Who loves homemade meatballs?? These Baked Asian Style Chicken & Rice meatballs with Eggplants is a perfect gourmet looking meal you can easily whip up from home! Top them off with your favorite Pasta Sauce and pair them with pasta of your choice or crusty bread!! Your fam will thank you for this hearty and delicious meal!!
what makes these meatballs unique?
These meatballs are gluten free, super tasty and filled with lots of healthy ingredients!! The rice in the meatball will give you extra texture and moisture! For this recipe, I have incorporated warm sushi rice which has a tendency to be on the sticky side. If you use different type of rice, you may need to modify the ingredients. Check out my original recipe, Baked Asian Style Chicken & Rice Meatballs that’s without sauce.
Do i need to use eggplants for this dish?
Eggplants are optional ingredient here but I highly recommend pairing them together! Once baked, the eggplants come out so sweet, flavorful with a wonderful texture!! Goes super well with the chicken rice meatballs and marinara sauce!! And be sure to use the Chinese eggplants!! It does make a difference!!
what kind of sauce will go well with this?
These meatballs can be enjoyed as is or can be paired with a high quality Pasta sauce. For this recipe I used a brand called The Jersey Italian Gravy Pasta Sauce in the Original Flavor. This is not a sponsored post, but just want to shout out how delicious their sauce was! The sauce tasted very fresh and flavorful without having to add any seasonings of my own! The roasted tomato flavor was on point and the aromatics were very flavorful! It was not salty nor overdone, a great balance of flavors! Highly recommend!! These meatballs and eggplants were a hit!!
Recommended Ingredients:
- Jersey Italian, Gravy, 24 Ounce
- Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour) – 16oz [Pack of 1]
- Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
did you enjoy this recipe?
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Baked Asian Style Chicken & Rice Meatballs with Eggplants in Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- Cast iron skillet, 12" diameter
- mixing bowl
- disposable gloves
- long tong
- oven gloves
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- ½ cup onion diced
- ¼ cup scallion chopped
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced
- 1½ tsp ginger grated
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- ⅛ tsp black pepper + white pepper
- ½ Tbsp mirin
- ½ Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 cup cooked sushi rice firmly packed
- 5-6 Tbsp Mochiko sweet rice flour
Additional Ingredient:
- 4-5 Tbsp Grapeseed Oil
- ¼ cup Cilantro chopped
- 24 oz Pasta Sauce
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional Ingredients:
- 2 piece Chinese eggplant, medium size chopped
- ½ tsp sea salt for eggplant
- 1 tsp Mirin for eggplant
Instructions
- Into a big mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except for rice and rice flour. Use glove to incorporate everything well. Gently mix to preserve meat texture.
- Add rice and mochiko, mix gently. Let it sit for 10-15min. Then make 2" round meatballs.
- Wash eggplants & pat dry. Cut them into big chunks. Sprinkle with sea salt and mirin. Toss and let it rest for 10min.
- Heat cast iron skillet. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Into the hot skillet, add oil then the meatballs. Cook for 3-4min, flipping half way. Take the meatballs out and place them on a plate.
- Put the eggplants into the skillet and quickly stir them around until coated with oil, about 30 sec. Turn off heat and put the meatballs back into the skillet. Give it a mix and place the skillet into the preheated oven. Bake for 20 min.
- Meanwhile, heat Pasta Sauce in a separate sauce pan until hot. Keep the lid on and keep warm.
- Take hot skillet from oven and place on top of stovetop. Pour Pasta Sauce into the meatballs. Give it a good mix.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and parmesan cheese.
- Can serve on a bed of pasta and crusty bread. Salt and pepper to taste.
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