Our very first recipe! From the kitchen of Jordan and David. This meal is healthy and inexpensive, and pretty easy to make. This recipe uses 2lb of ground chicken and yielded ~30 golf-ball sized meatballs. We also prepared pasta and spruced up a store-bought can of tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2lb – Ground Chicken
- 1 Cup – Whole Wheat Panko (regular Panko or other breadcrumbs will work)
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1/2 Medium White or Yellow Onion
- 1.5 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 1.5 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Sage
- 1 Teaspoon dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Herbs de Provence (can use another Italian seasoning blend)
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic
- 1/2 Teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 Cup Shredded Cheese Italian Blend (Optional)
Tomato Sauce
- 1/2 White or Yellow Onion, finely chopped
- 1.5 Stalks Celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 Stick Carrot, Shredded
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic, finely chopped
- 1 Can Tomato Paste
- 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
- Seasonings, to taste (we used oregano and thyme)
- 1 24 oz Can Tomato Sauce (We used Tomato Basil, but any will do)
Instructions
Meatballs
- Finely Chop Onions
- Sauté onions with a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat while sitring occasionally for ~5 mins or until the onion becomes slightly translucent. Add finely chopped garlic and lower heat. Cook another 2 mins on low heat being careful not to burn garlic.
- Set onions and garlic aside to cool.
- Add meatball ingredients to large bowl including chicken, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese (optional) and seasonings. Mix with spatula or by hand until combined. Do not overwork.
- Preheat oven to 325F. Heat large pan or skillet over medium heat with olive oil.
- Form meatball using your hand into golf-ball sized pieces. I used an ice cream scoop to ensure somewhat consistent sizes.
- Place meatballs into pan, leaving space between balls. I could fit ~6 at a time. Rotate once bottom is browned, ~2 mins per side. This step is just to sear the meatballs, not to fully cook them.
- Place meatballs on baking sheet once they have been seared/browned.
- Continue cooking in the oven at 325F for 21 mins.
- To get meatballs extra crispy, turn oven to 450F for the last 3 mins of cooking.
Tomato Sauce
We wanted some pasta and tomato sauce to go with the meatballs. We brought a store-bought can to life a bit by following this recipe:
- Sauté finely chopped onions and celery with a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-low heat for ~5 mins.
- Add carrot and garlic and continue to cook another 3 minutes while stirring.
- Add tomato paste, stir
- Add chicken stock, stir until tomato paste is incorporated
- Add jar of store-bought tomato sauce, stir, and leave covered for at least 20 minutes. I like to let the sauce rest while the meatballs are in the oven.