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Delicious sandwiches. The meatballs are flavorful and are super easy to throw together. Will be making again! We used Atoria’s Lavash flatbread for the sandwiches and they were great. A thinner option than a naan or pita and the shape of the lavash made it easy to build a sandwich. Yum!
Jennifer
OKAY. How much do we love these meatballs? And this whole sandwich?
It’s an 11/10 for me. THEY ARE SO GOOD. The meatballs are jam-packed with flavor, golden brown on the outside, and perfectly tender. What a dream.
This whole thing comes together shockingly easy, especially if you use a little blitzer like this guy (affiliate link) to mince all the meatball mix-ins! The meatballs will beg to be eaten straight out of the pan as an “appetizer” before you even get to the sandwich, but once you do get there, you can use any number of types of bread – soft French bread or baguette or pita, for example – to build the sandwich. It might be a bit low brow, but my bread-y element of choice is that pillowy, pre-made store-bought naan. Stuffed with all this goodness and folded into a naan-wich… oof. It’s just really good.
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Ginger Chicken Meatball Sandos
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2–4 servings (Bjork and I can easily finish the meatballs between the two of us) 1x
Description
Golden brown chicken meatballs cozied up next to fixings like cucumbers, shallots, kewpie mayo, mint, a bit of chili crisp*, and some fresh cilantro to make the ultimate chicken sando!
Ingredients
Ginger Chicken Meatballs:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 serrano pepper, stem removed
- one 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
- a bunch of fresh cilantro
- 3 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- pinch of salt
For serving:
- 4 pieces soft bread – either soft French bread or flatbread like pita or naan
- 1/2 cup mayo or kewpie*
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 sliced shallot or red onion
- 2 tablespoons cilantro
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- 2 tablespoons chili crisp* or sriracha
Instructions
- Blitz garlic, serrano pepper, a bunch of fresh cilantro, and a piece of ginger in a small chopper or food processor until minced.
- Add mixture to a large bowl. Mix with ground chicken, fish sauce, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Form into 12 meatballs – they will be wet but that’s okay. The shape doesn’t need to be perfect! (See Note 1 below if your mixture is too wet to form into meatballs.)
- In a large skillet with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and let them begin to cook.
- Add 2 tablespoons water; it will sizzle, so wear an apron and have your lid ready! Put the lid on the pan and let the meatballs cook for a few minutes. Uncover, flip, and repeat. Within about 10 minutes, the meatballs should be cooked through, tender, and nicely golden brown.
- To serve, warm the bread so it’s nice and soft. Shmear with mayo, top with meatballs, sliced cucumber, sliced shallot, cilantro and mint, and a drizzle of chili crisp. Messy, saucy, and mind-blowingly delicious.
Notes
Note 1: The water content of ground chicken can vary. If your mixture is too wet and difficult to form into meatballs, trying adding a little more cornstarch or adding panko in the mix.
Sometimes it helps to cut the meatballs in half for layering on the sandwiches! And sometimes you can just go big and messy and not worry about it!
When I use naan (as pictured), I just use half of the naan per person, and then fold it in half almost like a quesadilla or more of a flat sandwich.
Nutrition information is for meatballs only.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sandwich
- Method: Pan Fry
- Cuisine: Asian-Inspired
Keywords: chicken sandwich, ginger meatballs, meatball sandwich
More Sandwiches To Swoon Over
- The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich (Breakfast made delicious!)
- Instant Pot Italian Beef Sandwiches (Just a few minutes of prep and totally hands-off to make)
- Smash Burgers with House Sauce (Wow! Just so good!)
Really great flavor and my teens loved them. Next time I’m not doing balls because it’s ridiculously time consuming. I’m making them again this week and will just make flat logs.
Really delicious and easy! I cut both the fish sauce and the brown sugar just a touch, and added about 1/3 cup panko to thicken up the mixture. The meatballs were then easy to shape and fry, and came out really juicy.
Are you certain about the nutritional information for this recipe? 740 cal seems way too high for only one serving of meatballs.
I love your recipes and make them all the time! Tonight I’m making Spicy Falafel Roasted Veggie and Naan-Wich Sando. I really want to make this Ginger Chicken Sando but I am Vegan. Should I use tofu to replace the chicken or beans? What do you think would work?
Thank you
Rebecca
Great recipe, the whole family liked it. A feet of itself. I subbed a half a jalapeño instead of a Serrano since it’s what I had.
Thanks for sharing!
I love this recipe!! I’ve made it maybe 5 or so times, always with turkey since my grocery store doesn’t have good quality ground chicken. The combo of cilantro, fish sauce, and brown sugar is such a winner. Messy eating but so delicious! Thank you!
Good flavor, but very wet, as others have noted. I added panko and baked at 375 for 30 min rather than the stovetop method.
Next time I will cut the fish sauce by 2/3–taste was too strong for my preferences.
Well, this was sure a hit with the family! Gulp!
Oh wow! We had these tonight for dinner. Rave reviews from all adults and children. I put together meatballs as written except I added an egg to bind it all together. I was out of fish sauce, so teriyaki sauce worked as a great substitute. We put sriracha mayo on Naan bread, layered halved meatballs, pickled red onions more sriracha mayo and cilantro. It was delightful to the taste buds. Lindsay, everything I’ve ever made from your website is exceptional. You are THE bEST food blogger in the world. Your recipes are perfect for families like ours. Thank you.
All sorts of pivots on this one. So good! I didn’t have buns like I thought mine went in a bowl with rice and your line drench from a lettuce wrap recipe.
These are so good! Next time I’m making sure I have buns to have a messy Sando
Best flavor combo! The kewpie mayo + herbs + chili crunch make this unbelievable. We come back to these all the time! I like making my own naan and wrapping a couple of the meatballs in with all the toppings. Following the instructions with adding the water to the pan make them come out perfect.
Subs for cilantro? My husband can’t stand it 🙁
You can leave it out! Or use chives.
Made for dinner tonight and it is SO yummy! Love the vietnamese flavors, will definitely make it again
Really good flavors come together. I used small pitas and made little meatball sliders! They were delish!
These was INCREDIBLE. I made them with turkey and had to omit the garlic because of a fodmaps sensitivity, but otherwise I mostly followed the recipe. They were so flavorful, especially with all the herbs! Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow.
This is a great recipe, I need to double it next time. Our teenage boys LOVED it!
Made these twice already and they are excellent! Used all the same ingredients & proportions (including toppings) as the recipe called for-I think you’d miss out on all the flavors coming together if you skipped any of the ingredients The only thing I did differently is I baked them at 350 for 22 mins and then finished them for 2-3 mins in a non-stick pan & that’s because I didn’t have time to watch something on the stove. Absolutely look forward to making them again.
These are wonderful. The whole family loved them. We did use ground turkey instead of chicken just because that was more readily available at the store. We also cooked the meatballs in the air fryer. We will definitely make them again!
Forgot to leave a rating!
These were a 15/10 for me. And my husband. And my FOUR year old. My 4 yo gobbled it up, chili crunch, mint, cucumbers and all! Whole Fooods has great naan and I can’t wait to make these again. OMG, sadly my leftovers are gone!
So good!!! I baked mine at 350 for about 25 mins. Perfect. Love the flavor and so delicious as a naanwich! I did add a shake of panko and maybe 1/2 tablespoon of extra cornstarch.
Delicious! Yes, the meatballs are wet, but just be gentle and patient. I popped mine in the fridge for 15 minutes before adding them to the pan. Once they start cooking, they are a lot easier to handle. Can’t wait to make this again.
So, so good! I left the meatball recipe as written (except I baked them until almost done, then browned them a bit in frying pan).
I served in a bowl with sushi rice (seasoned with rice vinegar). Added pickled cucumber, carrot, red onions. Tossed in mint, cilantro and basil. Combined mayo with some chili crisp and dabbed around the dish.
Question: I have never seen CORNSTARCH in a meatball recipe before. What is the purpose of using cornstarch versus the more typical binder of breadcrumbs or panko? Does it impact the consistency, flavor, shape? Thank you!
Would this hold together enough to make patties instead of meatballs? Thanks in advance.
Yes, I think so! If it’s too loose, I’d just add some more cornstarch, or add in some panko.
I’ve made these twice in the past week because they are sooo good. Made homemade naan to go with them, swapped jalapeno for serrano and pork instead of chicken since that is what we typically have on hand.
Will absolutely become a staple in our house.