Glazed Chicken Bites

We are great lovers of meatballs in this house. Tasty little bites, usually accompanied with sauce or gravy, they always go down well.

I have a real cracker of a recipe for Spaghetti and meatballs that I have been making for years. Todd hates pasta though, so I only very rarely get to make it, although I have used the sauce and meatballs to make a meatball sub casserole before to rave reviews.

I often make Swedish or Norwegian Meatballs, which we like to have with fluffy piles of mashed potatoes to help sop up all that lucious gravy.



Meatball stew and soup also make it onto our menu once in a while. Mince meat is quite economical and needn't be fatty and un-healthy. I always try to buy lean minced beef and pork. Buying cheap mince is using false economy as most of it disappears down the drain in fat anyways. When you think about it, buying meat that is 1/3 fat means that you are paying 1/3 more in the long run, as you are paying for something that you are not actually going to eat. (Well at least you SHOULDN'T be eating all that fat. It's not good for you!)


I had never been all that fond of making meatballs out of turkey or chicken mince though. They usually ended up dry and tasteless, until I discovered this little secret.

Mincing up equal amounts of dark and light meat. You get a really tasty and moist mixture that doesn't dry out.




You're going to really love these. We do.

*Glazed Chicken Bites*
Makes about 40
Printable Recipe

These meatballs are tangy and delicious and moist. They make excellent appetizers and are lovely as a main course as well. I serve them with a rice pilaff, and everyone loves them. I have made them with ground turkey as well, although I do admit the chicken tastes better though. I usually make my own chicken mince, using a combination of thigh and breast meat.

500g minced chicken
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chinese five spice
1 TBS chopped chives
1/2 cup of stale bread crumbs
For the glaze:
1/2 cup red currant jelly
1/2 cup mango chutney
the juice of half a lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. LIne a baking sheet with baking parchment and grease the paper. Set aside.

Place the chicken, egg, coriander, chinese five spice, chives and bread crumbs into a bowl. Mix well with your hands. Shape level tablespoons of the mixture into balls. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, or until well browned. Drain on absorbent paper if need be.

Place the glaze ingredients in a medium skillet. Stir low heat until melted and combined. Add the meatballs and heat through, simmering, uncovered until lightly glazed. Serve hot.