Jamaican Beef Meatballs With Lime-Coconut Yogurt
Any time I’m in a Caribbean neighborhood, I love stopping by a local corner deli or restaurant to get a Jamaican beef patty—like a savory, stuffed hand pie—warm from the fryer. These meatballs—the patty without the crust, if you will—are teeming with spices like curry powder, allspice, and thyme and fresh Scotch bonnet chile (feel free to add as much as you can take, if you’re a spice lover). Served with a cooling lime-coconut yogurt, these just might be my favorite new party snack—or as a full meal, served over rice to help soak up all the delicious, flavorful juices.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef at room temperature
- ⅓ cup dried breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small yellow onion grated on a box grater
- 1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile seeded and minced
- ½ cup coconut yogurt or dairy yogurt
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lime
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the beef, breadcrumbs, curry powder, thyme, allspice, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, the grated onion, and the chile and mix with your hands (wear gloves if your skin is sensitive to chiles!
- ) until the mixture is evenly incorporated.
- Divide the mixture into 16 portions and roll each one into a ball.
- Transfer the meatballs to the air fryer in a single layer and cook at 350°F, shaking the basket halfway through, until golden brown on the outside and no longer pink in the middle, about 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, cilantro, lime zest, and lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer the meatballs to plates and serve hot with the lime-coconut yogurt sauce.