Firecracker chicken meatballs with rice
34 min · 49 g protein · 548 cals / serving
Juicy ginger and scallion chicken meatballs, kept tender with a little grated zucchini, roasted beside a tray of carrots and broccoli and tossed in a sticky, sweet-hot glaze of honey and hot sauce. Spooned over jasmine rice with the veg, it is the meal-kit favourite made dairy-free and leaner, with leftovers for lunch.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2/3 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 cup water
- 4 medium carrots, in thin coins
- 1 1/2 lb frozen chopped broccoli, frozen florets (1 1/2 bags)
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 tsp salt, divided
Meatballs
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, panko or dry breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, ground chicken breast (chicken breast mince)
- 1 medium zucchini, finely grated and lightly squeezed
- 1 large egg
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced, whites and greens kept apart
- 2 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 3 cloves garlic, finely grated, divided
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce, divided
Firecracker glaze
- 1/4 cup cayenne pepper hot sauce, a vinegary cayenne hot sauce
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional, for more fire (optional)
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Steps
- Heat the oven to 425°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds, and line two baking sheets. Bring the rice and water to a boil in a small pan with a lid, then cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it covered.
- Meanwhile toss the carrots and frozen broccoli on one sheet with the oil and half the salt, spread them out and put them on the lower rack while you make the meatballs.
- Stir the crumbs into the water in a large bowl and leave 2 minutes to soften. Add the chicken, zucchini, egg, scallion whites, ginger, two-thirds of the garlic, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and the rest of the salt, and mix with your hands just until combined. Roll into 20 walnut-size balls with wet hands, set them on the second sheet and roast on the upper rack 14–16 minutes, until browned and 165°F inside; take them out promptly so they stay juicy.
- While they roast, whisk the hot sauce, honey, rice vinegar, cornstarch, water, the rest of the garlic and soy sauce (and the chilli flakes) in a large skillet and bubble for 1–2 minutes until glossy and syrupy. Tip in the meatballs and toss to coat.
- Fluff the rice and serve with the vegetables and glazed meatballs, scattered with scallion greens and sesame seeds. For lunches, spread the rice on a plate to cool quickly and refrigerate everything within an hour; it keeps 3 days, and the meatballs in their glaze freeze for 3 months.
Good to know
How hot is it?
Sweet-hot rather than fiery: equal parts honey and a vinegary cayenne hot sauce. For children, toss their meatballs in honey and soy alone and glaze the rest. Sriracha in place of half the hot sauce makes it hotter.
Can I use ground turkey, like the meal kits?
Yes, 93% lean ground turkey rolls and roasts the same way and is a little richer, at about 52 instead of 61.
Can I skip the rice?
Yes: serve the meatballs and vegetables over two bags of microwaved cauliflower rice instead, at about 68 instead of 61 for the plate without the jasmine rice.
Per
- Calories
- 107
- Protein
- (37%)
- 10 g
- Fat
- (17%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (46%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 284 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2193 kcal goes into the pot and 2631 g of ingredients comes out as about 2040 g of food: 107 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.