Mongolian Beef Meatballs

Hey ya’ll. It’s been a week for sure. Lots of news and things happening in the world, I just wanna make sure you’re all doing ok. I know for me, it’s been a lot of emotions and I’ve been diving into my work and craft in order to keep myself sane! So if it’s been rough for you, know that you’re not along <3. I just wanted to give a little positivity before I jumped into the inspiration behind this easy, super tasty dish you see in the picture above! Also, there’s a video, so be sure to check that out! Let’s dive into it.

THE INSPIRATION

Ok, so in another lifetime, I used to live in chain restaurant city. If it was a chain, it was in this town and I had my favorite dishes at each of them! One chain in particular was P.F. Changs! There were certain things I loved from P.F. Changs, but nothing more than the Mongolian Beef! The crispy texture and the sweet and sticky glaze, it was everything I could want. It had a great balance of salty, sweet and savory with amazing texture between the dish itself and the sesame seeds they used to garnish. Love in a bite. Well, I no longer live in a place that has a PF Changs (or many chains for that matter), and I haven’t for a while, but I could not get the dish out of my head for some reason. So I thought, why not just make it at home? So I pulled out all of my ingredients and realized, I only had meatballs and no beef to slice and cook. No problem I thought, this would be a quick version that you can use as a meal, or as an appetizer. It’s a win all around.

THE DEETS

When I say quick, I mean, like 20 mins or so. It’s super fast, and when timed correctly, you can have your rice, veggies and meal all done at the same time. And I’ve gotta say, nothing makes me happier than food that’s all done together! The secret to the success of this dish is premade meatballs. It cuts the cooking time down so much that you are only really crisping the outsides so that they stick to the sauce a little better. Another key to this dish is to have everything ready to go. The cooking of this dish happens pretty quickly and you want to make sure you’re moving through this thing pretty quickly as to not scorch any element of the sauce. That will pretty much ruin the dish. This recipe is easily made lowcarb or keto with 1 to 2 ingredient swaps that you likely already have on hand! For a GF version, use coconut aminos and make sure your meatballs are gluten free as well. Once everything is made, I like to top it with scallions and toasted sesame seeds, but feel free to use whatever you like, including peanuts and almonds! The dish is so easy, I don’t have much to say except a few tips for you!

TIPS FOR MAKING

Alright, here are a few tips for you to be as successful as possible when making this dish!

• Be sure to have everything available to go as you need it. The dish moves very quickly and you can easily over reduce or scorch your sauce. Since the sauce is the main flavor element, we really wanna avoid that!
• Be sure that your meatballs are thawed. You can do this in the fridge a few hours or overnight from you making them. This helps to remove any water that may cause your meatballs to not crisp up.
• Speaking of crisping, don’t skip this step. You could technically skip it, but the texture would be gone and the cornstarch that is on the meatballs wouldn’t help to thicken the sauce. So you know, don’t!
• You can EASILY make this keto by subbing the brown sugar for a keto friendly sweetener like Swerve Brown or Splenda Brown Sugar Substitute. If you’re sensitive to cornstarch, you can also use Konjac root in its place!

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for ya’ll. Be sure to tag me when you make this. Before I go, I just wanna say THANK YOU for sharing, liking, posting and commenting on the Parmesan Chicken Bake recipe. It’s my 3rd most successful dish every because of ya’ll. I loved seeing the pictures and everything.

Don’t forget to tag me in your photos online @lizeeangel or using #lizeeangel. And as always, comment below and please, like, share and follow me on youtube, instagram, twitter, facebook and pinterest!