If you’ve never read the nutrition label on most pre-made store bought meatballs, you might be surprised at the fat content. Many times the daily value for fat is at 25% or higher, and that’s only for a few meatballs (the nutritional values are listed for an arbitrary serving which isn’t a portion). So because of that high fat content in the prepared meatballs, we always make our own using lean ground beef, ground turkey breast or ground chicken. It’s really not that hard to make meat balls, and all most all are made with 4 key ingredients: meat, bread crumbs, egg, and seasoning. The short story is you toss everything into a large bowl, mix well with your hands and then form the meat balls into balls with the palms of your hands. Place the formed meatball on a piece of wax paper and if making lots of meatballs, separate the layers with additional wax paper sheets.
Last Sunday night we felt like making a meal with kluski style egg noodles. While kluski egg noodles are more often used with soups, they are hearty enough to use in a chicken pasta dish. To the right is a picture of kluski noodles along with a quarter so the size can be judged. Kluski noodles are about 1/4 – 3/8″ wide, 2 1/2 to 3″ long, and are a little bit thicker then regular egg noodles.
Recipe for Chicken Meatballs with White Cheese Sauce and Kluski Noodles
To Prepare Chicken Meatballs
- Prepare a place to put the formed meatballs by placing a piece of wax paper on a plate.
- In a small cereal bowl beat and mix well:
1 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1 egg
2 tbsp milk - In a large bowl add:
1 pound ground chicken
1/3 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
Seasoned egg mixture - Mix well with hands for a minute or so, and then form into 1 to 1 1/4″ balls with the palms. Place on plate covered with wax paper. Repeat until all of the meatball mixture is used up.
- Place the meatballs in a lightly greased large non-stick skillet, cover, and cook on low heat, turning every 2 to 3 minutes to cook through, and brown on all sides.
- Total cooking time will be about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the White Cheese Sauce and Kluski Noodles.
Kluski Noodles
- Cook 1/4 pound of Kluski Noodles according to package directions. Ours cooked for about 10 minutes.
White Cheese Sauce
- Add 1 cup milk and 2 tbsp white flour, and 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning to a 1 quart non-stick pan.
- Place over low heat, and stir constantly until the milk thickens, about 8 – 10 minutes.
- When sauce is thick, add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
To serve, place a layer of cooked kluski noodles in a small bowl, top with 6 chicken meatballs, cover with some Cheese White Sauce, and Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese.
Chicken Meatball Sandwich Recipe
As an alternative for serving this recipe over kluski noodles, you could instead make a Chicken Meatball Sandwich. Make the meatballs and Cheese White Sauce as described above. Spread the Cheese White Sauce on a kaiser roll, cut meat balls in half, and place on roll, and finely sprinkle with finely sliced lettuce.