A One-Pot, Thai-Inspired Chicken & Rice Recipe
Creamy green curry sauce makes this one-pot baked rice and chicken meatballs a true weeknight treat. Herby ground chicken meatballs anchor the dish, and green curry paste lends its deep and complex flavor to both the green curry meatballs and the green curry rice. Leftovers are delicious, and this recipe is healthy, too!
It uses two staple ingredients of the Thai pantry to make it taste just-right: Green curry paste and Thai fish sauce, but if you’re new to either ingredient, don’t stress! They’re easy to use. For even more meatball recipes, check out our round of the Best Meatball Recipes!
Ingredients For Our One-Pot Chicken Meatballs & Rice
Ground chicken
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic
Scallions
Fish sauce
Green curry paste
Sugar
Cornstarch
Vegetable oil
Green beans
Carrots
Mushrooms
Long grain white rice, rinsed
Full-fat coconut milk
Low sodium soy sauce
Lime
How To Make One-Pot Chicken & Rice
Mix the green curry meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, basil, garlic, green onions, fish sauce, curry paste, sugar, cornstarch and salt.
Roll the meatballs! We like roughly golf-ball sized meatballs.
Brown the meatballs! Use the Dutch oven (or large skillet with a lid) that you plan to bake the whole meal in to brown the chicken meatballs. They don’t need to be cooked through, because they’ll finish cooking with the rice. For now, you just want to brown the outer layer. You might need to work in batches.
Sauté the veggies. In the same pan, sauté the green beans, carrots, and mushrooms in a bit of oil with a little garlic and salt.
Time to assemble! Stir in the rice and green curry paste, then pour in the coconut milk, water, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Stir and bring to a good simmer.
Cook! Add the browned chicken meatballs, cover the pot and let it cook over low heat for about half an hour, until the rice is lovely and tender and the meatballs are totally cooked.
How To Store + Tips
Our best meatball trick is wet hands! Keep a little bowl of water next to you while you roll the meatballs and wet your hands while you work so that the meat doesn’t stick as you roll.
Leftover chicken meatballs: You can store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days, and it’ll be just delicious. But sadly, rice and the freezer are not the best of friends, so if you make this recipe, eat it up ASAP.
Green curry paste: Bursting with powerful flavor, green curry paste is usually made from some combination of chilies, shrimp paste, garlic, lemongrass, peppercorns, galangal, lime zest, coriander root, and cumin. The exact ingredients in green curry paste will vary from brand to brand, so you may want to experiment with different ones. We especially love the Mae Ploy brand.
Fish sauce: Pungent is a word that comes up over and over again when it comes to fish sauce, and it’s just about as perfect a description as any for nam pla, or Thai fish sauce. Made from tiny fish—like anchovies—that are salted heavily and then left to ferment for months (or even years), this heady sauce delivers major umami and a hint of funk. It’s a key ingredient if you want to achieve classic, restaurant-quality Thai flavors.
While you’re cooking the meatballs, If you notice that there is a lot of stuff sticking to your pan, deglaze the pan between steps by adding ¼ cup water to the Dutch oven where necessary to release the food cooked onto the bottom.
Meatball Recipes To Try
More One-Pot Wonders Ahead
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