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Chicken Meatballs Two Ways Meal Prep Lunches
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Prep: 30 minutesCook: 30 minutesTotal: 1 hour
Tasty little bites of chicken meatball goodness over your favorite pasta with roasted veggies on the side… four portions, TWO WAYS (pizza & garlic veggie!). Add variety to your meal prep with Chicken Meatballs Two Ways Meal Prep Lunches!
Scale:
Ingredients
For the Meatballs & Pasta:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated or finely shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces pasta spirals (or pasta of choice)
For the Garlic Veggie Meals:
- 1 small head of garlic
- 10–12 cherry tomatoes
- 1 small zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces (4–6 ounces)
- 1 + 1/2 tablespoon butter, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
- shredded parmesan, for garnish
For the Pizza Meals:
- 1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ~2/3 cup sliced white mushrooms (2-4 ounces)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 8–10 slices pepperoni
- shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese (optional)
Instructions
- First, make the meatball mixture. Add all the meatball ingredients (ground chicken, egg, olive oil, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper) to a large bowl. Use clean hands to mix everything together until just mixed. Place the meatball mixture in the fridge while you prepare the veggies and sheet pans.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
- Cut the top end of the garlic head off (about 1/2 inch) to reveal the cloves. Place all your prepped veggies onto one sheet pan with head of garlic cut side up in the center (I like to keep the veggies separate for easier portioning later). Drizzle veggies with avocado or olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon or your hands to mix each section of veggies so they are covered with oil. Set this sheet pan aside.
- Remove the meatball mixture from the fridge. Use clean hands and/or a small cookie scoop to form 24 meatballs, spacing them evenly apart on the second prepared sheet pan.
- Place both sheet pans into the preheated oven, veggies on top. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the veggies appear roasted and tomatoes have burst. Check the temperature of the meatballs, they should be over 165F. If not, they may need another 5 minutes on the top rack after the veggies come out of the oven.
- While the meatballs and veggies are in the oven, cook pasta according to package directions for just barely al dente (minimum cook time). Drain, set aside, and toss with a small amount of olive oil so the pasta doesn’t stick together.
- Once everything has come out of the oven and is cooling, it’s time to make the lemon garlic butter. Take the roasted garlic and squeeze the cloves out through the top. Take 2-4 cloves of the roasted garlic (more if you are a garlic lover) and use a fork to mash them up with the room temperature butter. Once thoroughly mixed, add lemon juice and mix once more. Save any extra roasted garlic for another meal.
- Finally, assemble your meal prep bowls. Divide pasta evenly between all four bowls. Add mushrooms and peppers to two bowls, and add zucchini and tomatoes to the other two bowls. Add 1/4 cup pizza sauce on top of the pasta to each pizza meal, and add lemon garlic butter to the garlic veggie meals. Cut the pepperoni into quarters and add to pizza meals. Top each meal with six meatballs each. Sprinkle with extra shredded parmesan cheese.
- These meals will store for up to 4 days in the fridge in airtight containers. To reheat, cover and microwave on high for 90 seconds – 2 minutes.
Notes
I like to use either basic 4-cup Pyrex round glass containers (affiliate link!) or the ones I have pictured, 2 compartment glass meal prep containers (affiliate link!) to store these meal prep lunches. If you do not have two sheet pans, just cook the meatballs first, followed by the veggies on the same sheet pan. This will significantly increase cook time but works just fine.
If you want to skip the two ways part of this recipe, just double the ingredients for the flavor combo you’ve chosen and make the rest as normal. Chicken meatballs adapted from Best Anytime Baked Chicken Meatballs from Pinch of Yum. Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 meal prep lunch
- Calories: 515
- Fat: 17g
- Carbohydrates: 57g
- Protein: 39g
