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Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Quick and easy delicious Italian chicken meatballs in a rich tomato sauce and gooey cheese
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: chicken, gluten free, italian meatballs
Servings: 4
Calories: 435kcal

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

  • 1x400 gram can of Italian chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup passata
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli finely chopped
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp dried italian herbs
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • salt
  • sugar only if required

Chicken Meatballs

  • 500 gram chicken mince
  • 2 tspn minced garlic
  • 1 tspn dried Italian herbs
  • 1 tspn dried oregano
  • 2 tspn fresh thyme leaves only
  • 2 tspn chilli flakes
  • 1 tspn salt
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 2 tbsp grated parmesan
  • 2 tbsp chickpea flour
  • 5 slices mozzarella cheese
  • fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

Tomato Sauce

  • Add the olive oil, bay leaf and onion to a saucepan and cook the onion until translucent. Add the chilli and garlic and sauté for a minute
  • Add the Italian herbs and oregano and let it fry for a few seconds
  • Add the tomatoes and passata. Season with salt. Add a little sugar if tomatoes are too acidic. Simmer on low heat until tomatoes are cooked and oil surfaces to the top, about 10 minutes

Chicken Meatballs

  • Mix all the garlic, Italian herbs, oregano, thyme, chilli flakes and salt together. Add the chicken mince, beaten egg, parmesan and chickpea flour and give it a light mix. Season with salt
  • Divide mixture into 16 portions, using a ice-cream scoop as mixture will be quite mushy and make them into balls
  • Wet your hands and finish off into a neat ball
  • Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Turn on the grill function in your oven
  • Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil and fry the chicken meatballs, just until they are brown on both sides. Doesn't have to be fully cooked as it will cook further in the oven
  • Place them in an ovenproof dish, pour the tomato sauce over and place some mozzarella slices on top. Pop it into the oven for a few minutes, about 5-8 minutes or under the grill function just until cheese is melted

Notes

  1. You can use the tomatoes as it is or you can blend them if you prefer a smooth sauce
  2. The cheese is optional. You can also fry the meatballs and use the tomato sauce as the dip
  3. If you do not have chickpea flour you can leave it out. I usually roll the meatballs in the chickpea flour but this time I added it to the mixture and I found my meatballs a little lighter
  4. The mixture will be mushy so use an ice-cream scoop to divide the mixture. Wet your hands and then roll them into neat balls

Nutrition

Calories: 435kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 190mg | Sodium: 501mg | Potassium: 766mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 510IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 2mg