marry me meatballs

If you’re looking to impress someone over dinner, look no further. This silky spaghetti with beef meatballs in a delicious creamy sauce will be a definite winner.

“Marry Me” Spaghetti & Meatballs

Onion

Garlic Clove

Sun-Dried Tomato

Beef Meatball

Chicken Stock Cube

Oregano

Thyme

Reduced-Fat Red Pesto

Single Cream

Spaghetti

Basil

Parmesan

Salt

Black Pepper

Finely dice the onion, crush the garlic cloves and slice the sundried tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. 

Pour a glug of oil from the sundried tomato jar into a large pan over a medium heat. Add the meatballs and fry for about 10 mins or until the meatballs are nicely browned and cooked through. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside.

Meanwhile, set a large saucepan of boiling water over a high heat then add the stock cube and stir to dissolve.

Return the empty meatball pan to the hob and reduce the heat to low-medium. Add another splash of the sundried tomato oil then add the onion and garlic and fry for about 7 mins until softened.

Drop your spaghetti into the boiling water and cook following packet instructions.

Add the sundried tomatoes, oregano, thyme, pesto, salt and pepper to the pan with the onion and garlic. Toss the meatballs back in and stir to coat then pour in the cream and a couple of ladles of pasta water. Stir and bring to a gentle simmer.

Drain the cooked spaghetti then add to the pan with the sauce, along with ½ the chopped basil and a splash of the pasta cooking water. Mix well to combine.

To serve, divide the spaghetti between bowls and top with the remaining basil and some grated Parmesan.

Hi, the recipe looks fab!  Would you be able to freeze this?

Tender, juicy, and rich, these Creamy Dairy Free 'Marry Me' Chicken Meatballs are comfort food made easy. Savory, baked chicken meatballs are tossed in a silky, sun-dried tomato cream sauce made with coconut milk. They're also completely gluten-free, grain-free, and egg-free -- a cozy, flavor-packed 30-minute meal the whole family will love!

Creamy Dairy Free Marry Me Chicken Meatballs (GF)

chicken turkey

onion,

garlic powder

oregano

thyme

tsp sea salt

tsp black pepper

olive oil

garlic,

tsp crushed red pepper flakes

dry sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (or about oil

canned full fat coconut milk

chicken bone broth or stock

TBSP apple cider vinegar vinegar

TBSP arrowroot starch + 1 TBSP water

salt and pepper

fresh basil, chopped (plus more for garnish)

Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, onion, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, sea salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Stir until evenly distributed and well combined, using your hands if necessary. Avoid overpacking the meat.

Using a large spoon, scoop, or your hands, shape the seasoned meat into meatballs about 1-inch in diameter. Place the meatballs in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.*

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165F. Once baked, remove from oven and set aside.

To a large skillet, add olive oil over medium heat. Sauté minced garlic until almost golden brown and add red pepper flakes and sun-dried tomatoes to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, adding a splash of water or a TBSP more oil if necessary.

Add the coconut milk, chicken bone broth, and apple cider vinegar, and bring to a simmer.

In a small bowl, combine arrowroot starch and water. Whisk the slurry into the pan to thicken the sauce.

Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.**

Stir in the fresh basil and transfer meatballs to pan, garnishing with even more basil if desired.

Serve hot with 'plain' sides that will soak up the sauce and flavor like rice, gluten-free pasta, dairy-free mashed potatoes, or gluten-free bread. 

Creamy, cozy, and weeknight-easy, these Marry Me Chicken Meatballs simmer in a tomato Parmesan sauce with spinach. Perfect over pasta or mashed potatoes!

Marry Me Chicken Meatballs

Tbsp butter

breadcrumbs (toasted,  0.18)

chicken (4.83*)

garlic powder (0.05)

¼ tsp dried oregano (0.03)

basil (0.05)

Tbsp sun dried tomatoes (finely minced, (oil-packed)  0.30)

salt (0.01)

¼ tsp black pepper (freshly cracked,  0.02)

mayonnaise (0.10)

soy sauce (0.02)

Tbsp vegetable oil (0.18)

garlic (minced,  0.18)

⅛ tsp chili flakes (0.03)

chicken broth (0.12**)

heavy cream (room temperature,  1.48)

can petite diced tomatoes (strained,  0.96)

spinach (0.37***)

Parmesan cheese (grated,  0.90)

basil (minced,  0.25)

parsley (minced,  0.10)

Gather

Mince

Prepare fresh ingredients: mince sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and parsley.

Toast

In a large sauté pan or braiser, melt 2 Tbsp salted butter and add breadcrumbs. Stir together and toast breadcrumbs until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat once toasted.

Combine

In a large mixing bowl, combine toasted breadcrumbs, ground chicken, egg, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, finely minced sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and soy sauce.

Heat

Gently mix using a fork or clean hands until well-combined. Wipe out the braiser or sauté pan you used to toast the bread crumbs. Add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to the pan and set it to medium heat.

Sear

Using an ice cream scoop (ours is 4 oz), scoop level portions of the meat mixture into the hot oil in the braiser, searing the meatballs.

Brown

Turn the meatballs after about 4 minutes until they are golden brown on at least 2 sides. Remove from the pan and continue this step until all meatballs are evenly browned.

Saute

Mince the garlic (I cheated and used a garlic press—so easy) and add 2 Tbsp of butter to the pan with minced garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Simmer

Add chicken broth to the pan and let simmer for 3-4 minutes, scraping up any bits of chicken from the bottom of the pan.

Pour

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add room-temperature heavy cream.

Stir

Then, add strained tomatoes, frozen spinach, grated Parmesan, and fresh herbs. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

Return

Add the browned chicken meatballs back to the pan.

Braise

Spoon the sauce over the meatballs as they finish cooking.

Cook

Your meatballs are done once they reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F. (I cooked mine for an additional 15-20 minutes until done.)

These are absolutely fabulous!!! Took a lot longer than 45 minutes to make so it's definitely not a quick meal, but the meatballs and the sauce are so incredibly flavorful it was worth the effort. Thank you so much for sharing this!

I like love this recipe and I rice, so yes, I will marry you, Jess Rice!

Made this last night for the first time and it was so yummy!  My two elementary school kids ate them right up and one is SUPER picky.  We served it over protein pasta.  I will have to try to make the uncooked frozen meatballs ahead of time to keep this in a regular rotation.

This is a great recipe. I added a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce. The meatballs are quite moist and fragile when you first put them in the pan to brown but they firm up nicely. Very tasty meal over egg noodles.

SOOOO GOOD!!! this is definitely going to be a staple in my house! very flavorful, easy to make, can't fault it whatsoever!

This recipe was DELICIOUS! I made one small change - I ran chicken breast through the food processor and used that in place of the ground chicken. They turned out tender and so flavorful, even using chicken breast! I served this over your spätzle recipe with a salad on the side. Can't wait to make these again soon!

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