Plus a creamy pickle sauce you’ll want to put on everything
I’ve always found it hard to get excited about ground chicken. In my mind, the lean minced meat is often used as a mediocre stand-in for pork (which I love). But as I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat less red meat, I found myself in need of some chicken recipes that felt less, well, chicken-y, to help keep dinner interesting. A meatball wrap with a pickly sauce did exactly that—and might have made me a ground chicken believer for good.
The issue with ground chicken (and its cousin, ground turkey) is that it lacks fat and therefore tends to be somewhat dry once cooked. But adding a little extra moisture is easy—all you need is a medium-size zucchini and a box grater. The first time I came across this technique, I was enjoying Yotam Ottolenghi’s turkey and zucchini burgers at a friend’s house. Grated zucchini keeps the ground turkey exceptionally moist, soft, and light. I’ve been thinking about that meal ever since, and so I decided to try something similar with chicken, since it has a tiny bit extra fat and therefore a little more flavor.
As opposed to Ottolenghi’s burgers, I stick to a more meatball-like formula here. I combine the ground chicken with grated zucchini, onion, and tender herbs, then bind it together with bread crumbs, an egg, and a generous glug of olive oil for added fat. I also add some spices: cumin, paprika, garlic powder, plus a healthy dose of salt to counteract the watery zucchini. The mixture feels a bit sloppy—not as firm or malleable as your average meatball—but nonetheless, they hold their shape. After being formed, they get placed onto an oiled sheet pan and baked in the oven. Once cooked through, I brush the meatballs with oil and put them under the broiler to become golden brown and crispy.
While the meatballs are baking, you have time to prepare your sauce. This one is a take on Shilpa Uskokovic’s Pickle Dip, originally published in Bon Appétit—a creamy, briny, tartar-sauce-meet-tzatziki that has become my go-to pairing for potato chips. Rather than ordinary dill pickles, I prefer the crunch of a cornichon. Here they’re combined with sour cream, mayonnaise, and chopped dill—slather that all over a toasty flatbread, add your meatballs and a few thin slices of red onion, and dinner is served.
Since I’ve been on an uncharacteristic meal-prepping kick (see my last column), I can also attest to the fact that both the meatballs and the sauce are ideal for prepping ahead of time and eating throughout the week. To reheat the meatballs, I roughly cut them into quarters and pan-fry them until they’re golden brown, which I have to admit makes them even tastier than they are straight out of the oven.