#HealthyBirdy Butter Chicken Meatballs
You’re going to be floored at how easy this butter chicken recipe easy. It’s definitely not authentic, but I promise it’s delicious, nutritious and comes together in just 30 minutes.
I often make it with just the chicken meatballs and sauce over rice. But I had tofu in our fridge that needed to be used up, and some frozen spinach and peas that I thought would add some brightness to the dish. I used brown rice instead of our usual white jasmine, which was somewhat a mistake. Whyyyyyy is brown rice so hard to cook?! It always ends up either undercooked and crunchy, or in my case, overcooked and mushy. It still tasted good and rounded out this recipe to be even more healthy! But I’d say if you’re not into the whole ‘whole grain’ thing…go for white and enjoy it without the guilt.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 can low fat coconut milk
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 brick firm tofu, pressed gently with paper towel to absorb the excess moisture, and cut into small squares or rectangles
- 1 cup frozen spinach
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- brown rice, for serving
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, add the ground chicken, egg and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to combine everything together and then coat your hands with a small amount of olive oil so you can roll the meat mixture into 1-2 inch sized balls (you should be able to make 15-20 meatballs). Place them on the baking sheet and pop them on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are crisp and cooked through.
3. While the meatballs are cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet, dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, cooking another 3 minutes, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning.
3. In a small bowl, combine the garam masala, curry powder and cayenne pepper, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add this all at once to the pot and let it toast for roughly 1 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste, coconut milk, and 1/2 cup water. Stir to combine and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Reduce to simmer.
5. Toss in the tofu, frozen peas and frozen spinach so they can warm up as the sauce simmers.
6. Stir in the yogurt.
7. Add the meatballs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens even more.
5. Serve the butter chicken meatball mixture over a bowl of brown rice (I used Uncle Ben’s) and enjoy!
xxx
