These AIP and paleo Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs are packed with fresh herbs, veggies and spices and complemented by a mouthwatering sweet lime sauce.
Looking for a simple and delicious appetizer or meat entree? These Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs are perfect! They pack a flavorful punch and can be cooked in a variety of ways. They’re great on their own and even better with the dipping sauce!
Here are the main ingredients in these meatballs:
- ground pork – If you don’t eat pork you can substitute another ground meat. See the FAQs below for my recommendations.
- carrots – these add incredible moisture to the meatballs. Who doesn’t love hidden veggies?
- chives, garlic, fresh ginger, cilantro and mint – these give these meatballs all their flavor!
- coconut aminos – if you want to make these coconut free, you can try substituting with Red Boat Fish Sauce.
- lime juice, olive oil and maple syrup – these are the additional ingredients you’ll need for the sauce.
Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs FAQS
How do I store these?
These meatballs are a great meal prep item. They can be stored in the fridge in a seal container for 4 to 5 days or frozen raw in a freezer safe bag or container for up to a month. If cooking meatballs from frozen, you can place them directly in the air fryer, but increase the cook time by a few minutes minutes.
I don’t eat pork. Can I use another protein?
The flavors in this dish would also lend themselves well to beef. These meatballs would also be great with ground chicken and turkey as these proteins are not as flavorful.
What can I serve these with?
These are great as an appetizer or as a main course with a vibrant Spring salad, cauliflower rice, or within an AIP cassava flour tortilla or sweet potato tortilla.
Can you bake these meatballs?
The sear from a cast iron pan on the stovetop and/or an air fryer really gives these a beautifully crispy exterior. You can definitely try baking them but I would recommend doing so at a really high heat. Instructions for my preferred methods of cooking are listed in the recipe card below.
If you enjoyed these AIP meatballs you might also like:
If you tried these Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs I would appreciate it if you would give them a rating and short review. Also, be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious.
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Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs (AIP, paleo)
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
These AIP and paleo Ginger-Cilantro Pork Meatballs are packed with fresh herbs, veggies and spices and complemented by a mouthwatering sweet lime sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 1/2 TBSP fresh ginger, grated
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 TBSP mint, finely chopped
- 2 TBSP coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup carrots, grated
- 2 TBSP olive oil (if cooking on stovetop)
Sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 TBSP coconut aminos
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 TBSP mint, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground pork with salt, garlic, ginger, chives, cilantro, mint, coconut aminos and grated carrots and form into meatballs.
- If cooking on stovetop, heat a large cast iron skillet with olive oil. Once hot, add meatballs in an even layer and cook 3-4 minutes per side. Alternatively, preheat airfryer to 400F. Split meatballs into two batches and cook each batch 10-12 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, flipping or shaking the basket once halfway through.
- To make sauce, combine olive oil, coconut aminos, maple syrup, lime juice, mint and cilantro in a bowl and whisk together.
- Serve warm with sauce.
Notes
1. If you want to bake them I would recommend doing so at ~ 400F for 12-15 minutes and basting them with some of the sauce halfway through.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Appetizers
This was astoundingly good. You should be very proud of yourself! I had to use up some aging garlic, and ginger with my ground pork, and I did what I could with what I had and it was still amazing. What a great recipe. I didn’t have carrots so I made do by dicing the cilantro stems into it all for the moisture, and some other things I didn’t have, but this was SO EASY and they turned out amazing. I will make this again and again. Can’t wait to make these for my partner.
Soooooo good!!! Mine were crispy on the outside and tender inside. I left out the mint, but otherwise followed the recipe. What a great way to fancy up my ground pork – thanks so much for another great recipe – you make AIP so much easier.
Absolutely delicious! I’m addicted to these, thank you!
Incredibly simple to make and so flavorful! I did omit the mint as I knew my kids wouldn’t eat it with mint. Everyone loved it, such a great sauce! I did bake the meatballs and they took 17 minutes at 400 degrees – they weren’t dry at all – I just made sure to turn them during cooking and basted with a little of the sauce. Such a fresh flavor – surprising for a pork dish.
I have never been more grateful for my herb garden. These are delicious–so juicy and full of flavor. I’m serving them over spaghetti squash alongside your zucchini tempura recipe. *chef’s kiss* Thank you for another winner!
So glad you enjoyed, and thanks for your review as always!!
Like others said, this recipe is the BOMB !!!! It’s flavorful and easy to make. I wish I had double the recipe as 10 meatballs were not enough for dinner.
I made this recipe for a friend, and doubled it so I could have some too. I’ve made it for myself twice since then. These are phenomenal. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
LOVE THESE – I first made them for brunch (for a bunch of non-AIP friends), and it was a major hit. Have made these several times more, and have made the sauce to serve with fish and other meats.
Delicious! I didn’t make the sauce and I used fish sauce instead of the coconut aminos and they turned out great! Cooked them in the air fryer. I will definitely make these again. Thank you for a great recipe. I had all the herbs in my garden so even better
wonderful & versatile! I served these on top of a crispy, thin slices of white sweet potato as a kind-of meatball sandwich for breakfast & a few days later in cassava noodles for dinner. continued thanks!
These are super tasty and great for spring. I really dislike cilantro so I subbed parsley and left out the chives (they kill my gut) and they still tasted great! I ate them with cucumber slices and avocado.
Awesome Cally, thanks for sharing these substitutions – I know there are a lot of folks who aren’t fans of cilantro out there so this is great to know! Thanks for sharing a review xx
Put all the mix-ins in my little food chopper, chopped it up, and threw it in with the pork and it was good to go to make into balls! Super easy and very tasty.
These are sooooo yummy and so incredibly easy to make! I thoroughly enjoyed them and it was very hard not to eat the entire 1lb of pork in one sitting. I didn’t even bother making the sauce and can only imagine how that would have elevated an already A+ meatball. Thanks so much for the recipe.