Indian Curry Chicken Meatballs
These Indian Curry Chicken Meatballs are made with ground chicken and simmered in an authentic Indian tomato curry sauce for a restaurant quality meal you can make at home.
Our entire family loves Indian food. We have a wonderful Indian restaurant close to us, and it’s one of our favorites that we frequent often. I’ve attempted to make my own Indian food a few times, but this Indian Curry Chicken Meatballs recipe is by far the most successful attempt I’ve tried.
You can break this recipe down into 3 basic parts: the meatballs, the sauce, and bringing it all together. The whole recipe comes together in about an hour, making it a great option for a weeknight dinner. But you can also make the meatballs ahead of time to shorten the cooking time at the end of the day.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
Ingredients for Curry Chicken Meatballs
Don’t let the long list of ingredients deter you from trying this. It is so tasty, and you’ll be able to use the spices to make this dish again and again.
How to Make the Indian Chicken Meatballs
This part of the recipe can be done up to a day ahead of time. Prepare the Indian Chicken Meatballs, then store covered in the refrigerator until ready to finish the dish. They do not have to be made ahead of time, but this is a great time saving tip for a weeknight dinner.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, the planko bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Mix well.
Form into 16-18 meatballs and place about 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the meatballs are golden and crispy on the outside.
Alternatively, you could also cook the meatballs at 350 degrees in an air fryer for about 10 minutes.
How to Make the Indian Meatball Curry
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped onions. Cook approximately 5 minutes or until onions are softened. Add the chopped garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes.
Next, add the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Stir well then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. It’s important to let the sauce simmer the full 20 minutes. The sauce will thicken and darken in color during this simmering time. This is what brings all the flavors together in this dish!
If desired, you can blend with an immersion blender after the simmering time is done. This step is optional, but it will make a very smooth sauce.
Add Greek yogurt and butter, then stir to combine. If your sauce is too thick you can add a little water and simmer a few more minutes.
Bringing It All Together
Put the cooked meatballs into the skillet and stir to coat them with the sauce.
Place a lid on the skillet and allow to simmer about 5 minutes.
Serve over rice topped with chopped cilantro and fresh naan on the side for a complete Indian inspired dinner at home!
How to Heat Naan
If you don’t want to try cooking naan, you can find naan in the bakery section in most larger grocery stores. Here’s how we reheat the prepackaged naan.
Spray both sides of the naan bread with olive oil cooking spray and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 5 minutes. Then flip them over and spray the top side again with olive oil. Bake another 3-5 minutes.
You can also reheat naan in a toaster, but we prefer the oven with olive oil method.
Tips & Tricks
- Do not shorten the simmering time in this recipe! The longer the curry sauce simmers, the better all the spice flavors blend together. This also allows the tomato paste to cook so your curry doesn’t end up tasting like tomato paste.
- For a quick weeknight dinner, make the chicken meatballs earlier in the day or up to 24 hours before cooking.
- Serve with premade naan. You can usually find it in the bakery section of most larger grocery stores.
Indian Curry Chicken Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground chicken
- 1 Egg
- ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
- ½ tsp Salt and pepper or to taste
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- ½ Yellow onion chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 2 tsp Curry Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 6 oz Tomato paste
- 14 oz Coconut milk full fat
- 4 oz Greek yogurt plain
- 2 tbsp Butter
- ¼ cup Cilantro chopped
Instructions
Chicken Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, the planko bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Form into 16-18 meatballs and place about 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the meatballs are golden and crispy on the outside.
- Alternatively, you could also cook the meatballs at 350 degrees in an air fryer for about 10 minutes.
The Curry Sauce
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped onions. Cook approximately 5 minutes or until onions are softened. Add the chopped garlic and cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Next, add the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper, tomato paste, coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Stir well then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- It’s important to let the sauce simmer the full 20 minutes. The sauce will thicken and darken in color during this simmering time. This is what brings all the flavors together in this dish!
- If desired, you can blend with an immersion blender after the simmering time is done. This step is optional, but it will make a very smooth sauce.
- Add Greek yogurt and butter, then stir to combine. If your sauce is too thick you can add a little water and simmer a few more minutes.
Bringing It All Together
- Put the cooked meatballs into the skillet and stir to coat them with the sauce.
- Place a lid on the skillet and allow to simmer about 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice topped with chopped cilantro and fresh naan on the side for a complete Indian inspired dinner at home!
Notes
Tips & Tricks
- Do not shorten the simmering time in this recipe! The longer the curry sauce simmers, the better all the spice flavors blend together. This also allows the tomato paste to cook so your curry doesn’t end up tasting like tomato paste.
- For a quick weeknight dinner, make the chicken meatballs earlier in the day or up to 24 hours before cooking.
- Serve with premade naan. You can usually find it in the bakery section of most larger grocery stores.
Nutrition
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