40 Days of Clean Eating: Korean Meatballs

Day 11 of 40

Originally posted on Cooking Up Clean [Photo credit: Kari Lund]

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 20 min

Yield: about 20 meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons gochujang pepper paste (or use Sriracha sauce)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon rice flour (optional)
• Greens of four scallions, chopped (save white part for sauce)

Sauce Ingredients:

• ½ cup tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos (low sodium is preferred)
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 4 scallions, white part only, chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon gochujang pepper paste (or use Sriracha)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger (from about a 2″ piece)
• ¾ cup water
• 1 tablespoon starch of any kind (potato starch, corn starch, tapioca starch)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, add ground beef with egg, rice flour, garlic, onion greens, and gochujang.
3. Mix together using your hands until all is thoroughly combined.
4. Shape into 1-1.5″ balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from oven. Top with sauce and serve immediately or place in a crockpot along with the sauce to keep warm while serving.

Sauce:

1. While meatballs are baking, combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepot.
2. Heat sauce ingredients while whisking until thickened to a BBQ sauce consistency.
3. Pour over meatballs and serve hot.

Notes:

You can also make up the meatballs in advance and freeze them. Reheat before serving and then top with fresh made sauce.

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