Your favorite chicken dish turned into meatballs! My Skinny Florentine Chicken Meatballs in Pan Sauce take chicken meatballs to the next level. This pan sauce is decadent yet lightened-up, utilizing ingredients like reduced fat cream cheese, reduced sodium chicken broth, shallots and lemon. Fresh spinach is added to balance it all out and add an extra dose of healthy ingredients. The recipe makes 20 meatballs, so there's plenty to share--or keep it all for yourself for the rest of the week!
Course appetizer, dinner, lunch, main course
Keyword chicken meatballs, florentine chicken, pan sauce
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 35 minutesminutes
Servings 4people; 5 meatballs each
Calories 319kcal
Author Steph
Equipment
mixing bowl
casserole dish
frying pan
Ingredients
Meatballs
1lbground chicken breast98-99% fat free
1egg
1/2cupseasoned breadcrumbs
2tbsppecorino Romanograted
2tbspfresh parsleyminced
2clovesgarlicminced
1shallotminced
1tspdried basil
1tspgarlic powder
1/2tspkosher salt
1lemonzested
Pan Sauce
3shallotssliced
1/4cupwhite wine
1tbspflour
1/2tspkosher salt
fresh cracked pepper
1lemonjuiced
2cupsreduced sodium chicken broth
5ozfresh spinach
1.5ozreduced fat cream cheese
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Mince the parsley, garlic, and shallot.
Add them to a bowl with the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumb, dried basil, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and zest of a lemon. Mix together with your hands and form into 20 meatballs, using a small cookie scoop.
Add olive oil spray to a frying pan over medium heat. Working in two batches, sear the meatballs on all sides until golden brown (they will not be cooked through).
Place the partially cooked meatballs into a baking dish, and finish cooking in the oven at 375F for 20 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 165F.
To make the pan sauce, slice the remaining 3 shallots and add them to the same pan you cooked the meatballs in, sprayed with olive oil spray. Cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until tender
Deglaze the pan with the white wine.
Once the wine is evaporated, sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the shallots.
Pour in the juice of the lemon and the chicken broth. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly (about 5 minutes).
Season with the salt and pepper, and stir in the cream cheese.
Finally, add the spinach to the pan and cover with a lid to wilt the leaves.
When the meatballs are done cooking, add them to the sauce in the pan and toss to coat. Simmer in the sauce until ready to serve.