I don’t know how authentic these beef meatballs actually are—but I can promise you they will blow your taste buds away in the flavor department. The texture is smooth, compact and packed with unbelievable flavors: Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, cilantro and fish sauce are mixed with ground beef to form perfect little round balls that will then be dressed or dipped into a sweet and spicy hoisin sauce.
When I think of South East Asian food I think of punchy, stinky, in your face flavors. These Beef Meatballs may not have the stinky factor but they are very South East Asian nonetheless! They are so tasty you could technically do without the dipping sauce. Blending the ingredients (including the beef) in a blender also changes the texture, making these Beef Meatballs very different from say, Italian meatballs.
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A well-known and traditional Vietnamese meatball dish is called Bun Cha.
What Is Bun Cha?
Bún chả is a Vietnamese dish said to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam. It’s made with grilled, fatty pork (essentially pork meatballs) paired with rice vermicelli noodles, which is a thin noodle, also known as rice noodles.
This dish is also made with tons of fresh herbs and a dipping sauce as well. Although it should produce a slightly different taste than our savory meatballs since our specialized recipe pulls from a different source of protein and other flavor profiles.
Vietnamese Beef Meatballs Ingredients
- Ground beef: I highly recommend using lean ground beef as your protein of choice when making this specific recipe. Although it’s not unheard of for some to opt for ground pork depending on their preference.
- Red onion: Diced red onion will add a great deal of flavor to your meatball—and beneficial health components as well!
- Garlic: Garlic is the strong ingredient that will bring your meat balls to life. They’re going to smell and taste phenomenal!
- Cilantro: Cilantro will give your ground beef a flavor boost.
- Ginger: A small amount of ginger goes a long way. It will add a unique flavor that will be easily enhanced by the other sensational ingredients in this mixture.
- Honey: Honey will add just the right amount of sweetness to this otherwise savory side.
- Thai chili: Thai chili will give your meatballs a mouthful of flavor. If you’re a fan of a little spice, keep a bottle or a jar on hand for future dishes as well.
- Canola or vegetable oil: Any neutral oil with a high smoking point will work for this recipe.
- Fish sauce: See further detail about fish sauce down below!
- Dipping sauce: A mix of hoisin sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, Thai chili, and water.
How to Make Vietnamese Beef Meatballs
- Gather all of your kitchen tools and ingredients.
- Put all of the ingredients for the beef balls in a food processor and blend until everything is minced and blended into a meat mixture. Then transfer to a large bowl.
- Put a little oil in your hands, just enough to lightly coat fingers and palms, and use a tablespoon to scoop up the ground meat so the meatballs are the same size. Repeat the process until all of the beef mixture is used.
- In a deep pan, over medium heat (or medium to high), add oil and the meatballs. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the meatballs over, cover and cook for another 5 or until the meatballs are golden brown.
- Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and serve together with beef meatballs. Pour over or use as a dipping sauce.
- Serve with rice, tomatoes and a few cilantro leaves.
The texture is smooth, compact and packed with unbelievable flavors: Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, cilantro and fish sauce are mixed with ground beef to form perfect little round balls that will then be dressed or dipped into a sweet and spicy hoisin sauce.
Vietnamese Beef Meatballs Companion Dishes
Serve these Vietnamese beef meatballs with a side of Japanese rice so the sauce can soak through each grain making every bite even more satisfying. Then garnish with sliced tomatoes and/or fresh cilantro for full effect. Watch our video on how to make Japanese rice with the stove top or rice cooker method for full potential. Once you learn how to make this rice recipe as well, you will have a new, easy side dish to pair with many of our other recipes like smacked cucumber with chili oil or air fryer teriyaki tofu!
And if you’re feeling fun, you can even turn these Vietnamese Beef Meatballs into meatball skewers. In my experience, kids and adults alike love eating off a stick.
Other Delicious Vietnamese Dishes
Vietnamese food easily wins my heart because of its pungent flavors and healthier ingredients. When I am around Vietnamese food I turn into Ms Pac-Man, munching on anything that’s in front of me. Nothing satisfies me more than a big bowl of pho and some crispy spring rolls wrapped in mint and lettuce when I crave a cheap and tasty lunch.
I also love an authentic, spicy banh mi sandwich. In the United States, specifically in Southern California, popular mainstream restaurants like Mendocino Farms and Veggie Grill proudly carry banh mi-inspired salads too. They are rich with zesty jalapenos, pickled carrots and daikon, covered in an unforgettable sweet chili sauce.
Now that you’ve learned more about some of my favorite Vietnamese dishes and about Vietnamese-style meatballs, what’s a delicious meal you’d pair these Vietnamese meatballs with?
Serve this recipe with a side of Japanese rice. Watch our video on How To Make Japanese Rice the stove top or rice cooker method!
Vietnamese Meatballs
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Vietnamese
Description
Savory Vietnamese Meatballs with a Sweet and Spicy Hoisin Dipping sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 Thai chili, finely chopped (optional)
Dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 Thai chili, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients for the meatballs in a food processor and blend until everything is mixed and minced. Transfer to a bowl.
- Put a little oil in your hands, just enough to lightly coat fingers and palms and use a tablespoon to scoop up the beef mixture so the meatballs are the same size. Repeat process until all the beef mixture is used.
- In a deep pan over medium high heat, add oil and the meatballs. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the meatballs over, cover and cook for another 5 or until meatballs are golden brown.
- Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a bowl and serve together with beef meatballs. Pour over or use as a dipping sauce.
- Serve with rice, tomatoes and a few cilantro leaves.
Notes
These Vietnamese meatballs will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 980mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 2.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
- Trans Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 14.8g
- Fiber: 1.2g
- Protein: 27g
- Cholesterol: 68mg
Can these meatballs be cooked and frozen in advance?
Hi Irene! Yes, you can freeze them in an airtight container or storage bag for up to 2 months 🙂
This recipe was great! I followed it to the recipe then served it along with pickled radish/carrots, cucumber ( all julienned) steamed rive with scallions and fried shallots atop. OMG
Thank you so much Elissa! 🙂
The meatball was decent, but the dipping sauce didnt do it for me. Maybe would taste better if you garlic chili paste and some lime.
Love these ! I had no Thai chili’s nor cilantro, so I used Gochujang and lemongrass and cooked them in my air fryer for about 6 mins. Turned out fantastic ! Thank you
Thank you Lynn! 🙂
This sounds like a nice change from basic meatballs.
I really love this beef meatballs a Vietnamese cuisine.
Absolutely delicious! So flavoursome and relatively easy to make. Definitely in our “keeper” recipe book, thanks for the recipe!
These were awesome! I boiled mine like you woukd for pho and they turned out amazing! Had it with my grandfather’s teriyaki recipe. Having more for breakfast today! Definitely going to quadruple the recipe next time so I can freeze them.
Just made your recipe to add to my second ever homemade pho. Success, success, success!!! Making these in the blender gave them a nice texture that was a perfect match to the thin stripes of meat and tripe. Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome Auggie! 🙂
I made this just now but I added the oil in with the honey and fish sauce because it was listed that way. Was that a mistake or the oil that was listed was for frying…either way hope it turns out
Hi Donna, my apologies for the mistake, the oil was for frying. I changed recipe plugins last week and now have to look at recipes individually to make sure they transferred well. This one unfortunately didn’t. I hope your meatballs were still delicious!
Hi Christina, I had these last night and they’re delish. Just had a small issue with the dipping sauce. The hoisin and soy combination made it too salty. I tried compensating with sugar and sweet soy sauce but to no avail. Any thoughts on how to go about it?
Hi Harry, you can use only hoisin if you’d like or buy pre-made sauce. I am love with House of Tsang’s Szechuan Spicy sauce. It has some heat but is so good!
Maybe take the hoisin sauce (if that is the flavor you like), add some water to the point that is your saltiness level and thicken with a small amt of cornstarch slurry. That way you have the taste and thickness of hoisin without it being too salty. Just a suggestion. I know that some people want the same flavor but need to cut back on their salt intake.
Yummy! But I found that the meatballs burned when cooked as directed over medium high, covered. So, for the second batch, I par baked them in the oven for some time before finishing them in the oil. Was I not supposed to add oil to the meatball mixture as well? I’m just wondering what I did wrong.
Thank you!
Hi Christina, you followed the steps correctly! I think your burners are probably more powerful than the ones I have in my kitchen 🙂 Next time you can try to cook them covered in a pan on low and see if this works. I bet it will! 🙂
Thank you, I will give that a try!
Me and fish sauce are not on speaking terms, so I decided to modify this a little bit and use Worcestershire instead. I’m pleased to report that it was delicious. 😉
Haha! I’m glad you were able to find a good substitute for the fish sauce since it has such a unique flavor. I love Worcestershire sauce, happy to know it did the trick!
I think you may find this a bit of interesting information regarding your sauce substitute.of Worcestershsire sauce for Fish sauce.
Fish sauce is very similar to Worcestershire sauce. Both are based on fermented fish. That is why you can easily use equal parts of fish sauce as a substitute for Worcestershire sauce.
Link: https://ritely.com/substitute-for-worcestershire-sauce/
I had a dislike for fish sauce until I found information about a chef recommended brand of fish sauce which is Red Boat 40°N Fish Sauce. It made all the difference for my culinary excursions.
Just tried this tonight and loved it… thanks for sharing. ..
You’re welcome Tam and thank you!
I made these tonight for my kids. My 4 year old ate them up and he doesn’t like to try new foods. I baked mine for 30 min in a 350° oven. Paired it with rice and broccoli. Only thing I would add next time is salt and pepper to the met balls before cooking….otherwise great flavor!!
That’s so great Madreem, it’s good to know that kids also love these meatballs. Thank you for sharing!
Hello, I and my clients LOVE these meatballs. I’m a personal chef in NYC. In your photo of ingredients, I noticed salt & pepper. However they are not listed on the ingredient list. I do add salt even with the fish sauce…just wondering if you do add salt.
Hi Richard! I also do add salt as I think it rounds up all the flavors nicely. I’m so happy to hear you and your clients love the meatballs – do you serve them with the dipping sauce or do you have your own sauce/topping?
Hi, I use your amazing dipping sauce. So good!