Nutritional Recipes
Chicken and Feta meatballs
Written by COA Nutrition Team On May 17, 2024
A little something out of the ordinary the whole family will LOVE. Filled with feta, the yogurt and oats keep these meatballs tender, fluffy and full of flavor!
INGREDIENTS
- ¾ cup finely crumbled feta
- ¼ packed cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon plain thick yogurt (such as labneh) or Greek
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound ground chicken or turkey (preferably dark meat)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Lemon (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, mix ½ cup feta with half the chopped mint, plus the oats, yogurt, oregano, red-pepper flakes and I teaspoon salt, breaking up any lingering feta chunks with your hands. Add the chicken, gently combining until it’s lightly speckled with green dots.
- Drizzle the oil on a sheet pan and use your hands to spread it around. Use your oiled palms to shape the chicken into 1- to 1¼-inch loosely firm but not compact balls; lightly roll them in the oil on the sheet pan when shaping to coat them and prevent them from sticking. You should have 18 to 20 meatballs. Once the meatballs have all been rolled out, spread them out evenly on the sheet pan.
- Cook meatballs until the bottoms are browned and the centers are no longer pink, 15 to 18 minutes.
- Squeeze half of the lemon over the pan, then use a wooden spoon to move the meatballs around, turning the browned side up, and scraping up any browned bits on the pan. Transfer to a bowl or leave in the pan and top with the remaining feta and mint. Cut the remaining lemon half into quarters and serve at the table for squeezing on top.