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Quick, Easy & Delicious! That sums up this Asian Stir Fry with Turkey Meatballs perfectly!
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Whipping up a stir fry is my go-to for a healthy & quick dinner and this Asian Stir Fry recipe is my all time favorite! It's easy to forget how healthy this dish is when you are devouring the ginger spiced turkey meatballs, all the bright flavors of perfectly cooked veggies, and when you get an orange slice... it's like you found a slice of heaven. Flavor is key when eating healthy and this Asian Stir Fry packs a flavor punch like you wouldn't believe!
Low-carb meals shouldn't be boring!
Recently, Jeff and I began eating low carb again. We did this a few years ago and not only did we lose a good amount of weight, we felt good! Don't ask me why we slipped back into eating carb-laden foods again, but we did. We also gained back all the weight we lost and then some... you know that's how it works!
We love to eat. We love to eat all kinds of foods. We love foods with tons of flavor and this Asian Stir Fry did not disappoint! I made it up on the fly, having no idea what the end result would be. Thankfully, I snapped pictures of the ingredients and measurements because this baby is way too delicious to only have once!
Are the turkey meatballs dry?
You might be wondering if using ground turkey for the meatballs is a good idea because of how dry cooked turkey can be. Worry no more! These meatballs are super moist thanks to my secret ingredient... cauliflower! What? Cauliflower in meatballs? Weird. Nope, not weird at all. Cauliflower is full of water and when you add the "riced" cauliflower into the ground turkey, the water is released when baking, leaving you with perfectly moist turkey meatballs. I promise you don't even taste the cauliflower! If for some reason you just can't stand cauliflower, use broccoli instead.
I have another secret.
You may have noticed the beautifully plump orange slice of deliciousness in the picture. This isn't just any old orange... it's a Sumo orange. I wish I would have snapped a picture before I peeled it! It's a strange looking piece of fruit with it's bumpy skin and a nodule looking protrusion at the top. The Sumo Citrus is a cross between a mandarin orange and a sweet California orange, it's easy to peel and hands down the BEST tasting orange you'll ever eat! Look for them in these stores.
The bad news: Unfortunately, these super sweet & juicy Sumo oranges are only available February through May, so make sure to pick up one or two when you see them!
The good news: If you can't find them or want to make this Asian Stir Fry recipe when they are out of season, simply replace the Sumo Citrus with a couple clementine or mandarin oranges.
Now that I've shared my secrets with you, let's get to making this plate of low-carb yumminess!
What you'll need for Asian Stir Fry with Turkey Meatballs
Step One:
Cut the florets off the head of cauliflower and using a food processor, process the florets in batches until they are the size of rice grains. I like to use my manual food processor for this task because I have complete control over the size of the cauliflower "rice." If using an electric food processor, use the pulse button to "rice" the cauliflower to desired size. Preheat your oven to 350° F. You will only use a ½ cup of cauliflower "rice" in the meatballs, I used the remaining "rice" to make spicy cauliflower rice to go with this dish. If you are serving the Asian Stir Fry with regular rice, you will only need to use ¼ of the head of cauliflower.
Step Two:
Mix the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon sea salt (I use Fine Grind Mediterranean sea salt), ½ cup of cauliflower rice, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 1Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, ½ diced onion, 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1 tablespoon Chili Pepper paste, 1 tablespoon Lemongrass paste ( both can be found in many grocery stores, I use Gourmet Garden brand). Form the meatballs using a medium scoop or by hand. I ended up with 24 meatballs, but you can make them smaller or bigger according to your preference. Adjust cooking time according to size. Bake the meatballs at 350° F for about 20 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165°F.
Step Three:
While the meatballs are baking, let's start prepping the Asian Stir Fry! This is where things get fun, there are no rules when making stir fry, you can add whatever veggies you like. I used snap peas, onions, and carrots because that's what I had on hand. I wish I would have had a red bell pepper, that would have added a nice color and another flavor boost (not that this recipe needs it!). The only thing to remember with stir fry is to cut your veggies so they all cook evenly and quickly. This means that you will want your carrots cut thin so they cook in the same time as the snap peas. Peel your orange and separate the slices.
Once you have all your veggies & fruit prepped and ready to go, make the sauce by combining 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 2 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste, 1 tablespoon chili pepper paste, 1 tablespoon honey, and ½ tablespoon fish sauce ( you might be thinking, "oh, gross", it's not! I promise your dish won't taste fishy! This addition adds a great depth of flavor, but if you prefer you can substitute soy sauce. Mix well.
Step Four:
Heat 1-2 tablespoon olive oil in a saute pan or wok, add veggies, orange slices and ½ of the sauce. Saute over medium heat until veggies are cooked to your liking. Add in turkey meatballs and gently stir. Because we are limiting our carbs, I served this Asian Stir Fry over spicy cauliflower rice. If making regular rice, mix in the remaining sauce after your rice is cooked.
- to make the spicy cauliflower rice: mix the remaining sauce into the cauliflower "rice" and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until the cauliflower is to your desired texture.
Step Five:
Plate, garnish with green onions & devour!
Asian Stir Fry with Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 20 ounces of ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon find grind sea salt
- 1-2 heads of cauliflower if making spicy cauliflower rice, you will need a total of 3 ½ cups of riced cauliflower
- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger finely grated, divided
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon chili pepper paste divided
- 2 tablespoon lemon grass paste divided
- 1 Vidalia or sweet onion divided
- 1 Kumo orange or 2 clementines/Mandarin oranges
- 10 ounces sugar snap peas
- 3 carrots
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
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Instructions
- Cut the florets off the head of cauliflower and using a food processor, process the florets in batches until they are the size of rice grains.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F.
- Mix the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon sea salt (I use Fine Grind Mediterranean sea salt), ½ cup of cauliflower rice, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 1Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, ½ diced onion, 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1 tablespoon Chili Pepper paste, 1 tablespoon Lemongrass paste Form the meatballs using a medium scoop or by hand.
- Bake the meatballs at 350° F for about 20 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165°F.
- Prep your veggies
- Make the sauce by combining 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger, 2 teaspoon grated orange peel, 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste, 1 tablespoon chili pepper paste, 1 tablespoon honey, and ½ tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce. Mix well.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoon olive oil in a saute pan or wok, add veggies, orange slices and ½ of the sauce.
- Saute over medium heat until veggies are cooked to your liking.
- Add in turkey meatballs and gently stir.
- Spoon Asian Stir Fry with Turkey Meatballs over rice, garnish with chopped green onion.
- Serve & Enjoy!
For Spicy Cauliflower Rice
- Add remaining sauce to 3 cups of cauliflower rice
- Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until the "rice" is the desired texture.
For white or brown rice
- Cook rice according to directions and add in remaining sauce
Stacia Spencer Jahnke
This looks like an awesome meal and I love several of your other recipes as well. But it's deceiving to call this a low carb recipe as it has several ingredients that are not low carb at all...sugar snap peas, the Vidalia onion, carrots and definitely the honey & oranges 🙁
Louise
Low carb means different things to different people, I ate this and recipes like it when I was on a low carb diet and lost 40 pounds. This is definitely not keto that is for sure. It's funny because I just bought the ingredients to make this again in the Foodi. It's so delicious!