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 case you’re attempting so as to add extra protein to your meals with out fully altering the best way you eat. The hen meatballs are tender and filled 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 maintain every part shiny and contemporary. 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 cook dinner in the identical pan, which suggests fewer dishes.
• A whole meal. You’ve obtained protein, pasta, and veggies multi functional skillet, so you actually don’t want something on the aspect.
• Massive 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 improbable for lunch the subsequent day. Make it at first of the week and portion is out for simple to seize lunches!
• Household-friendly. You’ll be able to simply regulate the crushed crimson pepper in case you’re serving youngsters or anybody who doesn’t like a lot warmth.

Components You’ll Want

There are two elements to this recipe: the tender hen meatballs and the lemon orzo. Loads of the elements are pantry staples, and every part comes collectively in a single skillet. Make certain to scroll to the recipe card on the backside for the complete ingredient checklist and directions!

For the Hen Meatballs

• Floor hen: I exploit lean floor hen to maintain the meatballs gentle 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 further protein.
• Worcestershire sauce: One in every of my favourite methods so as to add further savory taste to floor hen.
• Olive oil: Including a bit of on to the meatball combination helps maintain 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 stability the lemon and Parmesan. Be happy to make use of much less in case you desire.
• Hen bone broth: As a substitute of cooking the orzo in water, bone broth provides each taste and extra protein.
• Protein orzo: This is likely one of the best methods to spice up the protein in all the dish with out altering the flavour or texture very a lot. Protein pasta is usually plant based mostly and the elements can differ model to model. You’ll be able to completely make this with out utilizing “protein pasta”. After all the protein grams will change, however it should nonetheless be scrumptious!
• Child spinach: 5 ounces may seem like loads whenever you add it, nevertheless it wilts proper into the recent orzo.
• Contemporary lemon: Don’t skip the contemporary lemon juice! It brightens up all the skillet and balances all these savory flavors.

The best way to Make Hen Meatball Lemon Orzo

You’ll want a big, deep dish skillet with a lid for this recipe. All the things cooks in the identical pan, so be certain it’s giant sufficient to comfortably match the meatballs and orzo. A 7 qt, extensive 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 every part is mixed.

Add the bottom hen and blend with a spoon simply till every part comes collectively.

Don’t over-mix the hen. The extra you’re employed the meat combination, the firmer the meatballs can change into.

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 instantly into the skillet.

Don’t fear if the combination appears very comfortable! That’s precisely the way it’s imagined to be. Attempting to roll these into completely spherical meatballs along with your palms 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 all sides. You’re not attempting to fully cook 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 cook dinner for about 5 minutes, till the onion is comfortable.

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

PRO TIP! And positively 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. Prepare dinner the Orzo and Add the Meatballs

Pour the hen bone broth into the skillet and produce it to a boil. Add within the protein orzo and stir every part collectively. Cowl the skillet and cook dinner for 10 minutes.

6. Add the Lemon and Spinach

As soon as every part is cooked, squeeze the juice of 1 giant lemon into the skillet and add the newborn spinach.

Stir every part collectively, cowl the skillet, and cook dinner for one more 2 to three minutes, till the spinach is wilted. Give every part a style and add extra salt and pepper if wanted.