Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Chicken Meatballs
We are BACK! I haven’t written a post here since 2017 and for that I am sorry! But fear not - the cooking has not stopped. So let’s get back on track and start cooking some easy peasy and delicious recipes.
First up: Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Chicken Meatballs!
These have been on heavy rotation in our house lately. Meatballs are a perfect food prep option, delivering tasty protein packed flavors in a convenient little ball of love. Obviously I’m a huge fan of traditional meatballs. but here we’re swapping out the beef for some leaner ground chicken to up the protein ante! We are even sneaking in some extra veggie power with shredded zucchini. The basil and sundried tomato team up to pack the flavor punch and then we round things out with the traditional cheese, breadcrumb and egg combination.
As with most everything I cook, these meatballs are incredibly versatile and can adapt to almost any dietary requirements. I'll include some options in the notes section below the recipe.
So give these a go for your food prep this week! You won’t be disappointed.
Sundried Tomato & Basil Meatballs
What you’ll need
2lb. ground chicken
1 egg
1 medium sized zucchini
3/4 c. panko breadcrumb
1/2 c. pecorino romano cheese (or parmasean cheese)
1/2 c. fresh basil (packed)
1/2 c. sundried tomato (in the oil)
1 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 tsp. sea salt
What you’ll do
Preheat your oven to Bake at 375
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
In a large bowl, add the breadcrumb, cheese, seasonings and mix to combine
In a small food processor, add the basil and sundried tomato and blend until the basil is in small pieces. (If you don’t have a small food processor fear not! Simply add the basil and sundried tomato to a cutting board and chop them up together until well combined)
Grate the zucchini
Add the chicken, sundried tomato and basil mixture, egg and zucchini to the bowl
Mix with your hands to combine. Be careful not to over mix!
Roll the mixture into balls about the size of your palm and place on the baking sheet. You should get around 24 balls. Pro tip! Run your hands under cold water every so often to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands as quickly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Notes and Substitutions
No cheese? No problem! For my dairy intolerant folks, feel free to omit the cheese all together. You may find that you need to add another tablespoon of breadcrumb if the mixture is too wet after you’ve combined everything together.
Didn’t get to the farmers market? If you don’t have a zucchini on hand, you can simply omit it and instead add another egg. The zucchini adds a lot of moisture to the mixture so we’ll want to make sure we replace that with egg so your balls aren’t too dense.
If you don’t own a meat thermometer, I highly recommend you get one! I use this one every time I cook!
