Asian-Inspired Turkey Meatballs

Asian Inspired Turkey Meatballs! Ground turkey meatballs are amped up with coconut flakes, basil and a citrusy sauce in this easy weeknight dinner.

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Remember that lesson on combinations and permutations in math class back in the day? That one where you had to figure out how many different combos you could make from a list of items? {Yeah, me either. Math never was my thing.} That’s what I think of sometimes when I’m grocery shopping and cooking each week.

If you look in my fridge or pantry, I will almost always have the same staple ingredients from which I make our weekly meals and anything else I’m inspired to cook up. One of the benefits of cooking at home often is that you start to build a well-stocked pantry with items that can be used in various ways.

For the most part, certain things like spices, dry goods and condiments last a while, which can be a good thing if you’re up for a challenge in creativity… but a bad thing if you can only think of a handful of ways to combine them in a recipe. {“What the HECK am I supposed to do with the rest of this jar of poultry seasoning?!”}

Even though I’m always coming up with new things to share on the blog, the truth is that we get into eating ruts just like everyone else. Ground turkey meat is almost always on rotation in our house because it’s inexpensive, relatively healthy and liked by all who live here. BUT, there are only so many variations of sloppy joes, chili and meatballs I can make before we all want to say a permanent goodbye to the gobbler.

The more ingredients you have on hand, the more combinations you can make so that will help you use up ordinary ingredients in extraordinary ways! {Your taste buds and family members will thank you.}

I often look up recipes for different types of cuisines and figure out how to use every day ingredients in exotic new ways, and these Coconut-Basil Turkey Meatballs did not disappoint. I found the idea for the recipe while flipping through an old Cooking Light magazine, and substituted some of my own pantry items for the ingredients I didn’t have. {Yes, I totally used puffed rice cereal in meatballs. That’s called ingenuity, folks.}

Since I already had this stuff in my pantry and fridge for every day cooking, all I had to do was combine the flavors in different ways to create something new, fresh and really good! I loved how the coconut added another layer of flavor to the spicy meatballs. The sweet and sour tang of the honey and citrus juices made a perfect accompaniment for dipping, too.

You don’t have to use basil strictly for Italian cooking, or coconut flakes explicitly for baking. The honey you drizzle over your morning bowl of oatmeal doesn’t have to stay in the breakfast category. Like I said, even a box of cereal came in handy since I rarely have bread crumbs around!

I challenge YOU to look at the ingredients you buy every week with new eyes and see how many ways you can combine them into something original! Now THAT’S a lesson on combinations that’s worth remembering… and eating! 🙂