Baked Chicken Meatballs and Orzo

These chicken meatballs are so juicy and flavorful but they are also healthier! Serve them over creamy sun dried tomato and mushroom orzo and you’ve got a new family recipe!

Last year we visited Israel for a couple of weeks and ate, and ate, and ate. The breads there, my goodness, there’s just nothing like bread outside of the USA. But what was interesting was that as much as we ate we really didn’t feel gross nor did we come home gazillions of pounds heavier. It was just fresh food and that made all the difference. Since coming home and dreaming of those cobblestone streets and warm challah, I’ve been heavily focused on dishes that incorporate more herbs and brightness to simple meals.

Meatballs are awesome, but a chicken version that’s still moist and juicy with the freshness of all those beautiful herbs is exactly what this blog needed.

I especially love the fried herbs we toss on top at the end. They are so delicate but still pack their flavor.

And before you ask, I don’t know what the best part of our trip was; Petra was amazing, Israel was like breathing new air, and the borders of Syria and Lebanon, well some of the best food we had all through the trip was there!

I think you have to leave home every now and again in order to find out what home really is to you. Home is everyone I love, a casual night around the table with no deadlines or hurrying and a big plate of the creamiest orzo dotted with earthy mushrooms and fragrant meatballs.

Ingredients Baked Chicken Meatballs

Get ready for bold flavorful chicken meatballs that are moist and super easy to make! While those are baking, you whip up creamy orzo and you have a great simple family meal. Here is what you will need…

For the Meatballs

• Panko Bread Crumbs: You can also crush up crackers or use regular breadcrumbs. These help bind the meatballs together.
• Milk: We use 2% or whole milk and it helps keep the meatballs moist.
• Olive Oil: helps the meatballs become golden when they bake
• Salt: adds flavor
• Aleppo Pepper: This is optional, but it adds great Middle Eastern flavor.
• Ground Chicken: ground chicken thighs also work or ground turkey
• Eggs: the real binders for the meatballs
• Grated Parmesan: adds flavor and helps hold the shape of the meatballs
• Shallot: adds flavor
• Garlic Powder: adds flavor
• Fresh Herbs: parsley, thyme, rosemary or you could do 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

For the Orzo

• Sun-Dried Tomatoes: adds bright pops of flavor
• Oil: Use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar. If you aren’t using sun-dried tomatoes, add an additional tablespoon butter.
• Butter: used if you don’t use the sundried tomato oil, helps sauté the mushrooms, shallots and herbs
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Ramen Chinese Chicken Salad

Crunchy ramen Chinese chicken salad is made with rotisserie chicken, three kinds of cabbage, carrots, green onions, mandarin oranges and a sweet tangy homemade salad dressing.

The chicken is completely optional, but I can’t ever make it without it. With the added protein, it makes a great lunch or main dish for dinner. I especially love the chicken marinated in The Original Japanese BBQ Sauce. It’s being sold everywhere lately, but I first found it at Costco. It is so good and goes perfectly with this salad! Using a rotisserie chicken makes it so simple so there’s minimal cooking!

This oriental chicken salad is a great dish for a potluck.  I remember when I was like 15ish, I went to a camp at a college. I stayed the first night with a girl I had grown up with and her roommates. We went on a little BBQ/picnic and a girl made a salad with crunched up top ramen noodles. I thought it was so weird. Years later my girlfriend gave me this recipe and it’s delicious. Very light, but flavorful and those ramen noodles add the most amazing crunch!

Ingredients for Ramen Chinese Chicken Salad

At first glance, this is going to look like a long list of ingredients, but I promise that it’s worth it! The flavor is so bold! Here is what you will need…

• Rotisserie Chicken: you can cook your own chicken breasts or buy it precooked
• The Original Japanese BBQ Sauce: this is optional, but it adds fabulous flavor to the chicken

Dressing

• Peanut Oil: the base of the homemade salad dressing, adds a subtle nutty flavor
• Peanut Butter: you’ll want creamy peanut butter
• Sugar: balances the acidity of the vinegar
• Rice Vinegar: adds tanginess to the dressing
• Soy Sauce: grab low sodium so the dressing doesn’t get too salty
• Sesame Oil: the tiniest bit adds the most delightful nutty flavor

Ramen

• Butter: used to toast the ramen noodles
• Ramen Noodles: crunch them up so they are bite size and ditch the seasoning packets
• Almonds: sliced and toasted with the ramen noodles
• Sesame Seeds: you can use black or just regular seeds and they also get toasted with the ramen

Salad

• Napa Cabbage: has a slightly sweeter flavor and the leaves are tender and great for eating raw
• Green Cabbage: chopped thin and adds to the base of the salad
• Red Cabbage: chopped thin and adds a bright pop of color
• Carrots: shredded on cheese grater
• Green Onions: adds that delicious onion flavor but it’s more subtle
• Mandarin Oranges: drained and left whole

This is meant to be just

Oh. Wow. This Chicken and Bacon Fried Rice has been established in our home as the best “unplanned and amazingly delicious” meal ever.

Initially made on a whim one night when I had leftover rice in the fridge, I’ve been making this fried rice with bacon and chicken for years now and finally was able to get some updated photos so that I can share it with you.

The whole family very happily gives this dinner two thumbs up each time I make it.

Chicken Bacon Fried Rice

There really aren’t many meals that top the convenience of combining leftover rice with a bit of bacon and some leftover chicken in a way that delivers so much deliciousness.

Chicken fried rice and bacon fried rice have become such staples in our weeknight dinner plans, I regularly double or triple the amount of rice needed for a meal, just to make sure there is plenty leftover for a fried rice dinner too.

And for the easiest “leftover” chicken ever, I often pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store. Full disclosure, with two teenage boys and a very rapidly growing 10 (almost 11) year old in the house, there’s rarely anything truly leftover after most meals.

And if there is? You just might find it in my fridge with a giant note on the container that says “DO NOT EAT THIS” if I actually want it to be there for a recipe the following day. Anyone else relate to this?

Fried Rice with Bacon

Can you go wrong adding bacon to fried rice? I say that it’s impossible. As evidenced by this mouthwatering Chicken and Bacon Stir Fry that we’ve been making for almost ten years now, the combination of chicken + bacon + Asian flavors is absolutely fantastic.

Tender chicken, salty bacon, along with bites of egg, onion, and peas in a very flavorful rice skillet? Oh yeah, you need to make this.

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Mexican Chicken Burrito Bowl

This Mexican chicken burrito bowl starts with delicious cilantro lime rice topped with our sticky Mexican chicken and then pile on all the toppings! I’m here for allllll the toppings — corn, peppers, onions, tomatoes, avocado, cheese and avocado cilantro lime dressing! Drooling!

For some reason, I’m bowl obsessed. There’s something about all the flavors and textures that makes me all giddy. It just feels so exciting to me! It’s also a family-friendly, affordable, healthy and easy weeknight meal.

What is a Burrito Bowl?

It seems like Chipotle was the restaurant to make the burrito bowl popular, but now you can find them almost everywhere. A burrito bowl is basically the filling of a burrito put into a bowl instead of wrapped in a tortilla. They are lower in carbs without the tortilla making them quite popular and also gluten free. And they are so versatile, you can make them exactly how you want them.

Ingredients for a Chicken Burrito Bowl

This recipe is a little different than our usual recipes because you start with three of our other favorite recipes to assemble a whole bowl. I will briefly describe each of those recipes (head to those individual posts for the full recipes). and then finish off with the ingredients to make these burrito bowls.

Cilantro Lime Rice

• Ingredients: rice, water, unsalted butter, chicken bouillon, garlic, cilantro, lime, and green chiles
• Time: 25 minutes
• PRO TIP: This is a copycat recipe for the rice served at Cafe Rio. It’s so easy to make at home!

Sticky Mexican Chicken

• Ingredients: chicken breasts, taco seasoning, olive oil, green onions, honey, and lime juice
• Time: 10 minutes
• PRO TIP: You only need 6 ingredients for this simple recipe, and the flavor is phenomenal!

Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing

• Ingredients: avocado, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno, tomatillo, garlic, apple cider vinegar, honey, coriander, olive oil, Kosher salt, and water
• Time: 5 minutes
• PRO TIP: Can be made up to a day ahead of time. The flavor actually gets better if it sits for a few hours before serving.

Toppings

• Greens: feel free to choose whatever is your favorite — mixed greens, all romaine lettuce or green leaf
• Corn: fresh corn on the cob with the kernels sliced off is best, but you can also use frozen corn if needed, adds sweetness and crunch
• Red and Orange Bell Peppers: seeds removed and diced, adds flavor, color and texture
• Red Onion: adds flavor, color and texture
• Jalapeno: adds heat and flavor
• Avocado: adds a creaminess and healthy fat
• Cherry Tomatoes: adds brightness, col

The BEST chicken tetrazzini recipe begins with chicken, mushrooms, and pasta tossed together with a creamy, garlicky sauce.

Layer that deliciousness in a baking dish and sprinkle it with just a handful of cheese before baking just long enough to melt everything together. Served with warm bread and a salad, this meal is a hit every time.

Almost 18 years ago now, my sweet friend Lisa brought my family a pan of this Chicken Tetrazzini. It was a night just a few days after my middle son was born; and in the midst of our new baby fog and sleep deprivation, we managed to eat an absurd amount of this dish.

You know those dishes you taste once and can’t stop thinking about? This chicken Tetrazzini recipe is one of those. When you’re exhausted from a new baby, a hot meal at the end of the day is extra divine.

I promised Sean I’d get the recipe as soon as possible. Lisa shared her recipe with me and this pasta has made regular appearances on our table ever since. 

Best Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

At the time, this was the best chicken and pasta dish we had ever tasted, giving it the honor of being christened “The Best Chicken Tetrazzini.” (And it still stands as one of the tastiest chicken pasta dishes you’ll ever make!)

It’s an easy and comforting dinner that I make so often I can just about cook it from memory at this point. And I have a feeling that chicken tetrazzini will be a meal my boys think of when they think of favorite family dinners from their childhoods.

My whole family enjoys this meal very much and one of my boys would happily do his best to eat this entire recipe on his own! As I began to make this for dinner last night, I was surprised to realize that I didn’t already have this recipe on the blog.

It’s become such a favorite, I