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Tired of your usual meatball recipe? Try these Mongolian meatballs in a sweet, savory sauce that makes a quick and super-satisfying meal!

Mongolian Meatballs

4.84 from 24 votes
Tired of your usual meatball recipe? Try these Mongolian meatballs in a sweet, savory sauce that makes a quick and super-satisfying meal!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 28 minutes
Course: Main
Cuisine: Mongolian
Keyword: restaurant-style
Servings: 24 meatballs
Author: Maggie Zhu

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 1 lb (450 g) ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic , grated
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 4 green onions , chopped

Sauce

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 4 cloves garlic , grated
  • 2 teaspoons ginger , grated

Slurry

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons water

Cooking

  • 1 teaspoon canola oil
  • 1 green onion , sliced, for garnish

Instructions

  • In a medium-size bowl combine ground beef, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, chili flakes, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Beat until the meat starts to fill sticky and bouncy. Add the breadcrumbs, egg, and green onions. Mix incorporated fully.
  • Form the mixture into 24 heaping tablespoon sized meatballs using your hands. For easy forming, grease your palm with a bit of oil to prevent the meat from sticking too much.
  • Add the sauce ingredients to a small bowl. Mix to dissolve the sugar completely.
  • Combine the slurry ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 1 teaspoon of oil until hot. Add the meatballs with some space in between. Cook without touching until the bottom turns brown. Flip the meatballs 2 to 3 times, until most of the sides turn golden brown.
  • Turn to medium heat. Move the browned meatballs to one side of the pan. Use a spoon or a few layers of kitchen paper towel attached to a pair of tongs to remove some of the excess fat that collects in the pan.
  • Pour the sauce into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring the meatballs to coat them in the sauce evenly.
  • Turn to medium low heat. Stir the slurry again to dissolve the cornstarch completely and swirl into the pan. Stir immediately and let cook until the sauce thickens. Remove the pan from the heat.
  • Garnish with sliced green onions.
  • Serve hot over steamed rice as a main dish.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 306kcal, Carbohydrates: 26.5g, Protein: 32.2g, Fat: 7.6g, Saturated Fat: 2.6g, Cholesterol: 122mg, Sodium: 1147mg, Potassium: 514mg, Fiber: 1.3g, Sugar: 12.4g, Calcium: 59mg, Iron: 19mg