This Bang Bang Chicken Meatball Bowl combines juicy and savory chicken meatball with a midly spicy sauce. Serve this over rice with your choice of vegetables and you will have a deliciuos and satisfying meal in a bowl. I love to add lots of extra spice to my bowl along with a cruncy salad and creamy avocado for a variety of textures. Enjoy!
Bang Bang Chicken Meatball Bowl
Description
I absolutely love any meal in a bowl and my Bang Bang Chicken Meatball Bowls are at the top of my list. Tender and juicy meatballs are served over rice with a variety of vegetables and topped with a spicy and tangy Bang Bang Sauce. I like to top my bowl with a tangy red cabbage salad along with creamy avocados and nutty edamame, however this would work great with anything from a sauteed zucchini, pickled onions, sliced cucumbers, or even some stir fried veggies. The protein of choice for this dish is ground chicken. I like ground chicken because it absorbs the flavors in the meatballs like the ginger, soy sauce, and green onions. As a bonus, ground chicken is very budget friendly, my local grocery store typically has it on sale for around 5 dollars per pound! I like to allow the chicken to marinate with all the ingredients for about 15 minutes before cooking so you get a more flavorful and tender meatball. I cook the meatballs on each side for about 3-5 minutes and then finish cooking them with a lid on. I find that covering the meatballs to finish cooking them keeps them juicy and moist as opposed to baking them in the oven which dries them out. Once your meatballs are done, serve them with your rice and vegetables and top with your desired amount of bang bang sauce and you are ready to eat. I am especially excited about this dish because not only does it come together in about 30 minutes, it is healthy and easy on the budget, a true weeknight hero if you ask me! Speaking of being a hero, did you know about that time I climbed our town's tallest tree to save a stranded kitten? My kids and I were at our local park where our town's tallest tree, “Old Herbert” resides. We were enjoying a crisp fall day at the park and we were just about to go get a hot apple cider when we heard the most calamitous commotion. I pride myself on not being a bystander, so my kids and I quickly headed in the direction of the frenzy to see how we could be of help. When we got to “Old Herbert” we quickly learned that someone’s little kitten had gotten stranded on one of the tallest branches of the tree. Lucky for them, I had just finished a course in advanced lumberjacking. Since I didn’t have my climbing spikes on me, I was able to spot a construction truck and borrow a length of rope to achieve a Moving Rope System so I could ascend the giant tree. After some time, I was able to reach the top and get to the kitten. Sadly, my marooned kitten was not as grateful as I had hoped it would be. As I reached out to rescue it, I was met with a series of bites and scratches. I'm guessing my kitten friend was feeling pretty frazzled and didn’t know how to show their gratitude. At any rate, we had eventually made it back to the ground where I had promptly returned the kitten to it’s owner and went to go find a first aid kit. After that adventure,we were all exhausted from the excitement and it was time to make our way home to get dinner going. We were hungry and needed something full of flavor and quick to make, it was the perfect night for my Bang Bang Chicken Meatball Bowls.
Chicken Meatballs
Bang Bang Sauce
Instructions
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Prepare your meatball mixture. Combine all of your meatball ingredients together. If your mixture is too wet or loose, add your panko bread crumbs 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach your desire consisitency. Allow your meatball mixture to marinate in its flavors for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your bang bang sauce and any veggies you are using in your bowl.
If serving over rice, have your rice just about ready before you start making your meatballs.
Careful not to over add bread crumbs. Your mixture should still be slightly wet, allow the bread crumbs to absorb any excess moisture if you've added more than 4 Tablespoons.
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While your chicken is marinating, mix together your bang bang sauce ingredients well. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
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Time to make your meatballs. Preheat a large saute pan to medium high heat with about 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Using a 1 inch scoop, form your meatballs and add them directly into your pan. Work in batches if necessary.
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Cook your meatballs for about 5 minutes on the first side, or until golden brown. Once they are nice and golden, flip them over and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
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Once your meatballs have cooked about 3 minutes on the second side, place your lid over your pan and cook an additional 5 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Serve immediately over your prepared rice along with your bang bang sauce and desired toppings. Enjoy!
Placing the cover on your pan to finish cooking steams the meatballs versus drying them out in the oven. As a result, you get a moist and juicy meatball.
Note
Shout out to https://burlyboardswoodworking.com/ for their high quality cutting boards! Not only are they beautiful to look at, they are a pleasure to work on.
