How to Prep Chicken Meatballs

This post was written in a paid partnership with Manitoba Chicken Producers. As always, all opinions are my own and I only promote products and services that I use and love.

There are some recipes that are what I like to call “meal prep powerhouses” and these Chicken Meatballs & Tomato Sauce from Manitoba Chicken Producers is one of them. They’re easy to batch cook and versatile so you can serve them in different ways once you’ve made the meatballs.

Making the Chicken Meatballs

Personally, when I make these, I make a quadruple batch. You’re already doing the work and have all the ingredients, so it doesn’t take too much extra effort to roll out more meatballs.  This is a great way to get your kids involved in the kitchen too! Simple tasks like measuring, mixing and rolling can be great for young ones, while older kids could likely complete this whole recipe on their own.

To portion out the meatballs, I love using a triggered cookie scoop. This gives you a perfectly sized meatball every time. Use a larger scoop for jumbo meatballs and smaller scoop for bite-sized ones.

When rolling out the meatballs, it helps to oil your hands with cooking spray or olive oil to prevent the mixture from sticking to your fingers as you roll.

Freezing Raw Chicken Meatballs

You can freeze raw or cooked meatballs. When freezing raw meatballs, space them out on a parchment-covered sheet pan and pop them in the freezer. This step prevents them from clumping together, so you can take out as many or as little as you want for each meal.  Once they’re frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag.

Freezing Cooked Chicken Meatballs

If you prefer to freeze cooked meatballs (this makes for a quick reheated meal), bake them on a parchment-covered sheet pan in the oven or air-fryer. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of your meatballs. To ensure they are fully cooked, use a digital meat thermometer. Ground chicken is perfectly cooked at 165⁰F.  Let them cool completely, then spread them out on another parchment-covered sheet pan, again, separated so they don’t clump together. Once they’re frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag.

Sauces to Use for the Meatballs

I love that this recipe is neutrally seasoned with garlic, onion and parsley, so you can serve them with a variety of sauces and in different ways.

You can make the tomato sauce in large batches using my Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce recipe, but you can also use a store-bought shortcut jarred tomato sauce.

The best part about this recipe is that once you make the meatballs, you could serve them every week in a different sauce. Try them in alfredo or pesto sauce over pasta, or sweet & sour, teriyaki sauce or gravy over rice or your favorite grain.

Other Ways to Serve Chicken Meatballs & Tomato Sauce

If you wanted to reconstruct this recipe, try a chicken meatball sandwich. Serve the meatballs and tomato sauce on toasted garlic buttered buns with melty mozzarella and parmesan.

Alternatively, try serving them “naked” in a sheet pan meal with roasted veggies or add them to this Sheet Pan Gnocchi recipe and drizzle them with balsamic reduction.

Don’t forget to consider these for an easy appetizer. Serve bite-sized meatballs with toothpicks and your favorite dipping sauce.

Meal Prepping Chicken Meatballs

The key here is to do the work once, do the dishes once and have enough meatballs for several meals. Work smarter, not harder!

Let’s recap all the ways you can serve these chicken meatballs.

  • Simmered in tomato sauce
  • Tossed in fettucine alfredo
  • Drizzled with pesto and pasta
  • Served as a meatball sandwich with tomato sauce & mozzarella
  • Baked in a sheet pan meal with roasted vegetables
  • Added to sheet pan gnocchi and drizzled with balsamic reduction
  • Dipped in your favorite sauce as an appetizer

One recipe, 6 ways. Take the guesswork out of planning your meals and think of new ways that you can serve the same meal component, like we did here today. Now you have 6 new meal ideas! Which one will you try first?

Moroccan Chicken Kofta

This post was written in a paid partnership with Manitoba Chicken Producers. As always, all opinions are my own and I only promote products and services that I use and love.

Summer is fast-approaching and that means dining outside, weekends at the cottage and maybe a few camping excursions. I love the simplicity of this Moroccan Chicken Kofta recipe for all those activities.  It’s easy to prep in advance and batch cook plus, you can cook it and serve it in a few different ways.

How to prep chicken kofta in advance

This recipe comes together in two steps: Mix and shape.  Since the assembly is so quick, I would double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe since it’s easy to freeze. 

The seasonings are like those used in falafel: garlic, onion, parsley, cumin and coriander.  Other spices you will need are likely already in your pantry: cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, salt & pepper. The addition of a bit of fresh mint really adds a punch of flavor.

Once you have mixed and shaped the ingredients you can freeze the kofta individually on a sheet pan. It will be a lot easier to store the kofta if they aren’t on the skewers, so you might want to consider freezing the logs without skewers or shaping the kofta mixture into patties or meatballs.

Once the kofta is frozen, transfer it to a freezer bag to use at your convenience.

How to cook chicken kofta

Depending on how you decide to shape the kofta, you can make it on the grill, bake it in the oven or cook it in a skillet on the stove. You can also cook it over a campfire!

Food safety tip: To ensure that chicken is cooked to a safe temperature, use a meat thermometer.  Cook ground chicken to 165°F (74°C). It’s important to note that cooking times will vary depending on the cooking method and the size of the pieces.

Download a Cooking Perfect Chicken is Easy Reference Card here!

Serving suggestions

Depending on how you shape the Moroccan Chicken Kofta, you have a few options for serving it:

  • Serve patties in mini naan rounds, topped with hummus, pickled banana peppers, lettuce, tomato and onions.
  • Serve meatballs with tzatziki and grilled vegetables or on a mezze platter with a few dips, crudités and tabouleh.  You’ll likely have some fresh mint, parsley and garlic leftover from making the kofta, so tabouleh is the perfect side to maximize those ingredients.
  • Stuff logs into pita pockets with hummus or tahini sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and olives and cilantro.

Meal prep tips for Moroccan Chicken Kofta

Let’s recap some of the great meal prep tips you can apply to this recipe:

  • Low prep, in two easy steps
  • Double, triple or quadruple the batch.
  • Freeze prepped kofta raw or cooked
  • Cook it in a skillet, in the oven, on the grill or over a campfire.
  • Make it in advance.
  • Use the same ingredients in your side dishes and/or condiments.
  • Shape it in different ways.
  • Serve it in different ways.

Make sure you add this to your summer menu!

Warm Roasted Pepper & Fried Halloumi Salad

This flavourful salad has an amazing texture, with the soft roasted peppers and the squeaky fried halloumi. The Honey Chimichurri dressing is tangy, herby and sweet.

Is it a salad or a side dish?

This Warm Roasted Pepper & Fried Halloumi Salad can be both! You can serve this both at room temperature or hot. Drizzle on the chimichurri dressing just before serving it, then top it with crunchy pumpkin seeds. You can even skewer the peppers and halloumi (cube it for this), drizzle them with oil, salt & pepper, then grill them for an appetizer-style kabob.

Jump to Recipe

Roasting the peppers

Use only sweet bell peppers for this dish. Any combination of red, orange and yellow bell peppers will do. You can also use the mini bell peppers if you wish. Cut the peppers in half, remove the seeds, then slice each half in 4 wedge-type slices. Place them on a parchment covered baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper and roast at 425F for 25 minutes. Roasting at a high temperature gives you a nice char which adds tons of flavour to this salad. No need to peel the peppers once they have been roasted. Simply arrange them on a plate or in a bowl with the halloumi, dress and top with the pumpkin seeds.

Meal prep tip: Roast extra peppers and use in another meal, like this Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup or add them to a grain bowl for lunch.

Cooking the halloumi

Halloumi is a type of cheese that doesn’t melt like other cheeses. Pan-frying it at medium-high heat caramelizes it and gives it a nice crispy texture. Watch it closely so that it doesn’t burn. I like to slice it in 1/4 inch slices, so that they are quite crispy. Slicing the halloumi a little bit thicker will give it a crust on the outside and a squeak on the inside. I like to use the PC Herb and Garlic Flavored Halloumi, but you can certainly use an unflavored brand as well.

Making the chimichurri dressing

This chimichurri recipe makes a good amount of sauce. You only need 1/4 cup for this dressing, but you can also thin it out with vinegar and olive oil and use it as a dressing for a grain bowl or pasta salad. I also love to use is in chicken fajitas or to drizzle over sheet pan meals. Chimichurri is also a great marinade for beef, pork, chicken or seafood and you can also use it to top almost any grilled protein.

Liquid honey is the key to this dressing. If you find that the honey has solidified, place your jar in some hot water to let it melt slowly or melt a few tablespoons in the microwave before combining it with the chimichurri.

How to meal prep warm roasted red pepper and fried halloumi salad

This recipe is meal prep friendly if you want to make it ahead of time. You can make all the components ahead of time and simply assemble the roasted pepper salad before serving. Roast the peppers, make the chimichurri dressing and fry the halloumi. Fried halloumi surprisingly keeps it’s crisp texture when made ahead of time.

Warm Roasted Pepper & Fried Halloumi Salad Recipe

This flavourful salad has an amazing texture, with the soft roasted peppers and the squeaky fried halloumi. The Honey Chimichurri dressing is tangy, herby and sweet.

Course Salad, Side Dish
Keyword chimichurri, halloumi, honey, pumpkin seeds, roasted pepper
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 4 sweet bell peppers cut in 8
  • 1 pkg. PC Herb & Garlic Halloumi cut in 7-8 slices, can use unflavored halloumi
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil for roasting and frying
  • salt & pepper
  • 1/3 cup chimichurri see recipe linked in this post
  • 2 Tbsp liquid honey
  • 1/3 cup salted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.

  2. Slice peppers in 8.

  3. Toss peppers in 2 Tbsp olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste.

  4. Spread out peppers on parchment covered baking sheet and roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

  5. Prepare the chimichurri according to recipe instructions.

  6. Combine 1/3 cup of the chimichurri with 2 Tbsp liquid honey and set aside. Use remaining chimichurri in other recipes or freeze it for future use.

  7. Slice the halloumi in 7-8 slices.

  8. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the halloumi sliced approximately 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Watch them closely so they don't burn.

  9. Arrange roasted peppers and halloumi in a serving dish.

  10. Drizzle with the chimichurri dressing and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds.

Recipe Notes

If you’re prepping the components of this dish ahead of time, arrange the peppers and halloumi in an oven-safe dish and reheat them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes before adding the dressing and pumpkin seeds.