White Wine Chicken Meatballs & Veggies (Gluten & Dairy Free)
Come make gluten & dairy free White Wine Chicken Meatballs & Veggies with me! This is a meal that I would eat any night of the week, recommend for postpartum clients, or make for a sick or healing loved one. It’s cozy & deeply nourishing while supporting your body in quite a few ways, including but not limited to…
-Blood sugar balance
-Lowering inflammation
-Offering good fiber for gut health & regularity
-Hormone balance
…& more! There were a few reasons why I made this recipe. The main reason was that my friend Ioana behind La Cantine in Bushwick shared a batch of beautiful white wine meatballs she was making for her Sunsets dinner on Instagram recently. If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend. It’s well loved. If you don’t live there, follow along for inspiring food & behind the scenes kitchen inspiration. I live in LA now, so I couldn’t just pop down the street to enjoy them, but I had a new craving to fulfill after seeing hers. Beyond that, I typically run into a few issues with traditional meatball recipes like…
-Most gluten free meatball recipes call for breadcrumbs, but unless you’re making your own, most of the gluten free options on the shelves are unnecessarily processed.
-Most meatball recipes call for cheese, but not everyone tolerates dairy well.
-The ground flax in this recipe is working overtime by holding the meatball shape that we’re looking for while supporting our health in a multitude of ways.
-Most meatball recipes forget the veggies all together, creating an unbalanced plate.
…so why not make them my way…making them work for us? If you’re looking for a nourishing cozy meal that won’t leave you bloated or wanting more of something else (we all know how that goes), the recipe follows & you can have leftovers for days.
White Wine Chicken Meatballs & Veggies (gluten & diary free)
(Servings: 30 meatballs, roughly 5-6 servings)
Meatball Ingredients:
-2lb. ground chicken
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-2 eggs, beaten
-1 cup ground flax
-1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
-1.5 tsp sea salt
-1 tsp dried basil
-1 tsp red pepper flakes
-1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
-2 tbsp olive oil, plus more if needed
Remaining Ingredients:
-1 tbsp olive oil
-2 shallots, peeled & diced
-Pinch of salt
-4 carrots, chopped
-Roughly half a bunch of kale, stems & leaves separated, chopped
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-2/3 cup dry white wine
-4 cups chicken broth/stock
-1 whole lemon, sliced
-Additional chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350F.
-In a large mixing bowl, add all the meatball ingredients & gently mix. Be light with your hands & careful not to over mix as it can lead to stiffer meatballs. Mix just until everything is evenly incorporated.
-Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using wet hands, roll out about 30 meatballs. They should be about 1.5” wide each. Lay them out evenly & set aside for now.
-Heat a large Dutch oven or oven-safe lidded pot over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil to warm.
-Once warm, brown the meatballs in batches. Each round will take roughly 5-6 minutes to brown all sides. Set browned meatballs on a plate to the side & continue until all have been browned. As needed, add a bit of olive oil to avoid the pan getting dry or burnt.
-In the same Dutch oven or pot, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Once warm, add the shallot & sauté until translucent, roughly 5 minutes. There will be brown bits on the bottom of the pan from the meatballs, that’s ok! I recommend using a wooden spoon to stir & you’ll see the browned bits loosen, adding flavor to the dish.
-Add a pinch of salt, carrots, chopped kale stems, & garlic, stirring to combine & sauté for 5 minutes.
-Increase the heat to medium-high & add the wine. Use the wooden spoon to stir & make sure all the browned bits at the bottom have loosened. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes as we want the alcohol to cook off & the liquid to reduce.
-Add chicken stock & lemon slices & stir to combine.
-Gently place the browned meatballs back into the pot, tucking them in, & bake uncovered for 13 minutes.
-Remove from the oven & add the chopped kale leaves, tucking them into the liquid as much as possible. Put the lid on & bake for 2 more minutes, just enough to soften a bit.
-Remove from the oven, taste, & adjust the seasonings as you like with any additional salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Feel free to squeeze some of the existing slices into the warm broth for extra lemon flavor.
-Serve in bowls with rice, top with extra parsley, & enjoy!
Notes:
-Whether you’re gluten free or not, this method is better for blood sugar than adding breadcrumbs, BUT you can also do half and half. In that case, you’d use 1/2 cup ground flax & 1/2 cup breadcrumbs in the meatball mixture. It’s still going to support your body further than the traditional way & bonus points if you use lingering bread to make your own breadcrumbs at home.
-I’ve made this with cubed squash before, like honeynut, in place of carrots & it was so good, giving it a little added sweetness. Worth a try!
-I always serve mine with my “Family Rice” made with bone broth & other ingredients. The recipe for my favorite “Family Rice” is on Patreon here & adds even more nutrients to your meal. That’s how I recommend completing the dish.
-You can use any leafy green. I had kale on hand, but chard or spinach work well too.
-If you tolerate dairy, feel free to add 1/3 cup grated parmesan to the meatball mixture or as a garnish for the final dish.
This really is a meal that leaves me satisfied without feeling overly full or bloated & even the picky eaters like it, so enjoy & tag me in your bowls!
For your health,
Lily