Juicy chicken meatballs stuffed with creamy, herby whipped feta and topped with a lemon garlic butter sauce. Gluten and lactose-free*.
Making the whipped feta
The whipped feta allows for a delicious creamy centre once you cut into the meatballs and it also adds a whole lot of flavour! To make it, simply add feta, fresh dill and parsley, a dash of oat milk and a squeeze of lemon to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk until thick and creamy. If you don't have a stand mixer, an electric or ordinary whisk will do just fine.
If you have any leftover, I highly recommend using it as a dip or spread - it's so yummy!
And for those of you in the U.K. who are lactose intolerant, you can purchase lactose-free feta from Waitrose!
Making the meatballs
To make the meatballs, you'll need some ground chicken. I ground my own using 4 organic chicken thighs and a powerful food processor, but you can also purchase it if you're able to.
You're then going to use your hands to mix in the herbs, spices, shallots and garlic, form into balls and place a tsp of the whipped feta in the centre. Be careful not to overmix as this can make the meatballs dense. These are then drizzled with avocado oil and placed straight into the oven to cook for ~25 minutes (turning over half way). Alternatively, you can fry the meatballs in avocado or olive oil until golden brown and cooked through.
Serving the meatballs
These Herby Feta-Stuffed Chicken Meatballs can be served with a simple Greek salad, tzatziki and/or warm pita bread. I topped mine with a quick and easy lemon garlic butter sauce, which I made whilst the meatballs were cooking.
Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
To make the lemon garlic butter sauce, simply heat up 40g salted butter in a frying pan, then add 3 cloves of minced garlic and the slices of half a lemon. Let this cook over a medium heat for around 2-3 minutes, remove from the heat and drizzle on top of meatballs.
Herby Feta-Stuffed Chicken Meatballs (GF)
Makes: 16
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
For the whipped feta:
120g lactose-free feta cheese, cubed
2 tsp oat milk, or milk of choice
Handful of fresh dill, chopped finely
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped finely
Squeeze of lemon
For the chicken meatballs:
4 chicken thighs, ground (roughly 500g)
2 shallots, chopped finely
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp avocado oil
METHOD
For the whipped feta:
1. In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk together all of the ingredients until thick and creamy.
For the chicken meatballs:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together the ground chicken, shallots, garlic, oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, ground cumin, salt and pepper.
3. Take 2 tbsp of the mixture into your hands, flatten, place ~1 tsp of the whipped feta in the centre and form a ball around it. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
4. Transfer meatballs to baking tray, drizzle with avocado oil and cook for 25 minutes, or until cooked through, ensuring you turn them over half way.
5. Serve immediately and drizzle with lemon garlic butter sauce (optional).
I hope you love this recipe!
Love,
Sasha
STORAGE
If you have any meatballs leftover, store in an airtight container and place in the fridge. Consume within 2 days.
The whipped feta can also be stored in the fridge and consumed within 4 days.
Comentarios