recipe was good. It was a nice change. I followed it, but added a diced medium carrot and a pint of mushrooms
My family loved this dish! I used light coconut milk to reduce calories a bit. Also, I doubled the recipe with 2lbs of ground chicken and make 16 average sized meatballs.Three of these meatballs per dish provided a hearty meal. They were probably much larger that the ones made with one pound of meat. It was really good, definitely on the repeat list!
Another 12 out of 10 skinny taste recipe. This was delicious!
Thansk you!
i liked the ease of putting this recipe together…jasmine rice in the instantpot (one of your recipes) but i wasn’t blown away by the taste. i think next time i would use some pineapple juice in place of some of the coconut milk. the pineapple really adds to the overall taste. doubled the recipe and used ground turkey.
I know I’ll love this recipe thank you
So good! Super simple and very flavorful. Next time I’ll use fresh pineapple, as I think that would add to it. I’ve saved two servings back in the freezer. I did struggle trying to figure out a good veggie that wouldn’t overpower the sauce so ended up veggie-less. Would love to hear other suggestions on that!
This was a great recipe, we used pork instead of chicken which was very tasty. Thanks Gina!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just made these last night. Incredible flavor! Loved them. Thank you.
I made this last night and it was REALLY tasty. I had to stop myself from just eating the entire thing alone. I used ground turkey and only had canned pineapple which was just fine. Not a lot of ingredients or work, just a ton of flavor, thank you!
Hi, I’m planning on making these tomorrow. Could I air fry these? Thank you.
I did my meatballs in the Airfryer 400, 10ish minutes.
I do not like coconut, is there something I can use to replace the coconut milk?
Why are we separating the whites and the green of scallion? Beans go in the meatballs?
The greens are for garnish
Soooo good!!
Have no idea if it’s good. I need potassium mg’s as my son is on a low potassium diet.
Question – why are the scallions separated (white and green parts)? The only place I see they are added is the meatball mixture. Do some go in the sauce? I am looking forward to trying this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Sorry, the green is garnish at the end
I put the scallions in the meatballs…worked well! Also used canned pineapple. I might add some juice to the coconut milk next time too.
I haven’t made this yet,so I can not rate it. I put this in the WW app and it came to 12 points per serving.
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it. Did you use regular or lite coconut milk?
I bought lite coconut milk, so that’s what I’m going to use today, I’m making it for dinner.