Gluten Free Sage Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Potato Carrot Mash
These Gluten Free Sage Chicken Meatballs are easy, flavorful and moist. They are loaded with fresh sage, parsley, shallot, garlic and some sneaky spinach, and then oven baked or air fried to perfection. The meatballs are best served over a bed of creamy, sweet potato carrot mash for a healthy dinner that feels like comfort food!
Equipment
- 2 tbsp cookie scoop (optional)
- Air Fryer (or baking sheet + parchment paper)
- large pot
- Food Processor (or ricer or masher)
Ingredients
For the Gluten Free Sage Chicken Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken (92% lean)*
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup finely chopped spinach
- ⅔ cup almond flour (packed)
- 1 shallot finely diced (or about 1/4 cup diced red or yellow onion)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp diamond kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
For the Sweet Potato Carrot Mash:
- 1 lb sweet potato peeled & cut into large chunks (1.5")
- ½ lb carrots peeled & cut into ¾" chunks
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter **
- ¼ cup plain whole milk greek yogurt or sour cream**
- diamond kosher salt to taste
Instructions
For the Sage Chicken Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper - SEE NOTE***
- Add egg to a large bowl and whisk. Then, add remaining Sage Chicken Meatball ingredients to the bowl. Mix together with your hands or a spatula, until incorporated. Let the mixture chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to make it less sticky.
- Once the meatball mixture is done chilling, roll it into 2 tbsp sized balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet (for oven method) or on a greased air fryer basket. It should make 20 meatballs.
- If using the oven method, bake for 20 minutes. If using the air fryer method, air fry at 400F for 10 minutes, or until the internal temp reaches 165F.
For the Sweet Potato Carrot Mash
- Add chopped sweet potato and carrot to a large pot and cover with 1" of water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, heavily salt the water and then reduce it to a gentle boil (about medium heat). Let them cook for 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.
- Drain off the water. Add the sweet potato, carrots, butter, yogurt and salt to a food processor and blend for several minutes until smooth. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a masher or ricer instead, however, the texture may not be as smooth. You can always add more greek yogurt, butter or even milk to get it to your desired consistency.
- Enjoy the sage chicken meatballs over a bed of the sweet potato carrot mash and garnish with chopped parsley, if desired!
Notes
*NOTE: I notice that different brands of ground chicken vary in their texture. The one I used is from Trader Joe's and is 92% lean (8% fat) so it's pretty soft and moist. With that said, it's important to add enough almond flour to help give the meatballs some structure. However, if you happen to use a ground chicken that's even leaner, you may have to reduce the amount of almond flour so that they don't come out too dry. Start with 1/3 packed cup and go from there, using your judgement of the texture to determine if it can be rolled into balls. **NOTE: To make this recipe dairy free, swap out the butter with vegan butter (I like Country Crock Plant Butter) and swap out the greek yogurt with either a thick non-dairy version such as Siggi's Plant Based or even a vegan sour cream. ***NOTE: These chicken meatballs can be baked in the oven or air fried. I personally like the air fryer method most as it it's quicker and gives a golden finish to the outside of the meatballs. However, oven works just as well too and you can often fit more on a baking sheet than in an air fryer basket!
Nutrition
Calories: 477kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 154mg | Sodium: 780mg | Potassium: 1287mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 26668IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 158mg | Iron: 3mg