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One of the most popular recipes from my blog is this Whole30 Mongolian Beef. It’s been around forever, and you guys just can’t get enough of it. Another thing that *everyone* loves is meatballs. So when I had some ground beef the other night in my fridge but was craving Mongolian Beef I thought, let’s make Baked Mongolian Beef Meatballs. Great decision.
With this recipe, everything is done right in your oven to help make for an easier clean up and less brain work. The end result is a delightful new savory meatball recipe that will scratch the itch for your take-out Chinese-American cravings in a fun, new Whole30 way. I love that these meatballs can be served for dinner (alongside some rice, cauliflower rice, sautéed veggies, or roasted veggies) OR they could make for a super fun appetizer at a party!
ingredients:
- Avocado Oil
- Ground Beef
- Large Egg
- Coconut Aminos
- Arrowroot Flour
- Fresh Ginger
- Garlic Cloves
- Kosher Salt
- Ground White Pepper
- Green Onions
- Toasted Sesame Oil
- Rice Vinegar
- Fish Sauce
- Beef Broth
- Ketchup
- Cayenne Pepper
- Toasted Sesame Seeds
want more delicious meatball recipes? check these out!
Meatballs with Basil and Burst Tomatoes
Chicken and Scallion “Dumpling” Meatballs with Chili-Sesame Drizzle
Sichuan-Inspired Wonton Meatballs in Chili Oil
Baked Mongolian Beef Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 pounds 85% lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos I like Big Tree Farms Brand
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot flour
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (from about 1/2-inch knob of ginger)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion, white and light green parts only
For the Sauce:
- 1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoon arrowroot flour
- 1/4 cup beef broth
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
For Serving:
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 thinly sliced green onions, green parts only
Instructions
Make the Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and drizzle the oil in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef, egg, coconut aminos, arrowroot, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, and green onions. Using your hands, mix until the meat is just combined (try not to overwork the meat here).
- Roll into 1½-inch round meatballs and place in the prepared baking dish. Bake in the oven until cooked through and lightly browned on the edges, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sauce:
- In a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk until well combined. Set aside until the meatballs are done.
Finish the Meatballs:
- When the meatballs are browned and cooked through, remove them from the oven (but keep the oven on). Using tongs, carefully transfer the cooked meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate. Discard the excess fat in the bottom of the baking dish and using a paper towel, gently wipe down the inside of the dish.
- Place the cooked meatballs back into the dish and pour the prepared sauce over the meatballs. Transfer back into the oven and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 8 minutes.
- Remove from oven and transfer meatballs to a serving plate. Spoon sauce over the meatballs and then garnish with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How many carbs. Please list your nutritional contents on your recipes.
Now that we have Sidedish, would the creamy sesame sauce work vs the scratch sauce? How would they compare?
Love how you’re thinking! I’d recommend this recipe using with SideDish Creamy Sesame: https://getsidedish.com/blogs/recipes/creamy-sesame-meatballs
If were serving these for a cocktail party could I make the meatballs a day ahead, then make the sauce the following day and add to meatballs in a crockpot and set on warm after I thicken sauce on the stovetop? Looking for an easy way to serve while not trashing my kitchen hours before the party 🙂
Yes, that should work great and would be such a fun way to serve a crowd!
Absolutely amazing, one of her bests! I heated up the sauce in a sauce pan and it congealed and thicken nicely. Then I put it on top of the meatballs. So delicious.
These are absolutely incredible Alex! I have both the books but was looking for a recipe and it’s in pretty heavy rotation now. Even my daughter that doesn’t like beef loves these. Love it! 100/10 recommend.
Can I substitute tomato paste for the Ketchup?
yes that should be okay– just keep in mind it’s a little thicker– so you may need to loosen up the sauce a bit.
How many meatballs does this make?
Sooo good! We made half the amount of meatballs with the same sauce portions for the 2lbs of beef. Instead of pouring the sauce over the meatballs and putting back into the oven, we did that part on the stove top and let the sauce thicken. Definitely will be making again!!
My husband and I love these. He’s on a strict low Fodmap diet and all I had to do was eliminate the garlic from the recipe to make it work. It still SLAPS without the garlic. We also love the Mongolian Chicken and Beef recipes but find the meatballs to be easier since we don’t have a large pan to fry up all the meat.
Ugh, I hate giving any Defined Dish recipe less than four or five stars but these just didn’t hit the mark. I opted to pick this for dinner based on reviews so I felt I owed it to add mine.
I cooked them exactly as instructed. They worked out fine as far as texture and preparation go but my fiancé and I both agree they won’t be in our rotation. The sauce tastes amazing but once it cooked with the meatball it kind of disappeared. The sauce lost the flavor punch and all you really tasted was the ground beef.
We are fortunate to have lots of other Defined Dish recipes that exceed our expectations and pack the flavor punch (Thai basil beef, epic meatballs and pepper chicken are favs) so always willing to give Alex’s recipes a try!
I’ve tried it with ground turkey also and the flavor is much more obvious! I think I actually prefer it with turkey over beef, even though we love beef. I’d recommend turkey before signing it off the rotation!