Chicken Meatballs – Homemade Recipe

by Sharon Fitzpatrick | Sep 24, 2023 | Main Courses, Uncategorized

Chicken Meatball Recipe:

Learn how to make these delicious and amazing Chicken Meatballs. This chicken meatball recipe is easy to follow and you will be glad you tried it.

Making a classic meatball dinner with chicken instead of beef might seem a bit unconventional but once you try it, you will understand why it makes a nice tasty alternative.

The texture of chicken meatballs is moist and tender, owing to the ground chicken used in their preparation.

Health Benefits of Chicken Meatballs

Chicken is a lean protein source, making chicken meatballs a healthier option compared to beef or pork meatballs.

They are lower in saturated fat and calories, making them suitable for those looking to reduce their fat intake while still enjoying meaty flavours.

Serves:
4 people

Great For:
lunch OR dinner

Cooking Time:
45 – 60 minutes

Watch on YouTube: Click Here.

Ingredients for Sauce

1 Onion
3 tbsp Oilve Oil
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Tumeric
4 Fresh Tomatoes
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Small Carrot
100g Water
2 Large Handfulls of Fresh Basil
1/4 Tube Tomato Puree
4 Cells of Celery

Ingredients for Meatballs

2 Chicken Breast
1 – 2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Spring Onion
Parsley
Salt & pepper
Breadcrumbs
Paprika
2 Eggs
Parmesan Cheese for topping
3 tbsp Olive Oil

Chicken Meatballs -Method – Instructions

Preparing the Tomato Sauce

Peel and dice your onion.

Roughly chop or crush the peeled garlic.

Cut up four cells of cellery to about 1/2 cm chuncks.

Chop up the fresh tomatoes into small chunks.

Grate your carrot.

Gather your fresh basil leaves and roughly chop.

Cooking the Tomato Sauce

Into a saucepan add your olive oil.

Turn the heat on to medium.

Add your onions, garlic, celery and grated carrots.

Mix the ingredients together.

Put a lid on and sauté for 5 – 10 minutes.

After 5 – 10 minutes add some salt & pepper.

Then add your fresh tomatoes and your tin of chopped tomtoes.

To the empty tin of tomatoes, add your water and swirl it around before adding the water to the saucepan, ensuring to not waste any of that lovely tomato flavour.

Place your tomato puree into the saucepan.

Now add your tumeric and oregano and fresh basil.

Give all the ingredients a mix around.

Time now to put the lid on and let the flavours infuse together while letting it cook on a slow heat for 45 minutes, occassionally giving it a stir.

In the meantime while your tomato sauce is cooking lets prepare the Chicken Meatballs

The easiest way to have ground chicken is to ask your local butcher to mince the chicken breasts for you.

Alternatively you can cut your chicken breasts into very small pieces yourself. It is easier to work with when cut up nice and small.

Finely dice your spring onion.

Into a large mixing bowl add your finely ground minced chicken and your finely diced spring onion.

Season with salt and pepper. If you wanted a bit of a spicy chicken meatball, then add 1/2 tsp of chill powder or chilli flakes.

Whisk your eggs and then add to the bowl with your chicken.

Add your garlic and your breadcrumbs to the bowl.

Put in your paprika and parsley.

Grate a bit of your Parmesan cheese into the bowl. Any rich and distinctive strong cheese would be good like Parmigiano Reggiano Dop or something like it.

Intially mix ingredients with a fork.

Then the best way to combine the ingredients for chicken meatballs, is to get your hands into that mixing bowl and really bind the ingredients into a firmer mixture, where the mixture will come away from the edge of the bowl.

Now pull small pieces of the mixture and make little ball shaped meatballs.

From this amount of ingredients, you need to aim to make about 16 meatballs.

You are ready to cook your chicken meatballs.

Check on your Tomato Sauce

After about 45 minutes your tomato sauce will have changed colour and smell amazing.

At this stage you want to place your sauce into a tall jug and liquidise with a hand blender, or you can put the sauce into a liquidiser.

Once the tomato sauce is nice and smooth, empty it back into the saucepan and put the lid on. You can cook it on a very low heat while you cook your chicken meatballs.

Cooking your Chicken Meatballs

Into a frying pan, pour in some olive oil.

Place your chicken meatballs into the frying pan on a low to medium heat.

You can turn your chicken meatballs in the pan by flicking them in the pan or you can turn the meatballs with some tongs.

Moving and jerking your frying pan to move the chicken meatballs ensures the shape of the balls will stay nice and round.

However when you use tongs, it may squash the meatballs a little, slighly altering the shape.

If the shape is altered slightly it doesn’t matter. They still taste amazing.

Ensure the chicken meatballs are nice and brown, so you know they are cooked well. This process will vary depending on your heat, but will take roughly about 10 minutes.

While the chicken meatballs are cooking nicely, this is the perfect time to cook your spaghetti.

Place your speghetti pasta into a pot of boiling water and cook to the packets instructions.

Chicken Meatballs & Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti

Add those gorgeous chicken meatballs to that wonderful homemade tomato sauce.

Gently mix the meatballs into the sauce.

Once your spaghetti is cooked, drain in a seive and pour over some boiling water from the kettle onto your spaghetti.

Spread your spghetti onto the plate.

Place your wonderful flavoursome chicken meatballs and homemade tomato sauce in the centre of your spaghetti pasta.

Grate some parmesan cheese over the top of your meatballs and sprinkle some parsley over the cheese.

Serve and enjoy.

Happy Cooking

Sharon

Do you want that brilliant Tomato Knife?

Greenway supplies sell the most wonderful kitchen products to either the residential home as well as for commercial use.

For to make this really tasty homemade tomato sauce, I used some fresh tomatoes.

I used their tomato knife.

This knife sliced through the fresh tomatoes with ease.

Tomato skins can be quite tough to cut through but not with this special tomato knife.

Click here to order your tomato knife, like the one I showed you on the video.

I highly recommend this tomato knife.

Happy Cooking

Sharon

LifeStyle With Sharon

For more blogs for dinner ideas click HERE

If you would like to visit Greenway Supplies to see what other products they do click HERE

Check Out My Blog Categories

Tell Us What You Think?

If you found the recipe and instructional video useful then it would be great if you could leave a review and tell us what you think.

A good review supports my site.

[site_reviews_form assign_to=”255229”]

Support My Site & Share This Post With Family & Friends

Lentil Soup – Homemade Soup Recipe

by Sharon Fitzpatrick | Feb 20, 2022 | Main Courses, Soups & Stews

Lentil Soup Recipe:

Lentil soup is a wonderful soup to make.

It is very easy to make and the lentil soup has tremendous flavour.

And lentil soup is extremely good for our health. Lentils have lots of nutritional value.

Cooking with lentils is easy. They don’t need soaking, they just need a rinse.

For this lentil soup I used red lentils but you can use red, brown, green, yellow or black lentils. When choosing your colour lentil for your lentil soup it will alter the colour accordingly.

Either way they are all full of goodness. Lentils are rich in Iron and are an excellent source of protein. Lentils are a great source of fibre too.

I love this lentil soup recipe as it is so delicious, easy to make and it is a very healthy meal, perfect for a lunch or dinner.

You can also freeze this lentil soup too, making it a very practical recipe.

For those living alone it is a perfect way of making a healthy meal once and you can freeze it in individual portions for future uses by just heating it up. With this lentil soup recipe you would probably get about six meals which is great.

And of course those of you with a few in the household, it is perfect too.

I love one pot dinners, less washing up and easy to dish out to your guests or family and you can always just leave the pot on the table and let everyone help themselves.

It is easy and tasty to just heat up your lentil soup the next day (if there is any left of course).

For more great recipes do check out the other blogs.

Please do tell your friends about the website and help spread the love of cooking.

Links for more BLOGS below.

Enjoy browsing through the LifeStyle With Sharon website.

Starters

Main Courses

Desserts

Baking

LifeStyle

Serves:
6 portions

Great For:
Dinner or Lunch

Cooking Time:
30 – 40 mins

Watch on YouTube: Click Here.

Ingredients

300g Or 2 large carrot
160g or 1 large onion
350g or 3 medium potatoes
400g lentils of your choice
20g butter

4 stock cubes
1 ½ litre water
Or you can use homemade stock
Pinch of salt
½ tsp of black or white pepper
2 bay leaves (optional)

Lentil Soup Recipe – Method & Instructions

When you are chopping your vegetable a good tip is to put a tea-towel under your chopping board and this will stop your chopping board moving as you are using your knife to cut. It is safer.

I like to cut and prepare my vegetables and put in some dishes ready for use.

Firstly peel and dice the onion. To prevent your eyes watering cut the onion in half from root end to the other end. Then cut the opposite to the root end off. Keep the root end intact. See the video for a visual explanation.

Secondly peel carrots and chop off one end, keeping one end intact so you have something to hold, so you don’t end up grating your fingers. Then grate the carrot.

Thirdly peel and cut your potatoes. You can out them in water until you are ready to use them. Keeping them in water stops them going black.

Next you need to put your lentils into a sieve and rinse them under the tap.

You can make your stock by placing stock cubes in water.

If you wanted to make your own stock for the lentil soup, you can use water from previously boiled vegetables.

Making your own chicken stock is an a option too, to make a chicken stock then use the bones from a chicken and either boil them in water or put bones and water in a slow cooker and leave overnight. This gives lovely chicken stock. Another way is to boil a chicken in a large pot and use the water as your stock.

Preparation for your Lentil Soup is done – Now let’s make it

Now in a pot melt some butter and add your onion. Mix the onion into the butter, put the lid on and let them sauté for 5 minutes. Keep on a low heat.

After you have cooked your onion for five minutes, add your grated carrot to the pot.

Then add your potatoes to the pot.

Season the lentil soup with salt and pepper.

Add the rinsed lentils, keeping on a low heat and give all the ingredients a good mix.

Pour the stock into the pot and turn up the heat to bring it to the boil. Add in bay leaves.

Once brought to the boil, turn heat down to low again, put the lid on and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Cook for about 20 – 30 minutes.

The lentil soup is meant to be nice and thick but if you feel it is too thick, just add a little water.

Personally I love the soup like this with but if you prefer the go ahead and liquidise it. Some people love it smooth and others love it with bits in, personal preference.

For more lovely soup recipes, see the soup playlist on YouTube.

And for more delicious recipes check out our other blogs.

Enjoy your Lentil Soup.

Happy Cooking

Sharon

LifeStyle With Sharon

Check Out My Blog Categories

Support My Site & Share This Post With Family & Friends

How To Make Vegetable Curry

by Sharon Fitzpatrick | Aug 4, 2021 | Main Courses

How To Make Vegetable Curry:

Vegetable curry is delicious. I love a curry and particularly love a vegetable curry. Most people do. It is a lot easier than you think to make your own curry.

There are a lot of different ways of making a curry and there are so many different types. Today I am showing you one that I make sometimes that people love.

Of course you can add some meat to it but I love having a vegetable curry so I thought I would share it with you.

Having a vegetable curry is a nice alternative to having a meat based dinner. You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this vegetable curry.

Personally I try to vary my dinner menu throughout the week to include some meat and some vegetarian dishes. Not only is this giving you variety but it is good for us to not be having meat every day.

A vegetable curry can be so easily adapted to suit your personal taste. Any vegetables can be used. With this vegetable curry recipe I have made suggestions but of course you can change it to incorporate your favourites.

For more dinner ideas browse through the main courses blogs and if you fancy a pudding check out the dessert blogs. We also have some great snacks, soup and starter recipe blogs too for you to check out. Enjoy browsing and have fun trying out new recipes.

Serves:
4 – 6 people

Great For:
dinner or lunch

Cooking Time:
30 – 40 mins

Watch on YouTube: Click Here.

Ingredients

2 onions
160g broccoli
160g cauliflower
½ red pepper
80g sugar snap peas
80g green beans
180g carrot
200g peas
200g fresh tomatoes

40g Ghee (or butter)
2 – 3 large heaped tbsp curry paste
1 – 2 tsp tandoori masala curry powder
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
4 tsp coriander
250ml fresh cream
1 can of chick peas
1 tsp brown sugar
¾ cup of rice per person

Vegetable Curry – Method & Instructions

Preparing the vegetables for the Vegetable Curry

With the onion you want to cut in half from route end to the other end then peel it. Cut the onion from end to end into three parts so you have tear shaped onions. Check the video for clarification if you are not sure. Or you can just dice them but I think it is nice with big pieces of onion.

Pull the broccoli apart so you have nice chunky bits.

Cut the cauliflower into sizable chunks.

Chop the red pepper in half, take out the seeds and cut any white bits off. Then cut into either long strips or dice into large pieces.

Trim the edges of the sugar snap peas and leave them whole.

Again trim the ends of the green beans and then cut them in half.

Peel the carrots. Chop off and discard both ends. Cut the carrots into round circles.

If using fresh peas from the garden, then shell the peas and put to one side. Or if using frozen peas just have them ready.

Dice the fresh tomatoes into small pieces.

Steam the vegetables preferably. If you don’t have a steamer them either fry in a wok or boil. Cook the carrots for 5 minutes longer than all the other vegetables. Don’t cook the tomatoes yet. They will be used a bit later for the vegetable curry sauce.

How To Make the Sauce for the Vegetable Curry

You can make the sauce while the vegetables are cooking. Once the vegetables are cooked just leave them to one side ready to add to your vegetable curry sauce.

Melt the Ghee. As an alternative you can just use normal butter or coconut oil or olive oil.

To the melted Ghee add the curry paste. It doesn’t really matter which one. Although Madras curry paste is the one I used for this vegetable curry recipe. Of course you can make your own paste and I will show you how on a future video but it is perfectly fine to use a curry paste from a jar.

Add in the tandoori curry powder or any other curry powder of your choice if you can’t get this particular one.

Stir in the fresh tomatoes.

Pour in a tin of chopped tomatoes.

Let this cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

One tip I would give is use a deep pot as it can splash.

Then to the sauce add the coriander.

If you wanted to you can liquidise this part of the vegetable curry sauce but I personally don’t.

Turn the heat off as you now pour in the fresh cream. If you didn’t want to use cream then use an extra tin of tomato sauce instead and maybe some yoghurt.

This is now the time to cook your rice as per packets instructions.

Into the vegetable curry sauce add the chickpeas. But first drain the chickpeas and rinse with water.

To the sauce add the brown sugar.

Transfer the vegetable curry sauce into a very large pot and add all your vegetables, stirring all the vegetables into the sauce.

Serve the rice onto a plate and make a well in the middle and dish up your vegetable curry into the well of the rice.

A wonderful accompaniment to this tasty vegetable curry is naan bread. I will show you how to make some naan bread in next week’s YouTube video and Lifestyle With Sharon blog.

Happy cooking and enjoy your homemade vegetable curry.

Sharon

LifeStyle With Sharon

Check Out My Blog Categories

Support My Site & Share This Post With Family & Friends