I’m always on the hunt for a good meatball recipe. I love them, whether they are made with ground beef, turkey, chicken, lamb, I don’t care just load my plate up with them. Growing up my mom made Greek meatballs. They were delicious and one of my favorite meals besides roasted chicken. This recipe isn’t similar at all, but with the feta and spinach reminded me of the flavors of Greek food. I knew I had to try it. And they did not disappoint. The feta cheese and spinach kept the chicken very moist and acted as a great binder. They didn’t fall apart, were cooked perfectly, and had a kick to them. If you don’t like spice you may want to omit the cayenne and/or red pepper flakes, or just tone down on them. I served these with wild rice and steamed broccoli. I didn’t put any sauce on the meatballs I thought they were juicy enough that they didn’t need it, but if you can’t eat a meatball without sauce I’m sure a little marinara can’t hurt. To make all my meatballs I use a cookie scoop. A heaping scoop of meat ensures that all are equally sized.

Sometimes it is difficult for me to find ground chicken in my store and ground turkey can easily be substituted. This week ground chicken is on sale. At my store it seems to appear in the meat case when it is on sale. Hopefully you will be able to find it. If so buy a few packages of it and store in your freezer. You can then make the chili lime chicken burgersor save it for my next ground chicken recipe.

Spinach and Feta Chicken Meatballs

Adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 3 tbsp chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp cayenne (red) pepper
• ¾ tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together, careful to not over mix. Form meatballs

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a cast iron skillet, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Heat to medium. Add meatballs and cook 2-3 minutes per side.

3. After browning on the stove put the skillet into the oven and allow to finish cooking for about 10 minutes, until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

4. If you do not have a cast iron skillet use a skillet with a lid to first brown the meatballs. After browning 2-3 minutes per side, lower the heat to low and cover, allow them to cook all the way through, about 10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

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