garlic butter chickpea meatballs with wild rice pilaf
Why go balls-to-the-wall thinking of dinner when I’ve got some balls of my own to lend?
Back again with more balls, because I like balls, and you could too. It quite surprises me how much fun I’ve had thinking of dishes containing my chickpea meatball formula, and how fucken rad they all are. Including this one. It’s buttery and cozy, and easily made in a single skillet. Perfect for a weeknight where your hair’s falling out but you still want a good dinner on the table.
I definitely say this counts as a solid dinner. I love a good wild rice pilaf – the texture is much different than standard rice, since wild rice keeps a satisfying chew when fully cooked. The meatballs are seared crisp then swim in a luscious garlic butter sauce hinted with cider and dijon, a warm vinaigrette of sorts. The same skillet heats up the aromatic wild rice and veggie blend, and when you pour over that garlic butter sauce over a bowl of both components? Bruh. Perfection.
These few days before the start of November have me craving non-holiday foods, since once Christmas hits we’ll be seeing PLENTY of intensely rich, savory or sweet foods popping up on this page. Enjoying a bit of simplicity in the meantime. Sound good to you? Cool. Let’s get bitchin’ in the kitchen.
Buttery Balls
These meatballs don’t deviate much from my popular Sage Parmesan Chickpea Meatballs. The core components are the same: chickpeas, egg, parmesan, breadcrumbs, walnuts, garlic, and a bit of thyme. Whiz it up in the food processor, then form into balls. I usually get the awkward number of 14, but you might have up to 16 if your ball-rolling skills are better than mine.
Then, give the meatballs a crispin’ in a cast iron skillet. Turn them frequently to brown all sides, then toss them in a shallow casserole dish.
Melt down some butter, stir in garlic and thyme, then add cider, cider vinegar, and dijon mustard. Reduce the sauce a few minutes, season with a touch of salt and pepper, then pour over the meatballs. I like to baste the butter over the meatballs a little bit to get them nice and juicy.
Who Pee(laf’d) On the Floor?
Start the wild rice pilaf in a touch of butter with a nice veggie blend of carrots, celery, mushrooms, and onion, then garlic and thyme.
When I say “wild rice”, I don’t mean the fully black forbidden rice you can usually buy on its own. I’m sure that would be swell, but I like using a blend that also contains brown rice and sometimes other grains. True wild rice also tends to take half an age to cook.
Anywho, stir in the wild rice, some broth or cider (love using cider in these types of things for a little sweet spice undertone), and water. Simmer the rice until softened, adding water as needed if it starts to cook too fast. I usually keep my heat level on medium-low to prevent the liquid from boiling out before the rice is even close to being cooked.
Divvy up the rice and meatballs and make sure to spoon extra garlic butter sauce over both. I’d finish off my bowl with steamed broccoli or another veggie I have on hand, or roasted Brussels sprouts – you can get real fancy and make my Candied Pecan Brussels Sprouts, 10/10 recommend, and they’re pretty easy to cook while the pilaf simmers away.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Eat my balls:
Sage Parmesan Chickpea Meatballs with White Wine Gravy
Mango Curry Chickpea Meatballs
Weeknight Sticky Sesame Jalapeno Chickpea Meatballs
garlic butter chickpea meatballs with wild rice pilaf
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and dried
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 large onion, quartered
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1/3 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup apple cider
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
wild rice pilaf
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1/2 cup carrot, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups wild rice blend
- 1 cup apple cider, or vegetable broth
- 2 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- For the meatballs: in a food processor, combine the chickpeas, walnuts, breadcrumbs, onion, 4 cloves of the garlic, egg, thyme, and fresh parmesan. Blitz until a cohesive dough forms. Oil your hands and roll the batter into balls. You may get 12-16 balls depending on the size.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium. Cook the meatballs 8-10 minutes, turning frequently to brown all sides. Remove to a shallow dish. Add the butter and garlic, stir for a minute, then pour in the apple cider, cider vinegar, and dijon. Season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly reduced, about 2-3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the meatballs.
- In the same skillet, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir in the mushrooms, onion, carrot, and celery until softened, about 4-5 minutes, then stir in the garlic and thyme for an additional minute. Add the wild rice, cider or broth, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20-25 minutes until the rice is softened and most of the water absorbed. The wild rice will still be a little chewy.
- Divide the rice and meatballs into bowls. Pour the garlic butter over everything and serve, preferably, with some crisp white wine.
