Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
What I love about Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Ok, this has to be one of my absolute favourite dinner recipes! You know how much I love curry and I love pumpkin too, so this is perfect. Pumpkin is unique in that it goes well with both sweet and savoury dishes. These Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs are so delicious and just bursting with flavour. It’s a warm, comforting meal that is tasty and satisfying; perfect for those cooler fall days. The meatballs contain a unique and flavourful blend of spices including coriander, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric; all known for having a warming effect on the body.
This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free and grain-free (if you don’t add rice). It has no added sugars and it is made with simple, wholesome ingredients to fill you up. It comes together all in one pan which makes for quick and easy clean-up after cooking. I love to serve it hot over warm basmati rice or cauliflower rice with a little cracked black pepper and fresh cilantro on top; so good! If you don’t have ground chicken, you can also just fry up diced, boneless, skinless chicken breast with the spices and it would be equally as good. Ground turkey would work here too!
Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Pumpkin Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2lbs ground chicken
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- basmati rice, for serving
- fresh cilantro, for serving
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, for frying
- 2 cups finely diced white onion
- 4 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 400mL cans full-fat coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the ground chicken, coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper and salt and mix with your hands until combined. Wash your hands thoroughly.
- Heat a large, deep cast iron pan over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
- Once the coconut oil has melted, use a cookie scoop to scoop the chicken mixture into the pan in meatball form. Fry them on all sides for about 5 minutes or until crispy and browned. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside on a plate.
- To the same pan, add the onions, ginger and garlic and fry until softened. Add the curry powder and sauté for another minute.
- Add the coconut milk, pumpkin puree and tomato paste and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
- Add the meatballs back into the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot with basmati rice, fresh cilantro and cracked pepper.