Chicken Meatballs with Cream Sauce (Cajun Boulettes au Poulet avec Sauce)

Cajun chicken meatballs in a creamy sauce with tons of onions, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms. Serve these meatballs on top of egg noodles or with crusty bread and a salad. It is so delish!

Meatballs:
2 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning
4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup panko
1 large egg
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1¼ lbs ground chicken or turkey
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

Cream Sauce:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup yellow or red onions, chopped
½ cup red or yellow bell peppers, chopped
½ cup mushrooms, chopped
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1½ cups chicken broth
½ cup sour cream

Garnish:
2 Tbsp. basil, roughly chopped

Meatballs:  In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the Cajun seasoning, garlic, and all the other ingredients except the ground chicken. Add ½ tsp. of black pepper and mix using a fork. The mixture will resemble a coarse breading. Add the ground chicken and mix until just combined. Do not overwork the meat. Roll into 18-22 meatballs. Mine were about 1½ Tbsp. each.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs to the skillet but do not overcrowd the pan. Cook in batches if they don’t all fit. Sear the meatballs for 4-5 minutes, flipping to brown all sides evenly. Remember you want to just brown the outside and not cook them all the way through. Remove meatballs to a plate. Repeat until all the meatballs are cooked.

Sauce:  Add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to the pan along with the garlic and the onion and sauté for 2 minutes or until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add the peppers and mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms and peppers soften, about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour and Cajun seasoning over the veggies and push the veggies around the pan to coat evenly and cook for about a minute or until the flour starts to deepen in colour.

Stir the mixture as you pour in the chicken broth. Lower the heat, whisk in the sour cream until it dissolves completely. Allow sauce to come back to a gentle simmer before lowering the heat and letting the sauce thicken, about 6-12 minutes. When the sauce is halfway there, add the chicken meatballs and let cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the basil before serving.

The sauce will thicken as it sits so I’d advise leaving it a little thinner if you aren’t planning on serving this right away. If the sauce thickens too much you can always thin it out with a little water or broth. Serve over egg noodles or with garlic bread and a salad.

Makes 18-22 meatballs.