Description
Elevate your weeknight dinner with juicy chicken shawarma meatballs atop fluffy rice, crisp veg and creamy tahini yogurt sauce! Bursting with bold middle eastern spices, these easy ground chicken meatballs bake up in the oven in just 20 minutes. A super flavorful, protein-packed meal idea perfect for prepping ahead. (Psst I always double the recipe to make enough for two nights!)
To make these super fast, you can use frozen rice, store-bought tzatziki or hummus, and simple chopped fresh veggies or pickles.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion (white, yellow or red)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon*
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 lb ground chicken
For the bowls:
- 2-3 cups cooked basmati rice
- Greek yogurt tahini sauce (sub store-bought tzatziki if you're in a hurry)
- sliced fresh tomatoes and cucumbers (or my quick cucumber, tomato and red onion salad!)
- freshly crumbled feta cheese, from a block of feta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Place egg, olive oil, onion, garlic, panko, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add ground chicken and use your hands to gently combine the mixture. Try not to over-mix or meatballs will be tough.
- Form into golf ball sized meatballs (I got 16). Place evenly spaced on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare rice (I do this in my Instant Pot**). Make tahini yogurt sauce and cucumber tomato salad, if using (or simply slice tomatoes and cucumbers).
- To assemble bowls, scoop some rice into a shallow bowl. Top with meatballs, veggies, a big drizzle of yogurt sauce, and plenty of feta for tang. A sprinkle of fresh parsley and/or sumac is beautiful here if you have them!
Notes
*If you don't love the flavor of cinnamon in savory meals, you can cut it down to 1/8 tsp.
This is also amazing with my green tahini sauce for a dairy-free option!!
**How I make Instant Pot rice (we do this weekly!): Place 2 cups basmati rice in Instant Pot with 2 cups water, 1 tsp kosher salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. Cook on "Manual" for 4 minutes. If using long grain white rice, cook for 3 minutes. Cooking time is ~22 minutes for brown rice.