Tasty Tuesday: Turkey Sriracha Meatballs

What is it about meatballs that’s so appealing?  I mean, when you think about it, the concept is kind of gross: little wads of meat stuck together with egg and breadcrumbs.

The idea of a wad of meat might be kind of gross, but Meatwad is pretty damn adorable.  I love him (and this show)!

Even though the concept may be gross, meatballs are not.  I love meatballs, and I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to make them.

Today’s meatball recipe is pretty straightforward, but the sauce is what makes them really special … It’s spicy and tangy and contains Sriracha, so it’s obviously amazing.  This is also a really simple recipe.  Seriously, if you can follow instructions, you can make these meatballs!  (And you should make them soon!)

These meatballs can be served as an appetizer or as a main dish (I served these for dinner over rice with a side of steamed broccoli).

I actually made an effort when plating these meatballs, and I thought this was MasterChef worthy.  Hey, a girl can dream!

Turkey Sriracha Meatballs

Adapted ever so slightly from a recipe on Budget Bytes.

Ingredient List (Meatballs):

• 1-1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup red onion, diced into fairly small pieces
• 1 tsp Sriracha
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce

Instructions (Meatballs):

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray it with cooking spray, and set it aside.
3. In a large bowl, add all of the meatball ingredients.  Mix everything together using your hands.
4. Shape the turkey mixture into meatballs and place each meatball onto the cookie sheet, making sure to space them apart as evenly as possible.  (As I’ve mentioned before, I kind of suck when it comes to making perfectly uniform meatballs.  The original recipe states that you should get between 25-30 meatballs, but I only wound up with 17.  I’m sure you can stretch this recipe further if you make small meatballs, but I obviously like mine a little bigger.  (That’s what she said!)  Sorry … I couldn’t resist.)
5. Bake the meatballs for 25-30 minutes, or until they are cooked through (I baked mine for the full 30 minutes).

A closer look at these delicious, spicy meatballs.

Ingredient List (Sriracha Sauce):

• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp Sriracha
• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions (Sriracha Sauce):

1. While the meatballs are baking, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, Sriracha, and 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until the brown sugar is dissolved.
2. Mix the remaining 1/4 cup of water with the cornstarch in a small bowl.
3. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan with the Sriracha mixture and stir until well combined.
4. Bring the mixture to a simmer.  The sauce should thicken and become a little glossy when it has finished cooking.
5. Drizzle the sauce over the meatballs once they’ve finished baking.

As I said earlier, I served these meatballs as a main dish over Jasmine rice with a side of steamed broccoli.

 

 

Tasty Tuesday: Boneless Buffalo Wings

Eric and I used to go to Buffalo Wild Wings all the time.  Although we still like to go once in a while, I don’t think the food is as good as it used to be.  I mean, it was never amazing … But the chicken used to be more tender and juicy.  It also used to come with more sauce.

As you can probably see, I like sauce.

When I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it out.  These boneless buffalo wings are perfect for game day, and they’re surprisingly easy to make.  I followed the original recipe pretty closely (with a few changes), and my chicken came out perfectly crispy (yet still juicy and tender on the inside).  And the sauce … Oh, the sauce.  While I appreciate the variety of sauce flavors Buffalo Wild Wings offers, nothing beats having the ability to add as much (or as little) sauce as you want.  (And it’s not like I can’t buy other sauce flavors if I want to change it up in the future.)

If you’re a fan of boneless buffalo wings, you should definitely make these.  You won’t be disappointed!

Boneless Buffalo Wings

Adapted ever so slightly from a recipe on Budget Savvy Diva.

Ingredient List:

• 4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup milk (I used 1% milk, since that’s what we usually have on hand)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot)
• Canola oil for frying (You’ll want enough to fill a pan with about 2-3 inches of oil)

I was really proud of the way these turned out, especially since I’d never fried chicken at home before trying this recipe.

Instructions:

1. Heat a pan filled with 2-3 inches of canola oil over medium high heat.
2. Mix the flour, cornstarch, cumin, garlic salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika, and chili powder in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the milk and egg together in a separate bowl.
4. Dip a chicken chunk into the wet mixture, then into the dry mixture.  Repeat this step (you’ll want to dip every chicken chunk in both mixtures twice).  Continue dipping the chicken chunks until they’ve all been coated.
5. Drop several chicken chunks (I did about 5-10 at a time) into the oil and fry until golden brown and crispy.  (This should only take a few minutes, so keep an eye on the chicken!)
6. Remove the chicken chunks from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb some of the grease.  Continue following steps 5 and 6 until all of the chicken has been fried.
7. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter and hot sauce.
8. Place the chicken in a large bowl and pour the sauce over it, gently stirring to coat.

It was a little time consuming, but totally worth it!  I made this for dinner and served it with a side of steamed vegetables, but it would also work well as an appetizer.

And, just so you know, I also tried one of the fried chicken chunks before coating it with sauce, and it was delicious.  So if you’re not really a fan of buffalo chicken but like fried chicken nuggets, you could still use this recipe and simply skip steps 7 and 8.

Tasty Tuesday: BBQ Turkey Meatballs

I almost feel ridiculous sharing this recipe today because it’s just so easy.  I found the original recipe on Pinterest when I was searching for things to do with some ground turkey we had on hand.  I love meatballs, so when I saw this, I knew I had to make it.

I didn’t change the original recipe that much.  To be honest, there really wasn’t much that needed to be tweaked.  Meatballs don’t require a ton of ingredients to be delicious (though that’s not to say I don’t appreciate unique flavors in a meatball!).  It’s a great, simple dish that could easily be served as an appetizer or as a main dish.  (I served it for dinner over rice with a side of mixed vegetables.)

With just a few simple ingredients, these turkey meatballs come together quickly and taste amazing!

BBQ Turkey Meatballs

Adapted ever so slightly from a recipe on Sugar Dish Me.

I added even more BBQ sauce after adding the meatballs to some rice. Delicious!

Ingredient List:

• 1-1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
• 1/2 cup white onion, diced into fairly small pieces
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup BBQ sauce, divided
• 2 tbsp olive oil

This is the BBQ sauce I used in this recipe. It was smoky with a hint of sweetness and a bit of a kick.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add all ingredients (using only half of the Panko breadcrumbs at this point) except the olive oil and BBQ sauce.  Mix everything together using your hands.
3. Slowly add in 3-4 tbsp of BBQ sauce, combining with the meat mixture using your hands.  Because the BBQ sauce will make the mixture pretty moist, you’ll want to add in the remaining Panko breadcrumbs at this point, mixing everything together thoroughly.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
5. Shape the turkey mixture into meatballs, dropping them in the skillet in batches.  (I’m going to be really honest here … None of my meatballs were uniform in shape and size.  I kind of suck at that.  My recommendation is to simply decide how many meatballs you’ll need and how large you’d like them to be, and eyeball it from there.  I ended up with 17 meatballs, many of which were pretty large.  The original recipe stated it makes about 36 meatballs.  Obviously that’s a huge difference!)
6. After adding the meatballs to the skillet, roll them around a bit to brown them on all sides.  Once each batch of meatballs is browned, remove to a baking sheet (I lined mine with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray for easier cleanup) and repeat until all meatballs are browned.
7. Spoon the remaining BBQ sauce over the meatballs and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are cooked through.  (I cooked mine for 18 minutes.)

As I said earlier, we served these meatballs as a main dish over rice with extra BBQ sauce and a side of mixed vegetables.