Orange Hoisin Chicken Meatballs

This is a recipe I adapted from the blog Seasons and Suppers. I follow this blog and enjoy it. This recipe caught my eye as I have been trying to find a orange chicken recipe that we would all like. Also the ground chicken meatballs are different.

 It was excellent and not hard to make. I did do a small amount of changing to suit our families tastes and I wanted to have it Gluten Free and that worked also. If you are eating Gluten Free you need to be careful of Asian foods as most of the sauces they use have wheat flour in them. I do buy Kikkamon GF soy sauce and their Hoisin Sauce in the Gluten Free versions and for the flour I used King Arthur all purpose gluten free flour.

 The ingredient list looks long but it goes together fast. Start your rice first, make the meat balls and bake and while they are baking make the sauce. We ate most of a one pound package of ground chicken made into the meatballs, something we rarely do anymore.
Orange Chicken Meatballs

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 people 4

1 lb. Ground chicken

3 Tbsp flour (regular all purpose or gluten free)

2 Tbsp soy sauce (regular or gluten free)

1 Tbsp hoisin sauce (regular or gluten free)

1 tsp fresh minced ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Zest of 1/2 naval orange

pepper 

Sauce:

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce (regular or gluten free)

1 Tbsp soy sauce (regular or gluten free)

1 Tbsp fresh orange juice

1/2 cup chicken stock or water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 460 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) lightly spray with cooking spray and set aside.
 Start your rice cooking, rice noodles would be excellent also, follow package directions.

In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken with the flour, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, orange zest and salt and pepper. Form mixture in to walnut-sized meatballs and place on prepared baking sheet. (I used my cookie scoop to get them even about 1 tablespoon (you want them small enough that they bake through in the time allowed.) Bake meatballs in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a small pan. Heat on medium heat until hot and slightly thickened.

  To serve: Spoon rice in to serving bowls.  Spoon sauce overtop. Garnish with chopped green onion and an orange wedge, for drizzling. Every one can adjust the amount of orange flavor this way.