This recipe combines all of the best parts of a stir fry with flavors from this yummy noodle dish and throws it in an irresistible bowl of flavor that you’ll come back to time and time again.
These sesame chicken meatballs are super juicy and absolutely delicious paired with crispy broccoli. Everything is simmered in a wonderful, sweet and spicy sesame ginger sauce that’s lick-the-plate good. There are hints of fresh ginger and herbs, plus some red chili paste in every bite for a little spice. Add your fav sides like my fluffy coconut rice for the perfect sesame chicken meatball bowls that make the best meal prep!
I’ve included tons of different ways to serve these meatballs so that no two times will be the same! What are you waiting for?! Cook everything up in one pan and enjoy the perfect weeknight dinner.
What you’ll need to make these sesame chicken meatball bowls
There’s something so satisfying about a warm bowl of delicious flavors that all come together. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- For the sweet & spicy sauce: you’ll need low-sodium soy sauce, some water, sesame oil, sesame seeds, fresh ginger, red chili paste, garlic, brown sugar, and arrowroot or cornstarch to thicken it up.
- For the meatballs: we’re using some lean ground chicken, an egg, panko breadcrumbs, diced up cilantro & green onion, fresh ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper to get super flavorful, juicy meatballs. You’ll also need toasted sesame oil to cook them.
- For the broccoli: all you’ll need is chopped up broccoli and sesame oil!
- For serving: we love to serve these meatballs with my famous coconut rice and garnish the bowls with scallions, cilantro and chopped roasted peanuts. SO GOOD.
Customize your meatball bowls
The ginger sesame chicken meatballs and the bowls themselves are easy to customize with what you have on hand. Here’s what I can recommend:
- Make them gluten-free: feel free to use gluten-free breadcrumbs or 2-3 tablespoons of coconut flour to keep the meatballs gluten-free. Be sure to also use gluten-free soy sauce, coconut aminos, or tamari.
- Swap your veggies: we love these bowls with broccoli, but green beans or brussels sprouts would also be delicious! Feel free to add more veggies, too, like red bell pepper, carrots, snow peas, and mushrooms.
- Go paleo and/or grain free: use the above method for making the meatballs gluten & grain free, and then serve everything with cauliflower rice, sweet potato noodles or zucchini noodles! You’ll also want to use coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar and coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce to keep the sauce paleo.
More protein options
If you’re out of ground chicken, feel free to use ground turkey or even cubed chicken breast in this recipe.
Make this recipe vegan or vegetarian
To keep it vegan or vegetarian, use extra firm tofu and follow this method:
- Remove all excess water and liquid from the tofu by pressing it out.
- Cube the tofu and use it instead of chicken in step 3. You’ll want to get it nice and crispy and golden as much as you can.
- Follow the rest of the recipe as written!
Get extra saucy
Feel free to double the sauce mixture in the recipe. We’ve had comments that readers felt like there wasn’t enough sauce, but this is likely due to the fact that the heat was too high and evaporated/cooked down most of the sauce quickly.
How to make sesame chicken meatball bowls
You’ll just need one pan and a few simple steps to put these delicious bowls together!
- Make your sauce. Start by whisking together the sweet & spicy sauce until it’s well combined.
- Shape the meatballs. Add all of the ingredients for the sesame chicken meatballs to a large bowl and use clean hands to form 16 golf ball sized meatballs. See our tip below for preventing any sticking!
- Cook the meatballs. Next, cook all of the meatballs completely in a little sesame oil. You may need to do this in batches depending on how large your skillet is.
- Cook the broccoli. Remove the cooked meatballs from your skillet and crisp up the broccoli in a little more sesame oil. Make sure it still has a bite to it but has some nice golden char in places!
- Mix in the sauce. Add your meatballs back to the skillet with the broccoli and pour over that sweet & spicy sauce. Cook everything on low for a couple of minutes to let the sauce thicken up a bit.
- Make your side & serve! Finally, add your meatballs and broccoli to a bowl with some cooked rice (or any of the sides we love below) and top with scallions, cilantro and chopped peanuts, if you’d like!
Don’t forget this trick when forming meatballs
If you’re using your hands to form meatballs, I recommend wetting your hands, coating them in a little olive oil or spraying them with a little nonstick cooking spray to prevent the mixture from sticking. So easy!
Try adding these to your sesame chicken meatball bowls
As I mentioned, these meatballs are incredible served with my go-to coconut rice recipe, but they’re also amazing served with:
- My homemade green rice
- Black rice (or forbidden rice)
- Sweet potato or zucchini noodles
- Cauliflower rice for a grain free, low carb option
- Fluffy quinoa
- Rice noodles — try adding the meatballs & broccoli to this recipe!
Make-ahead chicken meatballs
Looking to save a little time? You can actually make these meatballs ahead of time and cook them up when you’re ready.
- Mix and form the meatballs as directed in the recipe.
- Cook them as directed and store them in the fridge for up to 2-3 days until you’re ready to continue with the recipe, OR place them raw on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tightly cover the meatballs with plastic wrap.
- Put the raw meatballs in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. You can prep these meatballs 1-2 days ahead of time.
- Once ready to cook, simply follow the recipe as written. Start at step 4 of the recipe if you’ve already cooked your meatballs ahead of time.
Freezer-friendly meatballs 2 different ways
- Cook first, then freeze: simply place your ginger sesame chicken meatballs, sauce, and broccoli in a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag and freeze it all for up to 3 months. *Be sure not to overcook the broccoli when freezing. When you’re ready to enjoy, let your container of meatballs, sauce & broccoli thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, and then empty the contents into a pan on the stovetop. Heat them in your pan until they’re nice and warm, and then serve!
- Freeze before cooking: you can also freeze these meatballs before cooking them! Form your meatballs as instructed, place them on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This is called a flash freeze. Then, transfer your frozen meatballs to an airtight, freezer-friendly bag or container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw them, simply place them in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight and then cook them in your skillet as directed in the recipe.
More one pan meals you’ll love
- One Pan Sazon Skillet Chicken
- Sheet Pan Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Cauliflower
- One Pan Ginger Chicken Meatballs with Peanut Sauce
- One Pan Creamy Thai Peanut Chicken Couscous
- Firecracker Chicken Meatballs with Cilantro Coconut Pineapple Rice
Get all of our delicious one pan meals here!
I hope you love these sweet & spicy sesame chicken meatball bowls! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Sweet & Spicy Sesame Chicken Meatball Bowls
Ingredients
- Sweet and Spicy Ginger Sesame Sauce:
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon red chili paste (such as sambal oelek)
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch (or sub cornstarch)
- For the meatballs:
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 pound lean ground chicken (or sub ground turkey)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup panko or gluten free breadcrumbs
- 2 green onions, finely diced (about ¼ cup green onion)
- ½ cup finely diced cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the broccoli:
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 3-4 cups broccoli florets
- For serving:
- Coconut rice or brown rice
- Scallions
- Cilantro
- Chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, water, sesame oil, sesame seeds, red chili paste, ginger, garlic, brown sugar and arrowroot (or corn) starch.
- In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, green onion, cilantro, garlic, ginger, cayenne, salt and pepper. Use clean hands to mix and form into 16 golf ball sized meatballs.
- Place a large deep skillet over medium-high heat and add in sesame oil. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides and cook until done and the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F. This should take about 10-12 minutes total. You may need to do this in batches, depending on how many meatballs you can fit in your skillet without overcrowding them. When the meatballs are done cooking, transfer them to a plate and set aside. Keep the heat in the pan.
- Wipe the skillet clean and add in 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Next add in broccoli florets, and cook, stirring frequently, for 6-8 minutes or until broccoli is slightly tender but still has a bite. The broccoli should get somewhat charred and slightly golden and crispy in places. Yum!
- Add chicken meatballs back to the pan with the broccoli and pour the sauce over, simmer on low until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2-5 minutes.
- Serve over rice of choice (we love my coconut rice!) and top with scallions, cilantro and chopped peanuts if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on September 15th, 2021, and republished on May 31st. 2026.
Wow! Delicious. Kid and adult friendly. Didn’t have broccoli so I used cauliflower instead. Will make this again. Especially liked that you could prep many items ahead of time.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
These were just okay. Way too salty with regular soy sauce, which masked the other flavours.
Sorry to hear that! Feel free to use reduced-sodium soy sauce next time if you’d prefer, and I’ll note that as well.
Hi! I’m not a big fan of spicy food. Can the chili paste be left out or will that or will it alter the taste too much! Looks yummy 😋 thanks so much!
Feel free to just add a teaspoon or so, or omit it! It will still be delicious 🙂 You can always whisk the sauce up without it, taste, and then add a tiny bit at a time if you’d like.
Delicious! Whipped this up as a weeknight meal and it was not only easy peasy, it was delicious! My kiddo asked for it to be put in the weekly rotation! I accidentally added the sesame oil to the ground chicken but it still turned out so good! Can’t wait to have the leftovers today at lunch!
Perfect! So glad it was a hit!
Loved this! Was an easy recipe to throw together but packed with flavor! Had just the right amount of spice. Definitely will add into our rotation. Loved that it was a quick one for weeknights, too
So happy to hear that! One of our favs, too 🙂
This sauce is sooo good! One cautionary tip so you don’t make the same mistake I did… I used premade AmyLu’s chicken meatballs, which we love, However, combined with the sauce it was way too salty. So if you use premade meatballs, consider reducing the soy sauce to lower the salt content. Still, it was a keeper and very good. I also used Gochujang hot pepper paste (used half of what it called for because it’s spicy), and it worked out great for my family, who loves spice. Served over brown jasmine rice. Will definitely make again!
Thank you for giving this one a try!
Very tasty! thank you!
So glad you enjoyed!
Hi. I have a question about the sesame oil.
I was just reading your recipe for Chicken Meatballs in Pumpkin Curry Sauce.
A commenter asked about using toasted or plain sesame oil for frying. You said that you “usually use untoasted sesame oil for sauteeing because it won’t burn as easily at a high heat. I’d recommend that for cooking the meatballs, and the toasted kind in recipes where it doesn’t need to be heated up so much”.
So, now I’m confused with this recipe, where you actually do ask for toasted sesame oil for the frying of the meatballs and the broccoli.
Just wondering if you could help in knowing which oil to use here.
Thanks so much
Hi! Thank you for the catch here 🙂 My previous comment was cautionary because toasted sesame oil has the potential to burn at very high temperatures. I’ve since used it for sauteing many times and have never run into the issue!
Love these! If you do a refresh, might I suggest putting in a reminder earlier in the recipe paragraph text to start the rice? Maybe it’s just me, but I always forget until it’s time to serve!
Yes – thank you for the tip! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This is is so so good!
Another explosion of flavor from AK!! The sauce is to die for!! I think I might double the amount of sauce and broccoli and use a bigger pan next time. The broccoli soaks up the sauce in the most delicious way, but it threw off the sauce ratio to my liking since I like things saucy, ha. Thank you Monique!
Definitely double the sauce next time to get extra! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Hubby and I loved the meatballs and have put the recipe into our rotation! I did make a couple minor tweeks based on what I had on hand–frozen brocolli and some dry spices but the recipe as written is super flavorful and delicious. Thank you! I made and reviewed this on my YouTube channel. Jackie
Perfect!!
This was a triple thumbs up! My family LOVED it and told me it’s a keeper. Thank you for a great recipe that we will enjoy over and over.
Amazing!! I’m so glad 🙂
I made this recipe. I doubled as I have a bigger family. Then I doubled the sauce. Served it with white rice and chopped roasted peanuts on top.
Changes: 1. Ran out of fresh ginger so used chopped jarred ginger. 2. Did 1/4 less of chili paste in sauce as didn’t want it too spicy. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
Key points:
– prep time is longer than 20 minutes.
– Watch that your sesame oil isn’t too hot when cooking meatballs.
– I regret using so much cayenne pepper in the meatballs as they were far too spicy. 🙁
Family didn’t hate but didn’t love it. I wouldn’t make again. There is better Asian recipes out there and for the work and money of this recipe, it wasn’t worth it.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t love this one!
Can you bake the meatballs instead?
Yes, absolutely!
Made this for my son and daughter in law…. Said it was great … definitely a keeper! Made it with ground turkey and doubled the recipe
Love that!!
This is soooooo good!! I did cook it a little differently, I baked the meatballs and broccoli. Cooked the sauce in a sauce pan then added the meatballs. Definitely double the sauce! It’s incredible, can’t wait to make this again!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
This recipe is *chef’s kiss*. I excluded chili paste and subbed a little sweet chili sauce to reduce the heat for my kids, but it still came out delicious! Truly one of the best meals I have cooked recently (and I try 1-2 new recipes a week). I’ve since gotten 3 other people to make this dish and they also all raved about it. It comes together so easily and is full of flavor! Will be a staple dinner in our family for sure.
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
Discovered your meatballs last month and have made them every week since as an easy weeknight staple! I love this one and your pumpkin meatball curry. The breadcrumbs in the meatballs really crisp up on the outside, tastes more indulgent than they are!
Amazing! So glad they’re a favorite!
Made as-is and it was delish. Thank you for yummy, healthy recipes.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’ve been using recipes from this website for both my baking and for my weekly meal preps. From the other one pan curries to this recipe, I love this variation on the lean ground chicken meatballs!
I give this one 4 stars: I followed this recipe EXACTLY, it is just way too salty for my taste. Still yummy, but overpowering. I use lite reduced sodium soysauce as well. The sauce is really good, I think it just got too salty with the meatballs also having salt added to it. So next time I’m going to hardly salt my meatballs, then knock the soy sauce in the sauce down to 2 tbsp.
Sorry to hear that this one was too salty for you! Everyone’s salt preferences are a bit different and I always want to make sure my recipes are perfectly seasoned. Absolutely feel free to reduce the salt and/or soy sauce to help.
I made these yummy chicken meatball bowls and felt very ambitious!
Love that!!
Delicious! I had to improvise somewhat since I didn’t have the ability to cook on the stovetop, so I baked the meatballs at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and they were fantastic! I made the suggested coconut rice and that was so tasty, as well! I look forward to making this properly on the stovetop for what I assume will be a thicker sauce but it was delicious anyhow, this recipe is a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing! 🫶🏻
Great idea to pop them in the oven! Glad they still turned out delicious 🙂
We enjoyed this! Made exactly as stated. The only comment I have is that prep took me a lot longer than estimated. That being said, you could easily prep everything earlier in the day and just bring it all together at dinner time.
Yay! So glad you are loving this recipe, Kathy. You could totally prep everything ahead of time and the more you make it the quicker it is to throw together.
So good! Pretty easy, will definitely be quicker next time. I did added carrots and snap peas for additional veg!
YUM! I am so glad you’re enjoying this recipe and it turned out great for you ❤️
This was not only delicious but super easy to make. I love how you lay out all of the individual ingredients. I was out of sesame sauce and it still tasted amazing. I served it with the coconut rice. My husband loved it, will definitely make again!!
Aw thank you, Jessica!! SO happy you both loved this one!
So delish! Thank you for the recipe. A hit with my fam including my teenagers who thought ground chicken sounded like a bad idea. I did double the sauce since everyone at my house likes lots of sauce.
Yay! I am so glad to hear that this recipe is a hit for your whole family! 🙂
Unfortunately this turned out SO salty. We couldn’t eat it. Maybe it was the soy sauce I used since it was dark.. I would say make sure to use a low sodium one or a light soy sauce.
oh no! So sorry this recipe came out too salty, it most likely was the amount of sodium in your soy sauce, i would definitely recommend low sodium soy sauce. Hope you give this recipe another try!
Not 4 but 5 stars! For some reason it wasn’t accepting 5 star rating! My family loved it. I used miced pork, only because I had it in the fridge and added stale white roll soaked in milk (squeezed after it absorbs the liquid) to the mix (I think it made it softer). Agree on the amount of sauce. Make double or triple portion as it is delicious and get soaked in meatballs and rice. Thanks for that inspiration. I will definitely use the recipe again! Greetings from England
AMAZING! I am so excited to hear that you and the family are loving this recipe and it turned out great for you ❤️🙂
I made this last night and I think it’s my new favorite recipe! The sauce is so amazing! #AKRecipeoftheMonth
These were really delicious although I improvised and roasted the broccoli and meatballs for about 20 minutes at 400° and served the sauce separately. Next time I will toss the meatballs in the sauce because it was so flavorful and will serve over coconut rice. Definitely a repeat recipe!
Sounds delicious! Glad you are enjoying this recipe ❤️🙂
This was a huge hit with me and my husband! As someone who’s usually not into ground chicken he didn’t bat an eye! We couldn’t get over how dynamic all of the flavors were from the ginger to the chili paste. It definitely has a kick but in such a yummy way. We had broccolini and used that and it worked perfectly. Definitely making again!
Ahh this is amazing! So glad you both are loving this recipe 🙂
This meal tasted great, but it is hardly a weeknight meal. I’m an experienced cook and it took an hour and a half at least. I think the method could be improved upon for sure. Personally, browning the meatballs in one pan (or in the oven), while cooking the broccoli at the same time in another pan would save time. I had to wash the pan after browning the meatballs anyway because they take so long to cook through, and just wiping it out wasn’t going to cut it. Yummy but would love a sheet pan version!
Does the sauce require plain sesame oil or the toasted variety? Thank you!
Just plain sesame oil. Hope you enjoy this recipe!
This meal is freaking bomb. It explodes with flavor and it’s just as delicious the next day! definitely something I crave every week now haha.
You can also easily make this with chicken thighs or breast. So good!!
YAY!! I’m so glad you love it!!
This was a super tasty recipe. I’d say it made three solid servings. Only got 11 “golf ball” sized meatballs out of the pound of meat. Used canola oil for frying the meatballs instead of sesame bc I don’t think sesame oil lends itself well to high temps. Will definitely make again!
Happy you enjoyed it, Allie! Totally fine to use canola oil if you prefer 🙂
Oh my word these were delicious. I baked the meatballs as suggested in a few comments which worked well. I left out the ginger so my kids would eat it and it was still fantastic. Definitely a new weekly rotation meal. Very quick and easy. We are finishing our Friday night with your fudgy flourless brownies. Thank you AK for always having the best recipes!
Thank you, Jami!! SO happy you and the fam loved this one 🙂 Glad you’re here!
First off, your recipes are so incredibly flavorful! That is a must for me when I am cooking! The sweet and spicy sesame chicken meatballs were a total flavor bomb! Yay! They were a little bit spicy for me so next time I think I will half the chili paste and cayenne (but my husband loved the spice kick!) My meatballs fell apart a little and had more of a “stuffing” crumbly texture. I will half the amount of bread crumbs next time and see if that helps. I cooked lo mein noodles to serve with this meal and “oh my yum!” This one will definitely go in the meal rotation. Thanks for another winner!
Thank you so much, Heather!! Glad you enjoyed these. And good call to reduce the amount of spice + bread crumbs next time 🙂
I made these for my fiancé and his words were, “you killed it on the meatballs!” He loved the flavors, the crunchy broccoli and sweet-like coconut rice. I used turkey instead of chicken and I served it with Vigo coconut ginger rice.
Woohooo! So glad you both loved this one!
Yet again, a fantastic dinner! I don’t have a straight red chili paste so I used gochuhuang paste and I used half the amount of coconut sugar to keep it less sweet. I didn’t have quite enough broccoli so added some sliced red peppers and doubled the sauce since my hubby loves sauce. It was perfect served over brown rice!
Perfect! This one’s great for customizing 🙂
really good, i think the greens were a bit too much but overall really good
Happy you enjoyed it! Do you mean there was too much broccoli in the bowl?
#AKDinnerParty
This was a great dish! I ate the chicken, salsa, corn, and sauce over some lettuce. I really liked the cashew sauce- a different flavor profile than what I’m used to and it was refreshing.
It was wonderful, a little spicy with a perfect kick! Loved it you will too
So happy you loved this one, Nancy! 🙂
#AKDinnerParty This recipe is simple, easy, and delicious. I make this for my wife and me a couple of times a week and swap out the protein. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy you both loved it, Theo! Thanks so much for leaving a review 🙂
Such a flavorful recipe. I will definitely be making it again. For more hands-off cooking, I threw the meatballs in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes and a broccoli and cauliflower mix in the airfryer at 400 for about 12 minutes, Tossed both in the sauce (warmed up on the stove) and it was perfect! Didn’t double the sauce and had plenty for the meatballs and the veggies. It was absolutely delicious!
Ooh great idea to air-fry them! Sounds amazing 🙂 Glad you loved the recipe!