Thai Coconut Pork Meatballs
with Sweet Rice & Roasted Green Beans
- Fish
- Soy
- Wheat
- Tree Nuts
- Peanuts
Mad for meatballs but ready to break out of your usual routine? Well you’re in luck, because this ballin’ dish has just the thing. This week, our chefs ditched classic marinara sauce and spaghetti for a coconut-chili-lime sauce and a bed of sweet coconut-scented rice. As a bonus, they’re also throwing in tender roasted green beans and a scattering of scallions and crunchy peanuts. Say hasta la vista to pasta and prepare yourself for a Thai-inspired flavor explosion.
Ingredients
6 milliliters
Ponzu Sauce
(Contains: Fish, Soy, Wheat)
6 ounce
Green Beans
1 ounce
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
1 unit
Coconut Milk
(Contains: Tree Nuts)
10 ounce
Ground Pork
1 unit
Lime
¼ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
2 unit
Scallions
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
1 thumb
Ginger
½ ounce
Peanuts
(Contains: Peanuts)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry all produce. • Place rice in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse until water runs clear. Peel and mince or grate ginger. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens; mince whites. Zest and quarter lime. • 4 SERVINGS: Adjust racks to top and middle positions.
• Thoroughly shake coconut milk in container before opening. • In a small pot, combine ¼ cup coconut milk (you’ll use the rest later), 1 cup water, 1 TBSP butter, 1 tsp sugar, and a big pinch of salt. • Bring to a boil, then stir in rice, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until liquid has absorbed and rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. Keep covered off heat for at least 10 minutes or until ready to serve. • 4 SERVINGS: Use ½ cup coconut milk, 1¾ cups water, 2 TBSP butter, and 2 tsp sugar.
• While rice cooks, in a large bowl, combine pork*, panko, ginger, scallion whites, ponzu, salt (we used ¾ tsp kosher salt), and pepper. Form into 10-12 1½-inch meatballs. • 4 SERVINGS: Use 1½ tsp kosher salt. Form into 20-24 meatballs.
• Place meatballs on one side of a lightly oiled baking sheet. Toss green beans on empty side with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. • Roast on top rack until meatballs are cooked through and green beans are browned and tender, 14-16 minutes. • 4 SERVINGS: Divide between 2 sheets; roast meatballs on middle rack and green beans on top rack.
• When meatballs and green beans have 5 minutes left, combine chili sauce and remaining coconut milk in a large pan; heat over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by about half, 2-3 minutes. • Turn off heat. Stir in a squeeze of lime juice to taste.
• Fluff rice with a fork and stir in lime zest. Season with salt and pepper. • Add meatballs to pan with coconut chili sauce; toss to coat. • Divide rice between bowls; top with meatballs and green beans. Spoon any remaining sauce over meatballs. Sprinkle with peanuts and scallion greens. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the coconut and Thai flavors, especially in the rice; some found it too sweet or bland.
- Ease of prep: Generally easy to make, though a few found it time-consuming or had trouble with the rice.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more sauce, spices, or garlic for extra flavor; try pan-frying meatballs for better texture 🍲.
- Portions: Some felt the meal was small, particularly wanting more rice or sauce for two people.
- Texture: Several noted dry or mushy meatballs; cooking time and method may need adjusting.
Reviews from our home cooks
This dish was fantastic! So easy and delicious. Loved the coconut and lime rice that accompanied the tasty sauced meatballs with the roasted green beans all topped with scallions and peanuts. It was like dining out while eating at home.
I love Thai food and was curious about this recipe. It was yummy! Love the flavor of the rice and twist on meatballs. Always a fan of green beans. Great and different meal I really enjoyed after a long night at work.
The Thai coconut pork meatballs were fabulous. The seasonings went really well together. The beans take less time than the meatballs, so allow for that.
Meatballs were delicious - nicely balanced, moist, and tender. The coconut rice was delicious, though I'll omit the sugar next time. The green beans were lovely, if not slightly an add accompaniment to the meatball. Regardless, we will definitely be making this one again!
Very tasty meal loved the addition of the coconut milk in the rice. We steamed the green beans instead of roasting them and cooked the meatballs on top of the stove so we wouldn't have to turn the oven on. We will definitely get this one again
Never met a coconut milk I didn't like. So yummy in the rice and spicy sweet sauce. The green beans were plain but that's ok. Loved these meatballs. They were eaten too quickly!
Really delicious meatballs and rice the flavors were sweet, but spicy and tangy from the lime and chili. The problem I had was that the rice and meatballs were Asian flavors, but the green beans were made with just oil salt and pepper, was a strange addition that made for a weird side that didn't quite fit the other two.
My kids are very picky but they ate it. Next time I will cook some of the rice with no coconut milk for the kids. They like their food as basic and plain as possible. I loved the authentic Thai taste. I love green beans and the meatballs were something I never cook but the family enjoyed. We have a family of four and their are left overs.
Cooking the rice with coconut milk was fine, but it needed more water than what the recipe called for, rice didn't cook enough. Also, instructions should have had the rice & meatballs cooking at the same time. Rice was done before the meat. I also had to add my own Thai chili sauce because it was too bland. I also added crushed red peppers to give it a kick
This recipe was simple and tasty. Loved that the meatballs and rice weren't sweet I was worried with the coconut milk. Also liked the sauce for the meatballs had a little kick to it. We had this with egg rolls to fill us up a bit more. I would order this meal again.
