About This Dish

These garlic honey soy meatballs are a single serve, one-pot dinner that takes four of the prepable beef meatballs from the More Ways Than One series and transforms them into something sticky, glossy and deeply satisfying in under 20 minutes. The meatballs are pan-fried in sesame oil until golden, then set aside while a simple glaze of garlic, soy sauce (soy sauce is sometimes labelled as tamari in its gluten-free form), honey and water comes together in the same pan. Everything goes back in to finish cooking and absorb the sauce, which reduces down into a rich, lacquered glaze that coats every meatball beautifully. Green beans cook alongside, adding a little freshness and bite, and the whole thing is served over sticky rice with sesame seeds and fresh coriander (cilantro). It is the kind of weeknight dinner that tastes like considerably more effort than it actually was.

Why I Created This Recipe

One of the things I love most about the prepable beef meatball batch is how effortlessly the same ingredient can travel across completely different cuisines. These garlic honey soy meatballs are about as far from a classic Italian meatball as you can get. I just love a juicy, glazed meatball and I knew this had to be one of the four More Ways Than One recipes for this edition. The sauce is incredibly simple, just four ingredients that most people already have in the cupboard, but what happens when they reduce together in a hot pan is genuinely a little bit magical. This is the dinner I reach for when I want something that feels special without any of the effort, and I think it will quickly become one of your most-used recipes from the series.

About the More Ways Than One Series

More Ways Than One is a series on One Pot, One Portion built around the concept of ingredient prep — making one brilliant base ingredient at the start of the week and using it to create four completely different meals, each feeling freshly made. This is the fifth instalment, and the base recipe is the prepable beef meatball batch. The four recipes in this edition are garlic honey soy meatballs (you are here), roasted red pepper and mozzarella meatball orzo, romesco meatballs with feta, and Thai coconut meatball noodle soup. Make the meatball batch once and you have four genuinely different dinners ready to go.

Why You'll Want to Make This Recipe

Single Serve

This is a perfectly portioned single serve dinner using exactly four meatballs from your prepable beef meatball batch — no scaling, no leftovers, no waste. Everything here is measured for one.

On the Table in 20 Minutes

Because the meatballs are already made, this is genuinely a 20-minute dinner from fridge to table. The sauce comes together in minutes and the whole dish — meatballs, glaze, green beans and rice — is ready almost before you have had time to feel hungry.

One Pan

Everything happens in a single shallow pan — the meatballs are browned in it, the beans are cooked in it, the glaze is made in it, and everything finishes in it together. One pan, minimal washing up.

That Glaze

The combination of soy sauce, honey, garlic and water reduces into something deeply savoury, sticky and glossy that coats the meatballs in a way that is genuinely hard to stop eating. It is a very simple sauce made from storecupboard ingredients, and it is outstanding.

My Top Tips for the Perfect Garlic Honey Soy Meatballs

• Get the sesame oil hot before the meatballs go in. You want to hear a slight sizzle the moment they hit the pan — this is what creates that golden, sealed exterior. If the oil is not hot enough, the meatballs will sit and steam rather than brown.
• Do not move the meatballs around too much during the initial frying. Let them sit undisturbed for a minute or so on each side to develop colour. Rolling them around constantly prevents browning and can cause them to break apart before they have had a chance to seal.
• Remove the meatballs and green beans before making the sauce. This step is important — a brief rest while the sauce comes together also means the meatballs do not overcook.
• Watch the garlic carefully. It needs a couple of minutes to soften and turn translucent in the residual oil, but garlic goes from golden to bitter very quickly. Keep the heat at medium and have the soy sauce, honey and water ready to add the moment it is ready.
• The sauce will look very thin when you first add the liquids — this is normal. It needs the full five minutes of simmering with the meatballs back in to reduce down into a proper glaze. Be patient and resist the urge to turn the heat up; a steady simmer gives a more even, glossy result than a rapid boil.
• If the sauce over-reduces and becomes too thick or sticky before the meatballs are fully cooked through, add a small splash of water — a tablespoon at a time — and stir it in. It will loosen immediately. Equally, if the sauce looks too thin after five minutes, give it an extra minute or two.
• Taste the glaze before serving and adjust if needed. If it tastes too salty, a small extra drizzle of honey will balance it. If it tastes too sweet, a few extra drops of soy sauce will bring it back.
• Serve immediately over freshly cooked sticky rice. The glaze will continue to thicken as it cools and the meatballs will firm up slightly — this is a dish that is very much at its best eaten straight from the pan.

Ingredients and Tools You'll Need

Essential Ingredients

• 2 tsp sesame oil – for frying; gives a distinctive nutty flavour that is fundamental to this dish; do not substitute with a neutral oil
• 4 beef meatballs – from your prepable beef meatball batch; take them out of the fridge 10–15 minutes before cooking
• 70g green beans, trimmed and halved – adds freshness and a little bite to cut through the richness of the glaze; fine green beans or French beans (haricots verts) work particularly well
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated – the aromatic base of the glaze; grated gives a more even distribution than minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce – the savoury, salty backbone of the glaze; use a light soy sauce for the best result; tamari works well for a gluten-free version
• 1 tbsp honey – balances the saltiness of the soy and helps the glaze caramelise and thicken
• 4 tbsp water – loosens the glaze and creates the simmering liquid that cooks the meatballs through

To Serve

• Sticky rice – essential for scooping up the glaze; jasmine rice cooked with slightly less water than usual gives a good approximation of sticky rice if you do not have sushi rice to hand
• Sesame seeds – scattered over just before serving for texture and a nutty finish
• Fresh coriander (cilantro) – optional but highly recommended; adds a fresh, herby contrast to the richness of the glaze
• Spring onions (scallions), finely sliced – optional; adds a mild, fresh bite and looks beautiful scattered over the top

Essential Tools

• 1 shallow pan with a lid, or a wide frying pan — large enough to hold the meatballs in a single layer without crowding
• Tongs or a spoon — for turning the meatballs and removing them from the pan
• Knife and chopping board

Dietary Variations

Gluten-Free

Swap the soy sauce for tamari — a Japanese soy sauce that is naturally gluten-free and virtually identical in flavour. Ensure your meatball batch was made with gluten-free breadcrumbs. All other ingredients in this recipe are naturally gluten-free.

Dairy-Free

This recipe contains no dairy whatsoever as written.

Vegan / Vegetarian

This recipe is built around the prepable beef meatball batch, so it is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians as written. However, the glaze works beautifully with firm tofu cut into cubes, or with shop-bought plant-based meatballs — simply follow the same method and adjust the cooking time as needed. Swap honey for maple syrup to keep it fully vegan.

Adjusting the Sweetness and Saltiness

This glaze is designed to balance sweet and savoury in roughly equal measure. If you prefer a saltier, more intensely savoury result, increase the soy sauce to 2½ tablespoons and reduce the honey to ¾ tablespoon. For a sweeter, more teriyaki-style glaze, do the reverse.

Different Vegetables

Green beans work brilliantly here, but this glaze is very accommodating. Tender stem broccoli (broccolini), mangetout (snow peas), pak choi (bok choy) or sliced courgette (zucchini) are all excellent alternatives or additions. Add harder vegetables like broccoli at the same stage as the green beans; more delicate leaves like pak choi can go in with the meatballs for the final simmer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to make the meatballs from scratch for this recipe?

This recipe is designed to use four meatballs from the prepable beef meatball batch — the base recipe in this edition of More Ways Than One. If you have not made the batch yet, head there first. The meatballs take around 20 minutes to prepare and will keep in the fridge for up to four days, meaning this dinner can genuinely be on the table in 20 minutes once the prep is done. Alternatively, you can use store-bought meatballs.

Can I use shop-bought meatballs instead?

Yes, if you are in a hurry — shop-bought beef meatballs will work in this recipe. The flavour will be less nuanced than homemade and the texture may differ, but the glaze is so good that the dish will still be very enjoyable. Follow the same method and adjust the frying time based on the size of your shop-bought meatballs.

Can I add chilli to this recipe?

Absolutely — a pinch of dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) added with the garlic, or a small amount of chilli oil drizzled over at the end, adds a gentle heat that works very well alongside the sweet and savoury glaze. Fresh red chilli (chili), finely sliced and scattered over with the spring onions (scallions) and coriander (cilantro), is also excellent.

What can I serve with this instead of rice?

Sticky rice is the natural partner for this glaze, but noodles work equally well — rice noodles or egg noodles tossed briefly in a little sesame oil and soy sauce make a great base. For something lighter, the meatballs and green beans are also very good served over a simple shredded cucumber and spring onion (scallion) salad dressed with a little rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Closing

Four ingredients, one pan, 20 minutes. This is exactly what a midweek dinner should be — fast, flavourful, and the kind of thing that makes you genuinely glad you did that meatball prep on Sunday.