Obviously I love cooking but in the summertime, I like to take it easy and not overexert myself. It’s hot outside and no one wants to be cooped up in a hot kitchen all night making dinner. For nights when you don’t feel like hanging over a hot oven, that’s when yummy salads and pasta dishes come into play. Also a good idea: meals you can make all in one pan like this chicken meatballs with charred broccoli.
Making dishes like this ensures you’re not in the kitchen for too long AND it allows me enough time to go watch some of my guilty pleasure television shows like Married at First Sight.
There you have it. I’m admitting it here. I make these easy, low-key recipes so I can continue on my quest to watch mindless television. DON’T WE ALL DO THAT? For some of you it might be The Bachelor or Grey’s Anatomy (I love Shonda Rhimes but I cannot believe it’s still on) but for me, it’s Married at First Sight. Have you heard of it or seen it before? Trust me it goes really well with sheet pan chicken meatballs and charred broccoli. To be honest, the show goes well with anything you cook.
Anyway, the title of the show gives away the premise. It’s a group of folks who have been married at first sight. Yep. They setup shop in different cities and go through “rigorous” interviews and psych evaluations (allegedly) then the experts work their magic to narrow it all down and get some of these folks married. I don’t know how many seasons they’ve had (it’s quite a few) but I will admit something else here: I’ve watched all of them.
More honesty? I’m watching an episode as I type this. Shocker.
Only one pan: chicken meatballs and charred broccoli
In addition to watching Married at First Sight, one of my other loves is Bon Appetit magazine. When I check the mail and I see one of those magazines in there, I immediately get giddy and can’t wait to open it up and try out some recipes. This recipe was one of those ‘can’t wait to try moments’.
I originally saw BA post about it on Instagram and fell in love almost immediately. Also did I mention: you can make this all in one pan. That is rhetorical, I know I mentioned it already people. We took Bon Appetit’s suggestion and served the meatballs and broccoli over rice but I imagine you can do this with quinoa or even some black beans? Try it with different bases and let me know.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp. rice cooking wine
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- 4 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 ½" piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Meatballs
- 2 heads of broccoli
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
- 2½ tsp. kosher salt, divided
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 1 large egg, beaten to blend
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1 2" piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
- ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- Cooked rice or quinoa, for serving
Instructions
Let's start with the sauce
- Mix ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, wine, honey, soy sauce, ginger, and pepper in a small saucepan. Measure out ¼ cup mixture into a small bowl; set aside for glazing the meatballs.
- Bring remaining mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. If it's cooking too fast, reduce the heat. Cook until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Transfer sauce to a small bowl.
Meatballs
- Heat oven to 450° and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Trim broccoli stems and remove from crown. Slice crosswise into ½" pieces and cut florets into 2" pieces.
- Toss on prepared baking sheet with 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 1 tsp. salt, and a few pinches of red pepper flakes. Push the broccoli to the edges of the baking sheet to create a space for meatballs. Brush space with remaining 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil.
- Mix chicken, egg, scallions, garlic, ginger, panko, sesame oil, pepper, remaining 1½ tsp. salt, and ¼ cup water in a medium bowl. Using wet hands, form the chicken into twelve 1½"-diameter meatballs. Arrange on baking sheet; brush with some of the reserved glazing mixture.
- Bake until meatballs are cooked through, 15–18 minutes.
- Remove from oven; heat broiler. Brush meatballs with remaining glazing mixture; broil until broccoli is charred and meatballs are browned in spots, about 5 minutes (keep an eye on it).
- Spoon meatballs and broccoli over rice in bowl; drizzle with sauce.
