Chicken meatballs in sauce is a delicious delicate dish that can be served with any side dish. But some inexperienced housewives may encounter difficulties in preparing it. Many sauces improve with prolonged heating, but the meatballs can get worse. If you put them out for too long in a pan, they become drier and tougher.
However, this problem is easily solved. For both components of the dish to be tender and tasty, it is best to cook chicken meatballs in a sauce in a slow cooker. First make the sauce and boil it until the aromas and taste of all the ingredients are saturated with each other, and then add the chicken meatballs and stew them for a short time, keeping them soft and juicy.
Thai Style Meatballs
To prepare a fragrant Thai sauce, you must initially stir some spices in a food processor until completely homogeneous. You can use a mortar and pestle for even better taste and texture, but it will take a lot of time. In the future, the sauce must be stewed for a long time, and only then add meat balls to it. To cook such chicken meatballs in a slow cooker, you will need:
- 4 stalks of lemongrass, roughly chopped;
- 3 medium shallots, chopped coarsely;
- 6 medium garlic prongs;
- 3 medium chopped jalapenos ;
- 1 piece of fresh ginger (7 cm), peeled and cut into pieces of 1-1.5 cm;
- 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce;
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable tea oil;
- 1 cup Thai chili sauce
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar;
- 2/3 cup soy sauce;
- half a glass of rice vinegar;
- 1 glass of water;
- 1 kg of minced chicken;
- 1 cup breadcrumbs;
- 1 large egg;
- half a glass of thinly chopped onion;
- kosher salt and ground black pepper;
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems;
- half a glass of chopped unsalted peanuts;
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice.
Cooking Thai dish
This recipe for chicken meatballs in a slow cooker should start with the preparation of the sauce. In a bowl of a food processor, combine lemongrass, shallots, garlic, jalapenos, ginger and fish sauce. Beat until the mixture forms a paste.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add half the aromatic paste, leaving the rest for the meatballs. Fry, stirring, until a strong aroma, about 2 minutes. Stir with Thai chili sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce and rice vinegar and cook for one minute.
Pour in water, mix and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture volume is reduced by half. Pour the sauce into the multicooker bowl, cover and set to stew mode for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven and set the rack in the upper position. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, mix the second half of the aromatic pasta with minced chicken, bread crumbs, an egg and half a chopped onion. Season with salt and pepper. Using wet hands (to prevent sticking), make golf balls the size of a minced ball. If the mixture is too wet, add some more breadcrumbs.
Bake meatballs to a brown crust, it will take about 7 minutes. Then remove them from the oven. Half an hour before the end of the cooking time for the sauce for chicken meatballs in a slow cooker, pour meat juices into it, which are melted when baking minced meat. Stir well, put meatballs there and continue to simmer everything together.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining onions, cilantro, chopped peanuts and lime juice. Once the cooking time is over, switch the multicooker to the heating mode. Before serving, add about 3/4 of the peanut mixture to it and mix. Sprinkle the rest on the finished meatballs.
Why is this cooking procedure necessary?
Aromatic pasta made of lemongrass, garlic, jalapenos and ginger flavors both the sauce and meatballs. Long cooking in a slow cooker deepens and softens its aromas. Pre-baking products in the oven gives them a more appetizing appearance, as well as “seals” meat juices.
Curry Chicken Meatballs
With a multicooker, cooking dinner is no longer a problem. This kitchen device allows you to make aromatic sauces very quickly and easily. In order to cook chicken meatballs in a slow cooker with curry sauce, you will need:
For meatballs:
- 500 grams of minced chicken;
- half a glass of boiled rice;
- 2 tablespoons olive oil;
- 2 teaspoons universal seasoning for poultry;
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley or cilantro.
For the sauce:
- 400 ml of coconut milk;
- 1 cup chicken stock;
- 2 tablespoons curry powder;
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder;
- half a spoon of tea salt;
- half a glass of fat cream.
Additionally:
- 1 large potato, peeled and diced;
- half of the middle onion, sliced in half rings;
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
How to cook chicken meatballs with rice in a slow cooker in curry sauce?
In a large bowl, mix the ingredients for the meatballs and knead by hand. Form small balls of the same size and lay them in one layer in the multicooker bowl.
In another bowl, mix all the ingredients for the sauce, except for the heavy cream, and pour the mixture evenly on the meatballs. Add potatoes, onions and flooded butter, mix well. Close the lid and simmer for about 40 minutes. Add cream to the finished dish and mix.
Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Minced chicken is less calorie and fat, so the dishes from it can be called diet. And if you cook it by stewing, and not frying in oil - you get healthy food suitable for everyone. The following recipe for chicken meatballs in a slow cooker requires the following:
- 500 grams of minced chicken;
- 1 egg, beaten;
- 2 sprigs of green onions, finely chopped;
- 1 celery stalk, peeled and finely diced;
- 1 tablespoon almond or coconut flour;
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise;
- half a spoon of tea salt;
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder;
- 1 teaspoon of pink sea salt;
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper;
- 1 cup sweet tomato sauce.
How to cook meatballs in tomato?
Such meatballs in ground cooker in a slow cooker are prepared in two stages. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Lubricate the pan with any oil. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the tomato sauce. Mix well. Use your hands to make several balls of the same size. If you wish, you can roll them in almond or coconut flour.
Place blanks on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, a few minutes. You can also make these chicken meatballs for a couple. In a slow cooker, you should continue cooking, regardless of the method of pre-processing. Put the prepared meatballs in the multicooker bowl. Pour tomato sauce on them. Close the lid and cook on the quenching mode for 15-20 minutes.