Tarragon Chicken Meatballs in a Creamy Lemon Sauce
Growing up, we were often served bland mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets for dinner. This wasn’t because my parents couldn’t cook – oh no. It was because my brother was the pickiest eater with salt being the only spice he could handle.
I wasn’t my brother though, and my taste buds desperately needed something more. After a while, enough was enough and three or four-year-old me demanded that my parents feed me the same food as they cooked for themselves. What a great decision that turned out to be.
This recipe is based on one of my earliest food memories – chicken thighs baked in lemon and tarragon. While I’ve subbed the thighs out for meatballs and added cream, the combination of lemon and tarragon still shines through, taking me back to my childhood every time.
Tarragon Chicken Meatballs in a Creamy Lemon Sauce
Serves 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Meatballs
800gms chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
2 teaspoons dried French tarragon
Zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon cream
Salt
Pepper
Flour – for coating.
Olive oil – for frying
Sauce
1L chicken stock
Juice of 2 lemons
1 large sprig of fresh French tarragon (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1/2 cup of cream
Slice the chicken breasts into small chunks and place in a food processor and process with chopping blade to the texture of a chunky paste. If you do not have a food processor, use chicken mince.
Add the tarragon, lemon zest, eggs, bread crumbs, and cream, as well as salt and pepper to taste, to the chicken and mixed together. This can either be done by hand or again in the food processor. Once everything has come together, set the mixture aside until you are ready to form your meatballs.
Place plain flour in a bowl and wet your hands (wetting your hands will help you form the meatballs and stop the mixture sticking to your fingers). Next, place a frying pan on the stove on a medium heat.
While the frying pan is heating up, form your first batch of meatballs. To do this, simply roll the mixture into small balls and lightly coat them in flour.
The reason why I coat them in flour is to allow them to crisp up on the outside while keeping them juicy and moist on the inside (adding flour also helps to thicken the sauce later).
Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Leave oil to heat up for around 30 seconds before adding your first batch of meatballs - I cook in batches of approximately 8 to prevent overcrowding the pan and to ensure the meatballs cook evenly. Once the meatballs have turned golden on the bottom, flip them over and cook them on the other side. For an approximately 3cm thick meatball, each side should take around 4 minutes.
As each batch finishes cooking, cut the last meatball placed in the pan open. If it is cooked right the way through, remove the meatballs from the pan. If the meatball is still pink inside, cook them all for another minute or two. At this stage if you are unsure if they are fully cooked, don’t stress as they will continue to cook for a further 45 minutes to an hour in the sauce.
Repeat this process for each batch, adding more oil as needed. Once finished, you may notice some burnt flour at the bottom of the pan. Let the pan cool so as not to burn yourself before wiping it away with some paper towels.
Next, place the pan back onto a medium heat and add all the cooked meatballs. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and stir it through the meatballs with a wooden spoon.
Add the chicken stock and cook for a few minutes on medium heat. Do not boil. Now stir through the cream and add the fresh tarragon sprig – I add the tarragon without dicing it up and let it infuse like a bay leaf.
Once the cream has been mixed through, turn the heat down to a low simmer and place a lid 3/4 over the pan.
After 45 minutes, the sauce should have thickened and reduced by around half.
Now that the sauce has thickened, remove the pan from the heat and serve. While this goes great with rice or pasta, if you’re after a low carb alternative, try serving it with my sautéed eggplant and quinoa.
If you do make it, let me know how it goes and how you choose to serve it!
