High-Protein Chicken Meatball Meal Prep

Ground chicken meatballs are the most flexible protein you can prep. Bake a tray on Sunday and they go into pasta, over rice, into a sub, or straight out of the container cold. Baking beats pan-frying here because twenty meatballs cook at once in one pass, and the marinara and white beans turn them into an actual meal instead of a snack. Four meatballs per serving gets you 43g of protein.

Ingredients

• 2 lb ground chicken (93% lean)
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 (24 oz) jar marinara
• 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 oz baby spinach
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425F and line a sheet pan with parchment. Mix the ground chicken, egg whites, panko, Parmesan, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt with your hands until just combined and no further.
2. Scoop 20 meatballs, about 2 tablespoons each, and space them out on the pan so they roast rather than steam. Wet hands keep the sticky mixture from clinging to you.
3. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until browned on top and 165F in the center. Do not flip them.
4. While they bake, warm the olive oil in a skillet, pour in the marinara and beans, and stir in the spinach a handful at a time until it wilts down, about 5 minutes.
5. Divide the sauce among five containers, set 4 meatballs on top of each rather than submerged in the sauce, and let everything cool uncovered before you put the lids on.
6. Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze the baked meatballs alone for 3 months. Reheat covered for 2 minutes, stirring the sauce once halfway through.

Tips

• Mix the meat with your hands and stop the instant it holds together. Overworking ground chicken develops the proteins into a springy, bouncy texture that is closer to a hot dog than a meatball.
• Sit the meatballs on top of the sauce, not down in it. Submerged meatballs keep absorbing liquid in the fridge and by day three they fall apart the second you touch them with a fork.
• Freeze a double batch of naked meatballs on the sheet pan first, then bag them. Frozen loose, they reheat in 90 seconds from the freezer and you can pull four at a time instead of thawing a brick.

FAQ

Can I use ground turkey instead of chicken?

Yes, and 93% lean ground turkey behaves almost identically here. Protein stays within a gram or two per serving. Avoid 99% lean for meatballs, it has no fat to bind and the texture goes dry and crumbly.

How do I make these without breadcrumbs?

Swap the panko for 1/3 cup of almond flour or 1/4 cup of rolled oats pulsed fine. Both bind well, though oats give a slightly denser meatball.

Why are my chicken meatballs dry?

Usually one of two things: the mixture was overworked, or they went past 165F. Pull them the moment a thermometer reads 165F in the center, since they climb a few more degrees on the hot pan.

What do I serve these with for more calories?

A cup of cooked chickpea pasta per container adds about 22g of protein and 190 calories. Regular pasta adds 8g of protein for roughly the same calories, so the chickpea version is the better trade.

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