Baked sticky teriyaki style chicken meatballs

EASY DINNER OR APPETISER.

These baked chicken meatballs are so juicy and so flavourful that they are hard to resist straight out of the oven. But topped with a delicious homemade teriyaki style glaze they are a total crowd pleaser!

Creating meatballs with a Luvele meat grinder couldn’t be easier. After grinding, the meatballs come together in just a few simple steps. Best of all, they are baked (not fried), making them a super easy meal for a busy weeknight or a great entertaining appetiser that can be prepped in advance.

The glaze is a healthy, gluten-free and paleo twist on a traditional Teriyaki sauce – ask your dinner guests if they can guess the secret ingredient. Noone will guess it’s missing the sake and white sugar. How you marry the sauce with the balls is up to you. Drizzle it on, roll them in it or use tooth picks or chopsticks to dip and dunk them.

Try these teriyaki meatballs over a bed of steamy (cauliflower) rice or sautéed Asian greens. Yum!

PERFECTING CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Dry meatballs are a huge disappointment. Before you begin, here’s some tips for grinding chicken into succulent meatballs.

CHOOSE YOUR CUT:
White breast meat is lean but it’s definitely not the best option for grinding into mince. If over-cooked, ground breast meat can quickly become dry and crumbly. The thigh and leg are far better cut - darker in colour and with more fat for flavour.  If you’re concerned about the fat, much of it cooks out onto the baking paper anyway.

ADD MOISTURE & TEXTURE:
It’s very easy to over cook chicken meat balls and as the moisture cooks out, they actually shrink in size. To keep them as moist and plump as possible, conventional recipes add bread crumbs and an egg.  But, breadcrumbs are typically made from white, highly processed bread that’s virtually void of any nutritional value. Replacing the refined crumb with nutrient dense almond meal keeps them tender and moist as well as gluten free and paleo. The healthy switch will go unnoticed.

GO GENTLE WITH GROUND MEAT: 
The mixture is sticky and not the easiest to roll, but try not to spend too much time mixing or forming the meatballs. Make them quickly and gently. Freshly ground meat should be handled as little as possible so it stays tender.

SHAPE & BAKE:
Make the meatballs as uniform as possible so they all bake evenly. Keep a close eye on them after 10 minutes in the oven.  The meatballs are also delicious pan-fried.

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