Excessive Protein Hen Meatball Lemon Orzo Skillet

Why You’ll Love This Excessive Protein Hen Meatball Orzo

There’s a lot to like about this dinner, particularly in the event you’re attempting so as to add extra protein to your meals with out utterly altering the best way you eat. The hen meatballs are tender and stuffed with taste, whereas the orzo cooks proper in the identical skillet in hen bone broth, absorbing all that savory goodness. Contemporary lemon juice and spinach added on the finish hold the whole lot vivid and recent. It’s filling and comforting with out feeling heavy, and the entire dinner comes collectively in a single skillet.

• Over 50 grams of protein per serving. Lean floor hen, Parmesan, protein orzo, and hen bone broth all work collectively to significantly bump up the protein.
• Made in a single skillet. The meatballs, orzo, and spinach all prepare dinner in the identical pan, which implies fewer dishes.
• An entire meal. You’ve bought protein, pasta, and veggies multi functional skillet, so you actually don’t want something on the aspect.
• Large taste. Garlic, Parmesan, lemon, oregano, and crushed crimson pepper be certain this doesn’t style like boring “well being meals.”
• Nice for meal prep. The leftovers are implausible for lunch the following day. Make it originally of the week and portion is out for straightforward to seize lunches!
• Household-friendly. You possibly can simply alter the crushed crimson pepper in the event you’re serving youngsters or anybody who doesn’t like a lot warmth.

Elements You’ll Want

There are two elements to this recipe: the tender hen meatballs and the lemon orzo. A number of the substances are pantry staples, and the whole lot comes collectively in a single skillet. Make certain to scroll to the recipe card on the backside for the total ingredient record and directions!

For the Hen Meatballs

• Floor hen: I take advantage of lean floor hen to maintain the meatballs mild whereas nonetheless packing in loads of protein.
• Panko breadcrumbs and milk: Soaking the panko in milk earlier than including the hen retains lean hen meatballs moist and tender.
• Egg: Helps bind the meatballs collectively.
• Parmesan cheese: Provides salty, tacky taste and even a bit of additional protein.
• Worcestershire sauce: One among my favourite methods so as to add additional savory taste to floor hen.
• Olive oil: Including a bit of on to the meatball combination helps hold them moist.
• Seasonings: Dried parsley, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper give the hen tons of taste.

For the Lemon Orzo

• Onion and garlic: These create the flavour base for the orzo.
• Crushed crimson pepper: Provides simply sufficient warmth to steadiness the lemon and Parmesan. Be at liberty to make use of much less in the event you favor.
• Hen bone broth: As a substitute of cooking the orzo in water, bone broth provides each taste and extra protein.
• Protein orzo: This is without doubt one of the best methods to spice up the protein in the complete dish with out altering the flavour or texture very a lot. Protein pasta is usually plant primarily based and the substances can fluctuate model to model. You possibly can completely make this with out utilizing “protein pasta”. After all the protein grams will change, however it’ll nonetheless be scrumptious!
• Child spinach: 5 ounces may seem like rather a lot if you add it, however it wilts proper into the recent orzo.
• Contemporary lemon: Don’t skip the recent lemon juice! It brightens up the complete skillet and balances all these savory flavors.

How you can Make Hen Meatball Lemon Orzo

You’ll want a big, deep dish skillet with a lid for this recipe. The whole lot cooks in the identical pan, so be certain it’s massive sufficient to comfortably match the meatballs and orzo. A 7 qt, broad Dutch Oven works nice for this. I can’t discover my precise one, however this is basically the same and love the color!

1. Make the Hen Meatball Combination

Mix the panko breadcrumbs and milk in a big bowl. Let the combination sit for 10 minutes so the breadcrumbs have time to soak up the milk. This straightforward step makes an enormous distinction with lean floor hen and helps create actually tender meatballs.

Add the egg, Parmesan, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon olive oil, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder. Stir till the whole lot is mixed.

Add the bottom hen and blend with a spoon simply till the whole lot comes collectively.

Don’t over-mix the hen. The extra you’re employed the meat combination, the firmer the meatballs can turn out to be.

2. Brown the Hen Meatballs

Warmth olive oil in your skillet over medium warmth. Working in two batches, use a small 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the hen combination straight into the skillet.

Don’t fear if the combination appears very tender! That’s precisely the way it’s presupposed to be. Attempting to roll these into completely spherical meatballs along with your fingers can get messy, so I discover it a lot simpler to scoop them proper into the skillet.

Brown the meatballs for about 3 minutes on either side. You’re not attempting to utterly prepare dinner them at this level. You simply desire a good browned exterior. They’ll end cooking later within the orzo.

Switch the browned meatballs to a plate and repeat with the remaining hen combination.

3. Begin the Orzo

In the identical skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the diced onion and prepare dinner for about 5 minutes, till the onion is tender.

Add the minced garlic and prepare dinner for one more minute. Stir within the crushed crimson pepper, remaining salt, and remaining black pepper.

PRO TIP! And undoubtedly don’t clear the skillet earlier than doing this! All these browned bits left behind from the hen meatballs add much more taste to the orzo.

4. Cook dinner the Orzo and Add the Meatballs

Pour the hen bone broth into the skillet and convey it to a boil. Add within the protein orzo and stir the whole lot collectively. Cowl the skillet and prepare dinner for 10 minutes.

6. Add the Lemon and Spinach

As soon as the whole lot is cooked, squeeze the juice of 1 massive lemon into the skillet and add the child spinach.

Stir the whole lot collectively, cowl the skillet, and prepare dinner for one more 2 to three minutes, till the spinach is wilted. Give the whole lot a style and add further salt and pepper if wanted.