Savory Sweet Potato Chicken Meatballs
Tender baked chicken meatballs with raw grated sweet potato squeezed dry, seasoned with smoked paprika and cumin. Round and browned, never flat, and no maple glaze in sight.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken dark meat grind preferred
- 1 cup sweet potato peeled and grated on large holes, about 1 medium
- ¼ cup yellow onion grated
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil for the pan
For the Garlic Yogurt Sauce (Optional)
- ½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Instructions
Prep the Sweet Potato
- Peel the sweet potato and grate it on the large holes of a box grater until you have about 1 cup, loosely packed. Grate the onion into the same pile.
- Wrap the grated sweet potato and onion in a clean kitchen towel, gather the corners, and wring it out hard over the sink. You should get 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid. Keep squeezing until it stops running.
Mix and Chill
- Combine the squeezed sweet potato and onion in a large bowl with the ground chicken, egg, panko, minced garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Mix with your hands just until everything comes together, about 20 seconds. Do not overwork it or the meatballs turn springy and tight.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425F with a rimmed sheet pan inside.
Shape and Bake
- Wet your hands with cold water. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, roll the mixture into balls about 1 ½ inches across. You should get about 20. Roll lightly, do not compact them.
- Pull the hot sheet pan from the oven, add the olive oil, and swirl to coat. Arrange the meatballs with at least an inch between them.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until the centers read 165F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Switch on the broiler and broil 2 minutes for color on top. Watch them closely the entire time. Serve with the garlic yogurt sauce and lime wedges.
Notes
- Squeeze the sweet potato hard: this is the single step that keeps the meatballs round instead of spreading flat.
- Grate raw, do not cook first: raw shreds cook through in 20 minutes at this size and keep some texture. Cooked mashed sweet potato makes the mix pasty.
- Preheat the pan: a cold pan lets the undersides bond before they brown, and the meatballs stick.
- Freezing: shape raw meatballs, freeze on a tray until solid, then bag. Bake from frozen at 425F for 25 to 28 minutes.
- Reheating: oven at 375F for 8 minutes. Skip the microwave, it turns the exterior rubbery.