Chicken Meatballs Recipe

My little picky eater Jeev has recently showed greater interest into rice with soup and gravy. At 2.5 year old, he still does not like fish, chicken or anything similar. He, however, had recently developed liking or rather 'being OK' with having occasional egg in his food. There has been numerous ways that I tricked him into eating things that he did not like. The newest method, is chicken meatballs.

What is good about this is that you can pack practically anything into the meatballs, and as they eat it will still look and taste appealing to the kids. And my secret be told, this is also how I packed vegetables in every other dish for the kids, and also the hubby. Grated carrot, finely chopped red peppers and celery, you just name it!

Let me warn you that you need not fret so much about the ingredient portions, as long as you have one portion of minced chicken (or any other meat), you can add a quarter (or even less or more) of that amount of vegetables.

You Need:

Minced meat (can be chicken, pork or beef)
finely chopped celery, red pepper, coriander leaves (and those stems too), garlic
1 tsp tomato puree
1 egg
1 tbsp instant oats
some worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Method:

1) Mix all of the above ingredients together and chill or an hour or so. Shape into balls and place on a greased tray.

2) Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30-40mins, or till you get the nice brown colour.

TIP: Wet your hands with water before making each meatballs, it helps to avoid the mixture from sticking to your fingers.

This is the final product. While you can serve it with pasta sauce, you can also let the kids eat them just on its own. Even the 'big' kids will enjoy it... my hubby did as wel!

For a crunchy outer layer you can coat the meatballs with egg and then some breadcrumbs. You can also add some boiled and mashed potatoes for extra ingredient. Perfectly fine to leave it out as well.

In essence, the recipe is similar to the meatloaf I did ages ago. One differs with the seasonings and extra bacon layers I had last time.I suppose this recipe too can be tweaked using different seasoning or sauces like BBQ sauce. Doesn't that sound like a tempting idea?

I served the meatballs with pasta and some salsa salad. Enjoy!