Zucchini Noodles with Mini Chicken Feta and Spinach Meatballs.
It’s a Monday meal!
We all have Monday meals right?
I mean, besides a salad with chicken because OMGIateallthethingsthisweekend but there are a few things that are simple, healthy and frankly… boring… come Monday night. amIright?
It’s right for me. I am the cliche stereotype and Monday is always a struggle. Almost always! Sooo… to find the most delicious meal that doesn’t includes as many cheeseburger and pizza as the weekend? That’s the mission.
Max LOVES meatballs. Like completely loves them. So I wanted to throw a spin on them and include some greens, and also figured they’d be perfect on top of zoodles. A super light summery meal that feels comforting and more satisfying that the summer grilled chicken everything we tend to lean towards this season.
ALSO. This pin. This freaking pin has been haunting me. It looked so beautifully delicious but I couldn’t find the recipe, so I decided to just make my own. The flavor combination just sounded incredibly delicious. Albeit, well… green. Very very green.
It’s okay! I can handle it. We can handle it.
The meatballs are filled with a mixture of chopped up spinach and garlic and studded with feta crumbles, then baked. I know most people hate turning on their oven in the summer, but the thought of standing over a skillet flipping meatballs sounded worse to me than baking the balls. You can totally make them either way! Throw a bit of olive oil or grapeseed oil in skillet and cook until browned on all sides if that’s your thang.
Or bake ‘em like me. When you bake them, you can make a huuuuge amount at once and save them for sandwiches or salads or even freeze them if needed.
Plus, they are mini. Mini things are adorable and mini means you get to eat MORE. Woohoo.
The zoodles, up next. The zucc noodles are tossed in olive oil, garlic and butter and cooked until slightly soft. I prefer my noodles to have a bit of crunch to them but sometimes I cook them a bit longer for Max.
If you wanted more flavor, you could always toss the whole thing in red sauce, in some sort of cream sauce, in whatever sauce you’d like. Cream sauce… is probably not on your list of Monday meals. Let me guess.
That’s that! The meatballs will take the longest and you can have this meal finished in under an hour. That’s sometimes a bit longer that I prefer to spend on a Monday meal… but it’s TOTALLY worth it.
Just look! Promise. Swear. On the moon and the stars and the sky.
Zoodles with Chicken Feta and Spinach Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled, plus extra for topping
- 1 pound lean ground chicken
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons fresh oregano, plus extra for sprinkling
zoodles
- 2 medium zucchini squash, spiralized
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In your food processor, combine the spinach and garlic and pulse until small pieces remain. You don’t want it completely pureed, but you want it to look as if the spinach is chopped. Drizzle in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add half of the feta (2 ounces), pulsing again just a few times.
- In a bowl, mix together the chicken, egg, worcestershire, spinach mixture, salt, pepper, oregano and 1/3 cup breadcrumbs with your hands until just combined. If it feels too wet and is difficult to shape into balls, add a touch more breadcrumbs and mix. Add in the remaining feta cheese and mix. Form into 30 or so mini meatballs, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Place on the parchment and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- While the meatballs are cooking, spiralize the zucchini into noodles. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add olive oil and butter. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, the stir in the lemon juice. Add the zoodles and toss well to coat. Cook until the noodles softened slightly, tossing often, for about 5 to 6 minutes.
- To serve, serve the meatballs on a bed of zoodles. Top with extra feta and fresh oregano.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Oooooh this makes me happy.
110 Comments on “Zucchini Noodles with Mini Chicken Feta and Spinach Meatballs.”
Oooh, this looks amazing! I am always so uninspired in the kitchen on Mondays but this sounds so perfect I might just have to make it tonight. Love the idea of feta in meatballs!!
ugh i know! what is it about mondays. sucks the life right out of us!
This looks fabulous! Would it work with fresh baby kale as well? Love your recipes Jessica!
for sure! thanks stephanie!
YES! I was stumped on what to make tonight after a weekend of WAYY too many indulgences so THANK YOU!! :) This is perfect.
you are so welcome!
first. i’m 1000% yours are going to be better than the original pin you saw because… you’re you. BUT. i’m somewhat of a catfish addict so i figured i’d try to help you out a bit and reverse image search the pin. the closest thing i found was this: https://claribelskincare.com/blogs/natural-skin-care/126246595-chicken-feta-meatballs-with-zoodles BUT i sort of think this recipe is a catfish itself because the recipe doesn’t include the image without the text which is what everyone is pinning…. i’m still on the lookout cause i like a good mystery/challenge but i figured i’d report back :)
ahaha i love you.
A meatball with veggies in it? Love that, such a great and healthy spin and looks pretty easy, great recipe!!
thanks leanne!
Zucchini noodles are the best! When I bought my spiralizer, my life literally changed haha. Love this but with veggie meatballs for me!
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.com
same!!
ah this looks SO good! my Monday meals are always the WORST (boring, bland, rushed) so this is definitely a needed pick-me-up! xo
thanks christine!
I am ALL about Monday meals being super easy and definitely healthy… because you know I had that burger, and that marg (or three) and most definitely dessert over the weekend. And I love that they are mini :)))
yum! these look delicious and perfect heading into summer. thinking I’ll have to give them a try this week. Thanks for sharing!
thank you cait!
Those meatballs seems delicious x
http://jessicawoods.fr/blog/
I am a lover of zucchini noodles, but I gotta admit — your zuccuhni noodle game is on a whole ‘nother level than my own. Zoodle me fancy, baby.
bahahah thanks girl!
Those zoodles look delicious! I just made lasagna cups using zucchini this weekend and they were so good!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
i need to make those. sounds so good!
Ooh yes, definitely feeling this tonight! Thanks for solving my Monday night meal problems!
thanks maria!
Psst… Here’s the original recipe. http://crushmag-online.com/recipe/zucchini-noodles-chicken-feta-kale-meatballs/
omg THANK YOU ELLA!!!
Made this just now and WOW!! Super delicious and done in under an hour. A tbs measured exactly 30 little bites of heaven. So impressed! This is how I will cook my zoodles from now on. Thanks!!!
i’m so glad you liked it!! yay!
I’m watching your masterclass on the Entrepenuer Food Summit right now. You have beautiful photos! And this recipe looks delicious! I’d love to try it!
thank you so so much kayla!
Zucchini all the way! Until I get my Spiral cutter, I’ll have to shred the long way. This looks so yummy.
I just planted 8 zucchini plants, 20 Basil, 8 Tomato and tons of Marigold to protect my Basil.
lovely! sounds like a great garden!
This looks so good, Jess. I make spinach feta turkey burgers all the time and have been meaning to make them into meatballs. I like that you chopped the spinach really small in the food processor. And serving these over zucchini noodles… LOVE!!
thanks girl!!
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Delicious recipe! And the meatballs idea is so good! Thanks for sharing it. I’d love to cook it :)
thanks!
Made this last night and absolutely LOVED it. So perfect for spring/summer as it has refreshing flavors! Since I don’t have an inspiralizer, I just used my potato peeler for the noodles :)
so glad you liked it simone!
Jessica, sorry if you’ve said this somewhere, but is there a spiralizer you would recommend? I want to get one, but I have about 3″ (yes, that’s INCHES) of space in my studio apartment non-kitchen. Any thoughts? Thank you!
Sarah, see my post of July 7, 2016, below.
This looks SO yummy! I love the idea of “mini” chicken meatballs :)
Genius! Can’t wait to try these. I get tired of the all-the-time grilled chicken in the summer, so these will be an awesome change of pace. And high five on the meal that makes extra that you can freeze!
I ɢᴏᴛ ʜᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴀɴ ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ʙᴜsɪɴᴇss ᴀʟᴍᴏsᴛ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴅᴇ ᴀɢᴏ ᴡʜᴇɴ I ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀɴ ᴏɴʟɪɴᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍʏ ғɪʀsᴛ…
•~~~~~~~~~cashjob55.tk
perfection on so many levels – love the thought of using pesto with zoodles and these chicken meatballs look seriously delish. can’t wait to try! (also, those darn ghost pins get me every time too. it’s like “hiiiiiiii gorgeous, what are you?” & then it leads to nowhere!!)
I made this a few hours ago.
My whole family loved it! Even my diabetic father was surprised how good the zoodles were with the chicken meatballs. I had slot of spinach left so I added it to the zoodles.
I will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for the great recipe.
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Thank you so much for making this recipe – that pin was haunting me, too! Pinning yours now!!
xo jules
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I made this tonight. My husband said (about 10 times during our meal) “the flavors work so well together–this is delicious!” Happy husband, happy Cook! And he was right. It is really, really yummy, although mine wasn’t as pretty as the photos, I’m sure it was as tasty.
And for Sarah, I have a huge kitchen with a Paderno spiralizer , which I love, but it takes up a lot of space. I see that OXO Good Grips makes one, and I have always been happy with any of their products, so it might work for you. I also have a hand-held cheaper brand, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Spring for the $15 OXO, and I’m sure you will be happy–unless you want to do 20 zucchini at a time……
Also, I think the “meatballs” would make a fabulous hors d’oeuvre with some kind of sour cream dip, like tzaziki or old-fashioned Lipton’s onion soup dip.
My husband and I made this last night and it turned out great! The meatballs get nice aand brown in the oven, and the feta/oregano/lemon flavors work really well together. We couldn’t believe how filling it was, too!
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Loved this idea! Hey, I’ve got a great recipe to go with Zucchini Noodles and its Cajun Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles. Hope you can check it out over here!!! Thank you :)
http://audreyforyou.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/recipe-cajun-shrimp-with-zucchini-noodles.html
This recipe looks delicious! How many servings does this make? I’m cooking for seven people. I see that the meatballs make around 30, should I double up on the zucchini?
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Omg. This recipe is seriously DIVINE! I usually hate zoodles — I’ve been trying and trying, and it always results in me forcing them down and hating my life. UNTIL NOW!!! The lemon/butter/garlic combo is perfect, and my super-vegetable-hating-husband didn’t even notice the spinach in the meatballs AND ATE 8 OF THEM. This is the most successful recipe I think I’ve ever made. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
Winner, winner, chicken meatball dinner! I bought a spiralizer just for this recipe and, boy am I glad I did! New favorite gadget! I made a feta/yogurt sauce to go with it because we are saucy (!) people! Thanks for yet another amazing recipe!
Hey Sunny! Can you elaborate on the feta/yogurt sauce that you paired with this? That sounds amazing. Thanks!
I made this on Monday and it was so delicious! I have been meaning to buy a spiralizer but haven’t gotten around to it so I bought pre cut zoodles from Whole Foods. The flavors blend extremely well together. I added raw tomatoes just to add some more vegetables, but it was very tasty with and without them. Can’t wait to make this dish again!!
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Jess! Searched out this older recipe because I have a burning questions re: our beloved zoodles. How do you deal with the excessive amount of water that the zucchini naturally exude while being sautéed in any type of sauce?! Your zoodles are stunning and mine are always, well, watery and sad. Please help! Xoxo. P.S. So much Mitten State love!