Chicken Spinach Meatballs

Lots of green things are happening, like these chicken spinach meatballs.

These juicy chicken meatballs are stuffed with spinach, feta and oregano served with a garlicky dill spinach pesto.

You’re going to love this unique meatball recipe, I promise!

How to make chicken spinach meatballs

Featured Ingredients

Chicken Meatballs:

• Ground chicken: An underrated and nutritious meat option to make quick meals.
• Spinach: Use fresh or frozen leaves and chop it up.
  • If using the frozen block spinach, be sure to let it thaw and wring it out with a towel (it contains so much moisture!)
• Feta: Your favorite brand, crumbled.
• Panko breadcrumbs and eggs: Act as the binder to hold the meatballs together.
• Dijon: For flavor and moisure (it’s especially important when using a lean meat like ground chicken or turkey).
• Seasonings: Minced onion, dried oregano, dried dill, salt and black pepper.

Dill Pesto:

• Spinach: Handfuls of fresh spinach are an excellent addition to pesto – it adds a ton of nutrition but also cuts back on how much fresh herb you have to add, therefore is a cost effective addition/alternative.
• Dill: A handful of fresh dill.
• Garlic: Simply peel a few cloves and toss them in with the pesto ingredients.
• Nuts: Pine nuts are authentic to pesto, but really any nut will work well.
• Lemon: Fresh lemon zest and juice for the best flavor.
• Parmesan: Freshly grated!
• Olive oil: To whirl everything together.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together all of the meatball ingredients.
4. Using your hands, form 2-inch meatballs and place on the wire rack with an inch of space in between meatballs.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until internal temperature of meatballs reach 160 degrees.
6. While the meatballs cook, prepare the pesto.
7. Place the spinach, dill, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice, Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.
8. Process while drizzling olive oil in through the vegetable shoot, until desired consistency is reached.
9. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
10. Serve the chicken meatballs with the pesto sauce for dipping.

Recipe Substitutions and Alterations

For the chicken meatballs:

• Instead of ground chicken: Use ground turkey, beef or pork or a combination.
• Instead of spinach: Use chopped kale.
• For the feta: Buy it already crumbled or buy a block and crumble it yourself.
• For the breadcrumbs: I love panko because they’re light and fluffy, but you can use standard breadcrumbs as well.
• For the seasonings: Adjust the amounts as desired.

For the dill pesto:

• Instead of spinach: Use fresh kale.
• If you’re not a fan of dill: Use another fresh herb like basil or parsley.
• For the nuts: Use any nut, such as pine, walnut, pecan, almonds or pepitas.

Nutrition Considerations

• To make these gluten free: Use gluten free panko or traditional breadcrumbs.
  • Be sure all ingredients you choose are gluten free.
• To make these dairy free: Skip the feta or use dairy free cheese.
• To make these nut free: Skip the nuts in the pesto.
  • Be sure all ingredients you choose are nut free.
• To make these egg free: Try this recipe with an egg replacer, such as Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer or a flax ‘egg’ (although I haven’t tested this).

Swoon-worthy meatball recipes:

• Curry Chicken Meatballs
• Cocktail Meatballs with Cranberry BBQ Sauce
• Greek Lamb Meatballs
• Swedish Meatballs
• Sesame Pork Meatballs
• Italian Skillet Meatballs

Chicken Spinach Meatballs

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Chicken meatballs with spinach, feta and oregano served with a garlicky dill spinach pesto.

• Author: Julie Andrews
• Prep Time: 10-15 mins
• Cook Time: 15-20 mins
• Total Time: 25-35 mins
• Yield: Makes 18 meatballs 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Baking, No-Cook
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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Chicken Meatballs:

• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 2 cups fresh or frozen leaf spinach, finely chopped
• 6-ounces crumbled feta cheese
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ½ tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried dill leaves
• ¾ teaspoon coarse salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Dill Pesto:

• 3 cups fresh spinach
• ¼ cup fresh baby dill
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts (or other nut)
• Zest and juice of ¼ lemon
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅓ cup olive oil

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together all of the meatball ingredients. Using your hands, form 2-inch meatballs and place on the wire rack with an inch of space in between meatballs.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until internal temperature of meatballs reach 160 degrees.
4. While the meatballs cook, prepare the pesto. Place the spinach, dill, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice, Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor.
5. Process while drizzling olive oil in through the vegetable shoot, until desired consistency is reached. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
6. Serve the chicken meatballs with the pesto sauce for dipping.

Notes

Cooking Tip: Make the pesto in advance for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 3 meatballs
• Calories: 343
• Sugar: 0g
• Sodium: 467mg
• Fat: 22g
• Saturated Fat: 5g
• Unsaturated Fat: 17g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 9g
• Fiber: 2g
• Protein: 26g
• Cholesterol: 100mg

Yahhmm!