Lean and Mean Chicken Meatballs

Lean and Mean Chicken Meatballs

Grapeseed oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 lbs organic ground chicken

l medium yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, use chop setting on blender or use food processor until finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons of fresh thyme

Handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 large egg

¼ cup Grated Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Caramelize the diced onion in a sauté pan with a little grapeseed oil over medium heat. Add crushed garlic for 1 minute and remove from heat. In the same pan add a little more oil and butter to pan over medium heat and add carrot, sauté for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl add ground chicken, egg, caramelized onion, carrot, thyme, parsley, cheese, until combined, season with a little salt and pepper. Don’t add too much salt because of the saltiness from the Parmesan cheese.  Heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil just until smoking. Use a small ice cream scoop to drop meatballs onto skillet. Cook, turning, until golden brown on all sides.

 * I make these meatballs for several different recipes including spaghetti, Meatballs Subs, my twist on Chicken Noodle soup (coming soon), or if my kids are just having that craving for “chicken nuggets”. Sometimes I double the recipe and freeze some for later.

If you can’t find ground chicken in your local grocery store, ask the butcher if he would grind some chicken breast up for you. I have recently started grinding my own with my new meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer.

Tip of the day: Grapeseed oil has a reputation as the 'chefs' choice' because of its light, clean, and ‘nutty’ flavor profile. I use grapeseed oil for this recipe because of its relatively high smoke point, especially important when browning the meatballs. Olive oil is good to use, but as an unrefined oil, extra virgin olive oil should not be exposed to heat higher than 325°F.