This delicious meatball curry recipe combines tender, juicy baked turkey meatballs with a creamy coconut curry sauce. The addition of crunchy roasted cashews and plump raisins makes it a perfect combination of sweet and savoury. Served with fluffy rice, turkey meatballs with curry sauce is such a comforting meal.
I just love homemade meatballs and I absolutely adore curry (especially one that involves creamy coconut milk). So, it’s no surprise that I’ve been hitting repeat on this recipe for turkey meatballs with curry sauce.
It’s just the kind of thing I crave on a cold day. It’s something that you could generously pile into a big bowl with some fluffy rice, then curl up on the couch while watching a movie (perfect evening, if you ask me!).
I kept the meatballs rather simple because the sauce has tons of flavour. Plus, there lots of colorful veggies, raisins and cashews. The end result? Delicious!
How To Make It
Here is an overview of how to make this turkey meatball curry (full details are in the recipe card below):
Make the baked turkey meatballs
- Place panko bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and stir to combine so the bread crumbs absorb the milk (this will help to bind the turkey meatballs and add moisture). Let that sit for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, milk-soaked bread crumbs and seasoning.
- Roll the ground turkey mixture into meatballs.
- Place the turkey meatballs onto a prepared sheet pan and bake until they’re fully cooked through.
Note: Once the meatballs are about halfway done, you can start to prepare the curry sauce.
Prepare the curry sauce and finish the dish
- Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan, then add bell pepper, carrot, onion, ginger and garlic. Season with salt and black pepper and cook until the veggies have mostly softened.
- Season the veggie mixture with curry powder, brown sugar, turmeric and cayenne pepper, and then cook for a tad just until it’s nice and fragrant.
- Add the baby spinach and cook just until it’s wilted.
- Once the turkey meatballs are fully cooked through, add them to the pan, along with coconut milk and chicken broth. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir in a cornstarch slurry (this helps thicken the curry sauce).
- Cook until the coconut curry sauce has thickened.
- Stir in raisins and cashews (they add a lovely sweetness and texture to the curry).
What To Serve With It
My absolutely favourite thing to serve with a creamy curry recipe is fluffy rice. The rice soaks up all that delicious curry sauce and it’s just a taste of heaven in every single bite. Other than that, some warm naan is also wonderful served alongside.
To brighten the dish, a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice and a sprinkling of freshly chopped cilantro is lovely.
That’s pretty much all you need for one super satisfying meal.
Leftovers and Reheating
If you find yourself with leftovers, properly store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use within 3 to 4 days. Reheat before serving.
These turkey curry meatballs reheat like a dream! To reheat, simply place whatever you want to reheat in a sauté pan or saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the turkey meatballs and curry sauce have heated through.
Tip: If you feel it’s necessary, add a tiny splash of broth to thin out the sauce as you are heating it through.
Tips for Making Meatball Curry
- Don’t have ground turkey or prefer to use something else? You can substitute with ground chicken.
- I used a cookie scoop to measure the turkey meatballs. It holds about 1.5 tablespoons, which is a good size for each meatball. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can roll the meatballs by hand. You may want to grease your hands with a little cooking oil first (or use food-safe gloves) so the meatball mixture doesn’t stick to your hands too much.
- Try to keep the meatballs roughly the same size so they bake up evenly.
- Full-fat coconut milk is highly recommended for the recipe. It adds a richness that can’t be beat.
More Easy Curry Recipes
If you make this recipe for turkey meatballs with curry sauce, be sure to leave a comment below!
Turkey Meatballs With Curry Sauce
Ingredients
Turkey Meatballs
- ½ cup unseasoned panko bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 pound ground turkey, lean or extra lean
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Curry Sauce
- ⅓ cup raisins
- ⅓ cup roasted cashews
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 bell pepper, cut into thin strips (use whatever colour you prefer)
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned (cut into very thin matchstick strips)
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1.5 tablespoons curry powder
- 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 to 3 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk
- ⅓ cup chicken broth, I used unsalted chicken broth
- 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch, see "Notes" below regarding Cornstarch Slurry
- 1.5 tablespoons cold water, see "Notes" below regarding Cornstarch Slurry
For Serving (optional but delicious)
- Fluffy rice
- Naan
- Chopped cilantro
- Lemon or lime wedges
Instructions
Turkey Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place panko bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and stir to combine so the bread crumbs absorb the milk for a few minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ground turkey, milk-soaked bread crumbs, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Mix to combine.
- Roll the ground turkey mixture into meatballs (a cookie scoop that yields about 1.5 tablespoons is a great tool to use to measure your meatballs).
- Place the turkey meatballs onto the prepared sheet pan as you are rolling them. Spread them out in a single layer with a little bit of space between each. You'll yield about 20 to 24 meatballs, depending on exactly how large you roll them.
- Bake the meatballs for 20 to 22 minutes or until they're fully cooked through (the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit in the centre of the meatballs when checked with an instant-read meat thermometer).Note: Once the meatballs are about halfway done, you can start to prepare the curry sauce.
Curry Sauce
- Place the raisins and cashews in a small heatproof bowl and cover with hot water (this will help nicely plump the raisins). Set aside for use shortly.
- Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once melted, add bell pepper, carrot, onion, ginger, garlic and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies have mostly softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Season the veggie mixture with curry powder, brown sugar, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, just to get the flavours going and it starts to become nice and fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the baby spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, just until wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Once the turkey meatballs are fully cooked through, add them to the pan.
- Pour the coconut milk and chicken broth into the pan, then season with the remaining ½ teaspoon each of salt and black pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Mix cornstarch with cold water in a cup or small bowl until combined (this is the cornstarch slurry that will thicken the curry sauce). Add it to the pan, stirring in. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Drain the reserved raisins and cashews and stir into the pan.
- Now it's time to serve! It's great served with fluffy rice and naan, garnished with cilantro and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice over top. Enjoy!
Notes
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Valentina says
Dawn, this is my favorite type of meal. I love the warm and rice flavors, and I prefer turkey meatballs to all others. Delicious! And as always, your presentation is so pretty. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Thank you kindly, Valentina!!
Michelle says
What a comforting dish – tender meatballs nestled in a curry sauce is so warming and inviting! Perfect weeknight meal too!
David @ Spiced says
Oh what a fun combination of flavors here! We’re always looking to mix up weeknight meals, and we always (!) keep a bag of frozen cooked meatballs in the freezer. Adding a curry sauce next to those meatballs sounds quite delicious right now…great idea!