Making your own meatballs is a cinch if you have time. These chicken meatballs are seasoned with dill, and served in a sauce that is flavoured with miso. Double the recipe and freeze half for the next time you need a quick and easy dinner.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Chicken Meatballs ♥
Buying free range mince
For years, the only free range mince I could buy was beef. Slowly but surely, my local food retailer has added to their minced meat range. I can now get minced venison, sow friendly minced pork, free to roam minced lamb, and free range chicken mince. Most people do not want to know where their meat comes from. But I am all for learning how food ends up on our tables. Egg laying hens have a relatively short life, and once they are done with being productive, the hens are sent to slaughter. Done humanely, the meat can be used for sausages and mince, and the rest of the bird turned into stock and gravy. Being able to buy ready minced meat means my meat grinder seldom gets used. But it is way more convenient, and less time consuming.
The ethics of using food banks
I cannot imagine having to use a food bank, but for many people, this is a reality. Dave and I were watching a documentary, detailing the stories of people who have no other choice. What irked me was the mother of four, who only uses the food bank, and never shops at a regular supermarket. She and her husband are unemployed, and live on benefits. They take advantage of the charitable food donations so that they can take an annual holiday with their children. On the opposite side to this are people who work more than one job, and cannot afford basic daily costs. They have no choice but to use the food bank, or face starvation. But their income means that they get no other support, and can most certainly not afford holidays. Is that mother of four using the system to her own gain?
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Chicken Meatballs ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
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Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
for the meatballs:
- 15 mls olive oil, plus extra for frying the meatballs
- 1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 500 g chicken mince
- 2.5 mls fine salt
- 1 egg
- 85 g breadcrumbs
- 5 g fresh dill, finely chopped
for the sauce:
- 30 mls olive oil
- 28 g flour
- 500 mls chicken stock
- 15 mls miso paste
Method
for the meatballs:
- Place the oil into large frying pan and heat over a medium temperture
- Add the shallot and sauté until soft, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant
- Remove from the heat and set aside to cool
- Place the chicken into a large bowl, add the cooled onions and garlic, salt and the egg
- Mix using your hands or a spatula until the egg is completely incorporated
- Add the breadcrumbs and dill then using your hands, mix until the breadcrumbs are nicely distributed in the mixture
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop up the mince and roll between wet hands to get a tight ball
- Set the meatball aside and repeat until you have shaped all the meatballs
- Add extra oil to your frying pan if needed, and then fry the meatballs in batches until golden brown and cooked nearly all the way through
- Set aside while you make the sauce
for the sauce:
- Place the oil into the same frying pan, heat slightly before whisking in the flour
- Allow the flour to cook for a few minutes before slowly adding the stock, while whisking continuously
- Add the miso paste, whisk to combine, then let the sauce simmer until thickened
- Add the meatballs to the sauce, allow them to cook through and make sure they are well coated with the sauce
- Serve as is, with bread for dipping, or on a bed of mashed potatoes, or creamy polenta
See the links below for blog posts I published on October 16:
- 2022: The Family Remains
- 2020: Salted Caramel Scrolls
- 2019: The Barbecue
- 2017: Green Goddess Salad Dressing
- 2016: Alert
- 2014: Swiss Meringue
- 2013: Blogging With Integrity: Entering Competitions
- 2012: My Fynbos Garden
i think everyone loves a meatball. I like to use turkey mince in mine as i find chicken mince a wee bit bland tho i do have a great recipe for chicken balls in a coconut/tomato sauce. I usually go crazy with seasonings and spices when i make ’em :=)
sherry
We don’t get turkey mince here, but I am going to use your sauce as inspiration for the next batch I make 🙂
I surely can’t imagine having no job and still wanting to have vacations somewhere else…well, but maybe they did that for the children…who knows? Those meatballs look great. I prefer red meat and when I cook chicken, I usually just eat the skin 🙂 All the meat are usually taken care of by my cats.
Wow, your cats are very well fed, looking at how good your recipes are 🙂
Lovely recipe!!! We have the same problem here in the U.S.
Are food banks easy to access?
Food banks do live-saving work. It’s incredibly hard to draw the line to determine who “needs” it, so while there will always be those who take advantage, it’s a net good that will even out in the end. I would rather that than create more hoops to jump through that might prevent others from gaining access.
Such a good point! I would love it if we had this available here, as so many people are in need.
This takes me back. My mother used to make similar meatballs almost every week when I was a girl. Now I have to make them as well. Thanks for sharing this delicious-looking recipe.
Amalia
xo
I hope you make them, and so glad they invoked a memory for you 🙂
So nice and delicate with ground chicken!
Totally 🙂
Some people really do take advantage, and it’s unfair to those who genuinely need help but get overlooked.
The chicken meatballs look great, by the way!
I agree with you, those that in need should get!
The mother of four is most likely British. The British government is ridiculous the way they’ve turned half the population into lay abouts. It makes me cross that hard working tax payers money is abused like that. The meatballs sound very good.
You are correct! This is such a British problem!
Meatballs are the best! And the chicken ones are super delicious especially with the miso sauce. Super yummy!
It is funny you bring up that documentary, we were talking about the same thing or something similar with my friends on Friday… It is said to know people are abusing the system which in the long run will penalize the ones who truly need them…
Absolutely! That really is the major factor here 🙂
Meatballs are such a great idea, and your miso sauce with umami flavours would take them to the next level. What you have raised is an issue I often wonder about as well. One good thing is that the children are being fed, but it can seem like they are rorting the system, doesn’t it? There just doesn’t seem to be a reliable way to check if people are entitled to use foodbanks. Or is there?
There should be a better way of ensuring people do not use social grants for going overseas!
It is always nice to have some meatballs in the freezer so doubling the recipe would work for me.
I hope you make these, and enjoy them 🙂