Chicken Meatballs

Easy cooking it is. . I've never been a big fan of meatballs, mostly because I think they're too much effort. Making the mix, then rolling out each, dipping, crumbing and frying..... ah. . . .  just a bit too much for me. Then I was on pinterest one evening searching for ideas for party food and this recipe by smitten kitchen popped up. Seemed simple and whatever did not, I just skipped it. I modified the recipe quite a bit. For one, I didn't use no pancetta or parsley and then I skipped the minced onion and garlic. So there was very little chopping involved. Also I added  bread crumbs to the mix that made them much it easier to roll into meatballs. There, recipe already quite simplified.

To start making these, soak the bread cut into small bits in a little milk. You can use fresh bread but a couple of days old bread will work just as fine. Then it's all about chop, toss and mix.  Chop the coriander. In a bowl, mix the chicken mince, egg yolk and coriander. Save the egg white to make the glaze. I used about 250 gms of mince and this recipe made about 20 meatballs. Next go in the herbs, I used dried oregano and pasta mix. Made the job of seasoning much easier. A bit of salt . Then the bread that has been soaked in milk. Also the original recipe uses tomato paste. I used some ready made pizza sauce I had lying in the fridge. Finally the bread crumbs, that I used generously but not an overdose, coz that would overpower the chicken and you'd end with bready tasting meatballs.

Use a baking tray or dish lined with baking paper, this way you don't need to grease your tray. Roll the mix into small meatballs. You can make them in advance and let them sit in the fridge and bake them just before you need to serve them. The last thing you need to do before baking these, is glaze them with a mix of egg white and a little more of pizza sauce. Mix the two and brush a little bit of the glaze on the meatballs. These bake at 180 C for about 20 mins. Serve them warm with some mayo and mustard sauce.


Simplified for you here.

1. Mince, coriander, egg yolk.

2. Add herbs.

3. Add pizza sauce

4.Bits of bread soaked in milk.

5. Bread crumbs and salt.

6. Roll into meatballs

7. Glaze with egg white and pizza sauce, bake for 20 mins. DONE

I made these chicken meatballs for a party and they made an interesting starter. Good thing about these is that you can roll the meatballs in advance, keep them refrigerated, and fry/bake them just in time to serve them. Baking them is much more convenient, coz you can just let them sit in the oven, but you can also shallow fry these and the'y'll turn out just as fine. Tried and tested....




Chicken Meatballs

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 20.

3 slices of white bread
1/4 cup milk
250 gms chicken mince
1 tbsp coriander leaves minced
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp pasta mix herbs
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp pizza sauce
Salt to taste

For the glaze, mix
1 egg white
1/2 tbsp pizza sauce

1. Cut the bread into bits and let it soak in milk
2. Mix the mince, chopped coriander and egg yolk. Add the herbs.
3.Squeeze the bread to remove excess milk and add to the mince. Add salt to taste.
4. Mix in the crumbs and pizza sauce.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Roll the mix into meatballs and place on a lined baking tray.
6. Brush the meatballs with the glaze and bake for 20 mins.