This Creamy Coconut Beef Meatball Curry is rich, comforting and full of flavour, with tender beef meatballs simmered in a creamy coconut and sweet potato sauce that's smooth, silky and perfectly balanced with a gentle sweetness. Those juicy little meatballs soak up all that delicious sauce, making this a cosy, hearty curry that's perfect served with rice or your favourite sides.
When you're staring at a pack of beef mince and feeling completely uninspired by the usual chilli, spaghetti bolognese or cottage pie, this is exactly the kind of recipe to change things up. It's one of those meals that tastes like you've put in far more effort than you actually have, and it's quickly become one of those dinners we know we'll come back to again and again.
Calories in Coconut Beef Meatball Curry
This recipe serves 4 and is 349 calories per serving.
If you're looking for more recipes within the same calorie range, you'll find an abundance of options in my dedicated collection of 500+ calorie recipes.
If you're following a calorie-controlled diet or a healthy eating plan, it's important to calculate your daily calorie needs using a reliable calorie calculator. The calorie counts provided are estimates and can vary depending on the exact ingredients and portion sizes you use. Using your own calculations helps ensure you're meeting your individual needs. A calorie calculator can help you make informed choices and stay on track with your goals.
See the recipe card for full nutritional estimation.
Ingredients Notes
To make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- Extra lean ground beef (beef mince): Keeps the meatballs lean but still juicy, and works perfectly with all the flavours in the curry sauce.
- Salt: Helps season the meatballs and brings out all the savoury flavour.
- Garlic: Adds a lovely depth of flavour to the meatballs and pairs beautifully with the curry spices.
- Onion powder: Gives a gentle savoury onion flavour throughout without adding extra moisture.
- Zucchini: Adds extra goodness and helps keep the meatballs nice and tender.
- Egg: Helps bind everything together so the meatballs hold their shape as they cook.
- Coriander: Adds a fresh burst of flavour to the meatballs and ties in perfectly with the curry sauce.
- Sweet potato: Adds a subtle sweetness and helps create a silky, creamy sauce with plenty of body.
- Beef stock: Forms the base of the sauce and adds a rich savoury depth.
- Medium curry powder: Brings that warm curry flavour without being overly spicy.
- Tomato paste: Adds richness and helps deepen the flavour of the sauce.
- Frozen chopped green beans: A simple way to add some extra veg and texture to the curry.
- Coconut milk: Makes the sauce creamy, smooth and luscious, with a lovely mild coconut flavour.
- Red chilli flakes: Optional, but great if you want to add a little extra heat.
- Fresh coriander: The perfect finishing touch for a burst of freshness just before serving.
Once you've gathered all the ingredients and prepared them accordingly, you're all set to create this easy and delightful recipe.
See the recipe card for specific quantities and instructions
Variation and Substitutes
You can easily switch up the meatballs in this recipe to suit what you have on hand. Lean ground turkey, chicken, pork or lamb all work well in place of the beef mince, or for an easier option, you can use your favourite low calorie frozen meatballs instead.
The vegetables are easy to adapt too. Swap the green beans for peas, spinach, bell peppers, courgette or broccoli, or add a little extra veg like onion, mushrooms or shredded carrot to the sauce.
If you don't have sweet potato mash, butternut squash or pumpkin mash work well too for that same silky texture and gentle sweetness. You can also leave out the chilli flakes for a milder curry or add a little more if you prefer extra heat.
Side Suggestions
This curry is delicious served with all kinds of sides, depending on whether you want to keep it simple or make it into more of a feast.
- Fluffy rice
- My homemade Garlic Naan recipe
- Steamed cauliflower
- Roasted cauliflower
- Steamed broccoli
- Green beans
- Sugar snap peas
- Wilted greens
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Storing
Allow the curry to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. The flavours develop even more as it sits, making leftovers just as delicious the next day.
Freezing
This curry freezes well, although the coconut sauce may change slightly in texture once thawed. Freeze in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating
Reheat in a pan over a medium-low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. You can also reheat in the microwave in short bursts, stirring in between. If the sauce has thickened too much, just add a splash of stock or water to loosen it.
More Curry Recipes
Want some other delicious curry recipes to try? Check out these:
- Beef and Potato Curry
- Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry
- Chicken and Vegetable Curry
- Bombay Beef Curry
- Chicken and Spinach Curry
- Chicken, Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry
- Mild Chicken Curry
- Quick Lentil Curry
- Keema Curry
- Lamb Bean and Meatball Curry
- Tarka Dhal
- Beef Dhansak
- Lamb Rogan Josh
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes with calories and you can search by meal type, ingredients, course, diet and more.
All recipes on Slimming Eats have estimated nutritional information for your convenience.
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Recipe Card
Coconut Beef Meatball Curry
This Creamy Coconut Beef Meatball Curry is rich, creamy and full of warming curry flavour, with tender meatballs in a silky coconut sauce with a gentle hint of sweetness from the sweet potato.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 500g of extra lean ground beef (beef mince)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon of onion powder
- 200g zucchini, grated
- 1 egg
- Handful of coriander, finely chopped
For the curry sauce:
- 200g of sweet potato mash
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tbs medium curry powder
- 1.5 tbs of tomato paste
- 1 cup frozen chopped green beans
- 1 cup (240ml) coconut milk (full fat - canned)
- 1 teaspoon of red chilli flakes (optional for additional heat)
- fresh coriander, chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Add the ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl and form into approx 20 meatballs and set aside.
- Add the sweet potato mash, curry powder, beef stock, red chilli flakes, and tomato paste to a deep frying pan over a medium heat and stir until it's all combine and becomes a smooth sauce.
- Drop the meatballs into the sauce (you don't need to brown them first), cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and green beans and continue to simmer without the lid for 5 minutes. If you prefer a more saucy curry, you can also add in a little more stock at this point.
- Serve, garnish with coriander (optional) and enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 349Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 10gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 158mgSodium 945mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 5gSugar 3gProtein 32g
Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
Dominique says
Made this for the family they loved it and they didn’t even realise it had veg in it!
Wendy says
Absolutely amazing. I do a lot of curries and this is now my favourite, also my hubby commented on how delicious this was. Win win.
norma says
Could this be made with low fat coconut milk
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
it's best with regular coconut milk for that pure creaminess, but you can sub for light if you prefer, just be aware that the taste and appearance my differ slightly.
Bev says
Made this last night, all loved it. However having one who can’t eat too spicy and me who can I had to twist a little. I also added kale, carrots and small florets of cauliflower along with the green beans. Was delicious.
Jayne partlow says
Really tasty dish, I added extra chilli as I liked it hot. Added spinach aswell. Hit all the way.
Liz Edmiston says
Just made this for my tea and used light coconut milk, a bit hard to get the exact ingredients in Spain but it was delicious!
Nonie says
Made this for the whole family (inc. 7 and 12 old boys) and they loved it. Said the meatballs were juicy, they didn't notice the hidden veg in them and said that I could make it again!! win win 🙂
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
ahhh how lovely is that, so glad you all enjoyed it.
Wendy Bedford says
Absolutely amazingballs lol family of 5 just loved them and deffinate do again. The hidden veg went down a treat and so tasty .thank you so much for sharing your recipes and top tips .
Tim says
Followed the recipe exactly and mines really watery. Not reduced like the photo looks 🙁
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Make sure all measurements of ingredients are correct, as the ratio needs to be precise, to ensure you get the same result. Did you have the correct measurement for 1 cup which is 240ml? Also, ensure you are using full fat coconut milk from a can, not light or cartoned and tomato paste (puree) not other types of tomatoes. Make sure your sweet potato mash is not too wet, as that could affect the sauce too. It could be that the heat was too low for the 15 mins of simmering. You don't want it boiling, but you still want it to slight bubble (simmer) to reduce down into a lovely sauce.
R adams says
Hi can this be done in a pressure cooker?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
unfortunately, I haven't tested this one in a pressure cooker, do let me know if you give it a try 🙂
Sue says
Made this tonight, it was lovely! Although my meatballs did break up a little, I think next time I would squeeze the water out of the courgette to see if they would maybe keep their shape a little better. I added 4 cloves of garlic too ( we love our garlic!)
Bernadette says
I made this curry for me and hubby we loved it served with cauliflower rice .
Niki T says
Fabulous. Hubby doesn't like sweet potatoes. Hubby doesn't like courgettes. He loves this though and didn't have a clue that they were even in there. Had to make a couple of tweaks as I didn't have frozen green beans but I had some mangetout that needed using up. Also used powdered coconut milk as I didn't have a tin. I will definitely be making this one again. It freezes very well too.
Lorraine says
What a great recipe Siobhan! It was very tasty, wonderful curry flavour with that touch of coconut. The sauce reduced to a lovely thick consistency, I added some baby spinach at the end and served over brown rice with the coriander and dollop of yoghurt... delicious!
Thanks for the recipe. ❤️
Lizette says
This was most definitely one of the most delicious curry dishes that could be enjoyed by the whole family.
Tracey Woodhouse says
Absolutely beautiful! Love how you incorporate vegetables into your dishes. Have to mention, I have cooked hundreds of your recipes and can't fault any of them, so of course I had to buy your cookbook! Can't wait for the next book now
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
thank you Tracey - I am so glad you enjoy the recipes.