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!

Baked Chicken Parmigiana

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.

Chicken parmesan beside noodles, zucchini and salad on a round plate.

Did you know that March is nutrition month? This Baked Chicken Parmigiana from Manitoba Chicken Producers More Cooking with Manitoba Chicken cookbook checks all the boxes for me in the nutrition department:

  • It covers all four food groups
  • It`s a lean source of protein
  • It`s baked instead of fried

This recipe is also amazing for meal prep:

  • It`s a virtually hands-free recipe
  • You can use store-bought shortcuts to save time
  • Your kids can help prepare this recipe
  • You can serve it with a variety of sides
  • You can serve it in a few different ways
  • It’s also a take-out fake-out recipe so you can save some money on dining out
A recipe book beside a board of ingredients in small bowls.

Baked Chicken Parmigiana Components

The main components of this recipe are breaded chicken, marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Traditionally it is fried, but you can achieve the same result by baking it.  A few tips to ensure that the breaded chicken stays crispy are to bread it just before cooking and to ensure that your chicken breasts are well-spaced out on the baking sheet. This allows the breading to crisp up instead of steaming, which results in a soggy breading.

Food waste/Money-saving tip: Make your own breadcrumbs! Save bread ends and leftover buns in a freezer bag.  Once the bag is full, dry them out in the oven at 300°F. Drying time will depend on the size of the pieces. Let cool completely, then grind in a food processor. Store extra breadcrumbs in the freezer.

Meal Prep Strategies

I love this breaded chicken parmesan because I can combine the breadcrumbs, herbs and spices beforehand to save a few minutes. Add the parmesan cheese to the breadcrumb mixture and you can store it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it! 

Baking it in the oven is a hands-free cooking technique that allows me to do other things while it`s cooking, like reading with my kids, emptying the dishwasher or prepping a future meal. Using some store-bought shortcuts like jarred marinara and shredded mozzarella also saves prep time, which is great for busy weeknights.

Two glass rectangular dishes side by side containing ingredients.

Cooking Chicken

Be sure to use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is fully cooked. Boneless and bone-in pieces, as well as ground chicken patties are fully cooked when a probe inserted in the thickest part of the piece reads 165°F or 74°C. Download this card to keep in your kitchen for quick reference.

Breaded chicken pieces on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Deconstructing this Recipe for Kids

For kids who aren’t foods touching each other (chicken + sauce +cheese) simply deconstruct it and serve all of the components separately. They might also enjoy dipping the chicken in the sauce and sprinkling the cheese on themselves.

A spoonful of marinara sauce over a fried chicken breast.

How to Serve Baked Chicken Parmigiana

My favorite way to serve this is with browned butter noodles and a side Caesar salad. You can really make any side that you like.  Spaghetti with extra marinara, garden salad, roasted broccoli…Anything goes here!

Another fun way to serve this is to make a chicken parmesan sandwich! Toast up some ciabatta buns, butter them with garlic butter and top them with the saucy, cheesy chicken and eat it sandwich-style. I have also tried making this as a burger using ground chicken.  Form some patties and bread them, then bake them! 

Do you want to try this recipe? Download a PDF version of More Cooking with Manitoba Chicken here for 5 easy recipes or email ConsumerRelations@chicken.mb.ca with your mailing address and we will mail you a booklet!