Meatball Bowls with Chickpeas

These creamy, crunchy and savory salad bowls are packed with protein and veg! Meatball bowls are fantastic for meal prep and a perfect lunchbox dish.

Prep Time30

Cook Time18

Total Time48

Course: lunch, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: meatball bowls, meatball bowls with chickpeas

Servings:

Calories: 886kcal

30 oz chickpeas 2 x 15oz (400g) cans, drained and rinsed (or use 3 cups steamed drained chickpeas)
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ lemon juiced
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp garlic powder
2 carrots shredded
¼ red cabbage finely shredded
2 cups baby spinach packed
12 cornichons pickled baby cucumbers
3 Tbsp feta cheese ,crumbled, to serve
hot sauce to serve, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C), combi steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, choose 30% (if not, don’t worry! Just set to combi steam/convection steam at the correct temperature and the oven will work out the humidity for you). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Mix together all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Form the mixture into 20 balls and place on the lined sheet pan.
1 pound ground pork, 4 Tbsp dried breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp ground coriander, ½ tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp cracked black pepper, 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Bake the meatballs until golden brown and cooked through, about 18 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, put the feta cheese, cream cheese, lemon juice and olive oil into the bowl of a food processor. Run until the mixture is smooth, creamy and fluffy, about 2 minutes. It should be soft and spreadable; if it’s too thick, you can add a little milk or extra olive oil to loosen it.
6 oz feta cheese, 8 oz cream cheese, ½ lemon, 1 Tbsp olive oil

When the meatballs are cooked and the whipped feta is prepared, assemble the bowls. Mix the chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice and spices together.
30 oz chickpeas, 2 Tbsp olive oil, ½ lemon, ½ tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp garlic powder
Smear a couple of tablespoons of the whipped feta over the bottom of each bowl. Top each with a quarter of the chickpeas and a quarter of the shredded carrots and cabbage. Scatter a quarter of the spinach leaves into each bowl.
2 carrots, ¼ red cabbage, 2 cups baby spinach
Top the chickpeas and salad with the meatballs, then garnish with pickles and crumbled feta cheese. Hot sauce is optional but a delicious addition!
12 cornichons, 3 Tbsp feta cheese, hot sauce

This looks like a lot of ingredients, but it’s very simple to put together. If you want to spread out the preparation, make the meatballs and cook up to 3 days ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat briefly to serve. You can also make the whipped feta up to 3 days ahead and store, covered, in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
The recipe makes 4 very generous main meal servings, or 6 smaller servings.
You can sub the ground pork for beef, chicken or turkey instead.
The salad ingredients are changeable, use whatever you like as long as you've got something crunchy like carrot or cucumber and something leafy.
The recipe makes twice as much whipped feta as you’ll need, but that’s so you don’t have half a block of cream cheese hanging around in your fridge. Whipped feta is great on bread or crackers, or used as a dip with vegetables. It will keep for several days. You won’t be sorry to have extra!