Meatballs are always an easy low maintenance meal. Additionally, they can be eaten, standalone, or with pasta, mashed potatoes, or a great sandwich. I also find that it is a great way to add an additional nutrients like fiber and loads of vitamins that come with lentils. I’ve been working on new ways to add them into some of my favorite dishes.

Lentil tips 

Lentils have varying cooking times depending on the color. Additionally, the typical varieties are red, brown and green lentils. Red lentils cook the fastest with a typical cooking time of about 15 minutes. Brown lentils are in the middle at about 20 minutes of cooking time. And green lentils take the longest with a 30 to 45 minute cooking time. They are all great options for high fiber, highly nutritious legumes. 

For this recipe, I kept it simple with brown lentils, fresh herbs, and low-fat ground chicken. Check out the recipe below. If you want to see a video walk-through, check out the post on Instagram or TikTok. 

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken or ground turkey
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup chopped basil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. Onion powder.
• 1 tbsp. Garlic powder.
• 1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
• 2 tsp. Sea salt
• 3-4 cloves, minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tbsp avocado oil
• 1oz feta cheese (optional garnish)
• 1 tsp basil (optional garnish)

Coating ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Sea salt
• 1 tsp coarse, black pepper

Sauce ingredients:

• 1 14 oz jar, red pepper, and eggplant spread
• 1 can Grecian style egg plant, tomatoes, and onions (optional)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 TBSP onion powder
• 1/2 TBSP garlic powder
• 1 TSP red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup sliced onion
• Half a cup chicken stock or broth

Directions: 

1. Place lentils in a medium pot and bring to boil with 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt.
2. Cook lentils for 15 minutes and remove from heat to let cool for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. In a large bowl add ground meat. Rinse and chop basil and parsley, and add to bowl.
4. Also to the bowl add lentils, seasoning, egg, and press and fresh garlic. Mix with a spoon or by hand until well. Inc. and add Italian breadcrumbs to bind ingredients.
5. In a shallow dish, add coding ingredients and mix with a fork. Start to form meatballs, and roll in coding mixture.
6. In a large, nonstick pan at oil and heat over medium heat. Once Soileau is hot at meatballs and brown evenly on all sides.
7. Line a baking sheet with foil and add meatballs. Bake for 15 minutes.
8. In same pan add onion and can of eggplant mix and start to warm. Add in red pepper and eggplant sauce and press and fresh garlic. Mix well.
9. Add stock and seasoning and bring to a low boil. Let cook for 15 minutes while meatballs baked.
10. Plate sauce, add meatballs, and top with optional feta cheese and fresh basil
11. Enjoy!