This takes meatball sandwiches to a whole new level! The flavors in this Asian Meatball Sandwich recipe are beyond delicious. Sweet and savory, with a side of healthy. 341 calories and 9 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP. Thanks to the California Avocados for helping me to share this recipe with you.
Asian Meatball Sandwich Recipe with Avocado
This Asian meatball sandwich recipe brings up fond memories of family birthdays. When I was a kid, my most requested birthday meal was spaghetti and meatballs (or meat sauce), specifically made from the recipes in my Disney cookbook. Lady and the Tramp spaghetti and Tinkerbell's meat sauce, thank you very much.
The spaghetti and meatballs birthday request tradition carried on with my boys, though gradually morphed into rice with Baked Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs, which are also perfect (sans rice) on any hors d'oeuvres table. Just give your guests some toothpicks for stabbing and the meatballs will disappear in no time.
Knowing how much my family adores these meatballs, I wanted to give them new life in another recipe - in other words, another reason for my kids to say, "Mum, this is better than going out to restaurant. Well, except for sushi." My meals will never hold a candle to sushi in their minds. I can't say I blame them.
This meatball sandwich recipe may not rival sushi, but it holds its own, with tender, Asian-spiced meatballs, creamy avocado and a sauce that's good enough to drizzle on everything from meatballs and shrimp to chicken and pizza. I took a more simplistic approach with the sauce. Rather than sticking with our usual teriyaki sauce, I made a hoisin based sauce that only requires 5 ingredients, one of them being water. As I said - easy!
Tips for this Asian meatball sandwich recipe:
- Since these are somewhat similar to banh mi sandwiches, grated carrots seemed like the logical choice to tuck into the flatbreads with the meatballs, but red bell pepper, daikon or even jicama (or a combination of multiple vegetables) would work well, too. Think color, crunch and freshness!
- For the whole wheat flatbread, I used the small round ones found at Trader Joe's (which is reflected in the nutritional information). If you don't have access to a Trader Joe's, any whole wheat flatbread, or even pocketless whole wheat pita bread, will do.
Other avocado recipes:
Kicked-Up Avocado Margarita {Cookin' Canuck}
Healthy Breakfast Burrito with Avocado & Chipotle Yogurt {Cookin' Canuck}
Southwest Chicken, Avocado & Quinoa Lettuce Wraps {Noble Pig}
Souffle Bombay's Eggs Benedict with Avocado, Sriracha Hollandaise & Avocado Cream {Souffle Bombay}
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Asian Meatball & Avocado Flatbread Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients
The Meatballs:
- 1 pound lean 93% ground turkey
- ½ small yellow onion grated
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs more if needed
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
The Sauce:
- ⅓ cup hoisin sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon water
- 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon chili garlic sauce
- ¾ teaspoon sesame oil
The Rest:
- 6 small whole wheat flatbreads such as Trader Joe's
- ¾ California avocado sliced
- ¾ cup grated carrot
- 6 basil leaves thinly sliced
Instructions
The Meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the ground turkey, grated onion, garlic, ginger, parsley, five spice powder, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
- Use a 2 tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture for each meatball and form the meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. If they are not sticking together properly, add more breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the correct texture is achieved.
- Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until the meatballs are firm to the touch and almost cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Brush the meatballs with 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
The Sauce:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the hoisin sauce, water, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and sesame oil.
The Rest:
- Divide the meatballs, avocado, grated carrot, basil and remaining sauce evenly between the flatbreads. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on June 10, 2015, and was updated on June 3, 2019.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by California Avocados. All opinions are my own. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Jennifer Banz
Looks Delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Suzy
The flavor of these meatballs are AMAZING! Perfect on their own and with the flatbread!
Kath
Serves 6, but only 4 flatbreads? How many meatballs/ what size? Love ALL your recipes!
Dara
Ack! I apologize for the typo - that should read 6 flatbreads. I'm having some issues with my recipe cards at the moment, so hopefully the typo will be fixed soon. In the meantime, be assured that it's definitely 6 flatbreads and the nutritional information was calculated accordingly.
Anne
My son loved to make Pooh and Piglet pancakes.
Now, about thee recipe. I mean to try it, but I think there will be too much five-spice, so will cut back on that.
Also, I know the ads are a source of income, but currently there are so many and they're so scattered about in random positions that they make the column hard to read.. I skip them ALL. I honestly never pay attention to a single one.Really irritating .( Another has just pooped up on my screen. Aaargh.)