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Make a quick dinner or meal prep for a week’s worth of healthy lunches with this easy and flavorful pesto meatballs recipe. Made from wholesome, nutritious ingredients, these meatballs are a delicious protein option to pair with roasted veggies or toss with sauce and pasta.  

Prep: 10 mins Cook: 18-24 mins Total: 35 mins
Servings: 6 (4-5 meatballs each) 1x
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Ingredients

  • 2 lb. lean ground chicken
  • Scant ½ cup prepared pesto (3 ½ to 4 ounces) 
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoon Maskal Ivory Teff Flour
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt 
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • Cooking spray
  • Optional for serving: hot cooked pasta of choice; pesto, marinara, or alfredo sauce; fresh basil and/or Parmesan

Instructions

  1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, pesto, Parmesan cheese, teff flour, egg, salt and pepper. Stir well with a spoon or use your hands to mix well. 
  2. With oiled hands, shape the meat mixture into 32 meatballs. (NOTE: If the mixture is pretty soft, it can be helpful to use a cookie scoop to portion out the meatballs.)
  3. Cooking according to one of the methods below. Serve the meatballs as is, or toss them with a favorite sauce.
  4. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Oven Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375℉. Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. 
  2. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Air Fryer Directions:

  1. Preheat air fryer to 350℉.
  2. Mist the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Add 8-12 meatballs to the basket of the air fryer, leaving space between each one. 
  3. Spritz the meatballs with more cooking spray and cook for 8 minutes. 
  4. Remove the basket from the air fryer and give it a shake to turn the meatballs. If they stick, cook for another 1-2 minutes before trying to turn them again. 
  5. When they don’t stick when shaked, cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through (being careful not to over cook them). 
  6. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a clean plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs. 

Notes

Maskal Teff Organic Ivory Teff Flour is naturally gluten free and can be purchased online. Their Brown Teff Flour would work just as well in this recipe.

For a homemade pesto option, try our basil walnut pesto recipe. For a sauce option, try our dairy-free alfredo sauce recipe.

Nutrition Information

  • Serving Size: ⅙ of the recipe or ~5 meatballs
  • Calories: 306
  • Fat: 20 g
  • (Sat Fat: 6 g)
  • Sodium: 704 mg
  • Carbohydrate: 2 g
  • (Fiber: 0 g
  • Sugar: 0 g)
  • Protein: 31 g
  • Cholesterol: 162 mg

Dietary

© The Real Food Dietitians
Recipe By: Jessica Beacom