Chicken Vegetable Fritters
Call them fritters, poppers, or meatballs – either way, you and your kids won’t be able to resist them! Pick your veggies – zucchini, sweet potato, whatever you’ve got - and bake!
Call them fritters, poppers, or meatballs – either way, you and your kids won’t be able to resist them! You don’t need to, since they are packed with veggies and baked in the oven! A great way to get your kids to eat their vegetables, asking for more! They are kid tested and approved by the three very picky eaters of the Editor’s family, including the toddler.
I included ideas for the very many options you have for this extremely versatile recipe. Many of them I have tried myself, and I love them all. Personally, my favorite is turkey and sweet potato, but be creative, and work with what you’ve got on-hand!
This is a very versatile recipe. Adjust to your taste. For instance, in our house we don’t use garlic powder or black pepper, so I just omit them. You might also consider omitting
the garlic and onion powder in a sweeter recipe like apples, although they work great with the sweet potato!
You can also roll the fritters in breadcrumbs before you bake or sauté them.
Preparation time: ½ hour
Cooking time: ½ hour
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Kashrut Type: Meat
INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground chicken or turkey (uncooked)
2 cups uncooked vegetables, grated or use the pulse on your food processor into medium bits
Ideas: Use zucchini – leave the peel on for much more vitamins, sweet potato, sweet peppers, cranberries or craisins, or even apples!
3 tablespoons flour or breadcrumbs
Use whatever flour you want, although whole flours might add a heavier flavor. I use potato starch–based gluten free panko at home, and it’s fantastic. You could also try coconut or another gluten free flour of your choice. Use a little more if the mixture is very wet.
2–3 green onions, chopped fine or pulsed in food processor
1 tablespoon garlic powder (or one clove of garlic, chopped fine or crushed)
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
oil
If it’s a bit dry, you can add 1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon of oil inside the bowl, plus oil for cooking. I like doing this, since the result is succulent chicken bites out of the oven, and it’s a lot less than I would use if I sautéed them. I use coconut or palm oil because they are the healthiest.
If you want to sauté in olive oil, dash a bit of turmeric over the oil right after you put it into the pan to minimize oxidation and make it healthier.
Additional Options
Zucchini tastes great with added fresh or dried parsley, many veggies can be paired with an extra tablespoon of paprika, or even chili powder!
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and thoroughly mix.
For veggies with lots of water, like zucchini and apples, it is best to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can use a cheesecloth, let them strain over a bowl for 20 min, or my super-simple trick – I just squeeze it with my freshly washed hands over the sink on the way from the food processor to the bowl.
2. Begin rolling the mixture into small, slightly flattened poppers about one inch in diameter, or make them into mini patties of 2 inches in diameter, and then arrange on a plate. You can use your hands, or a melon baller, or an ice cream scooper.
3. Cook ‘em!
Bake them in the oven:
Preheat the oven to 400° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper lightly greased with oil. Here in Israel, I use Green Flash unbleached baking paper which is certified by Eida Chareidit.
Add about 1 tablespoon of oil and put the baking sheet in the oven while you prep the poppers onto the plate. Then, line up the poppers on the baking sheet with the hot oil with some room to spare.
Place in the oven for 25-28 minutes, flipping halfway through. Crisp further in a pan or place under the broiler if desired for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the oven when thoroughly cooked.
Personally, I cook these on 375 a little longer and I don’t crisp them. The kids eat them with their fork just fine, since they like softer and less crispy items.
Sauté them:
You don’t need tons of oil, especially if you put oil into the mixture. Grease a large pan with just enough oil to cover the bottom and get the pan hot. Add fritters to fill the pan with space around them, and then cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes each side, until brown. Repeat until all the fritters are cooked.
More ideas and options!
Allow to cool and serve with your favorite sauce! These are made for dipping so pair them with guacamole, ketchup, mustard, garlic mayo, spicy mayo, honey mustard! Some favorites in our family: ketchup with a little bit of apricot jam, or plain old ketchup with a little bit of mayo!
You don’t have to dip them, either. Put them into a pita, make them mini-hamburgers into a bun, or even wrap them up into a tortilla!
The options are really endless! So far, I haven’t made a batch that everyone didn’t love and there were no leftovers…
Image for illustration only.
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Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel's English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.
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