I’m just going to come out and say it. I have an obsession with Frank’s Red Hot. From extravagant meals like casseroles and chicken tenders to flavoring my eggs in the morning with breakfast — man, you really can put that sh** on everything! I swear no one is paying me to say this!
So then I got the idea to put Frank’s Red Hot on meatballs and OH MAN, it works! These meatballs are so easy to make – you roll em’ into balls, roll the coating on, fry for a few minutes in avocado oil, and then simmer in Frank’s with the lid on for 10 minutes. That’s it! The best way to do this is to double or triple the recipe and freeze these suckers. You can easily pop them out for those emergencies during the work week when you don’t want to cook. I know this from experience as this feeling of not wanting to cook after being at work all day happens to me. A lot!
Lately I’ve been waking up early to get things done that are important to me. Sometimes I follow Danika Brysha’s method of the “self-care” checklist, sometimes I just sit on the couch and do nothing, sometimes I work on the blog, and sometimes I do all three. Taking this time for myself has been life changing. If you are like me, you typically hop out of bed, rush to get ready (hello stress!), and go straight to work. Having a couple of hours in the morning just makes me happy. It’s so fulfilling to do things for me at the beginning of the day, when my brain is fully functioning.
The catch is that when I get home from work at 6 pm, the LAST thing I want to do is cook dinner, wash dishes, etc. My bed time is between 8 and 9, so I really don’t have the time to cook, even if I wanted! Being strategic about my meal prep and finding simple, easy foods to make that can be quickly frozen/defrosted has been key.
This is one of those recipes. I’ll be the first to admit that rolling these into balls can be a pain. But it’s worth spending the five to ten minutes doing so you can eat and eat WELL for the rest of the week. These suckers are absolute flavor bombs. If you like Frank’s, you’ll love this!
I like to pair this with my Greens Aglio e Olio and ranch, which coincidentally is ALSO very quick to throw together.
Dinner = done!
xo, Jess
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds ground chicken or ground turkey
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, divided
- ¾ cup Frank's Red Hot
- Mix all of the coating ingredients into a shallow bowl.
- In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, salt and pepper and combine well.
- Roll the ground chicken into tablespoon sized meatballs, then roll in the coating, and set aside (I like to put on parchment paper on an empty area of the counter).
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the avocado oil in a large pan. Once heated, add half of the meatballs. Fry on all sides, about 5 minutes.
- Remove fried meatballs and add remaining avocado oil and meatballs, and repeat the frying step with this batch.
- Once fried on all sides, add the first batch of meatballs back into the pan with the Frank's Red Hot. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cover. Allow to simmer for ten minutes.