I Won’t Waste the Juicer Pulp, Part 3: Chicken Meatballs Edition

Using the vegetable pulp from our juicer has definitely been a challenge. I must admit that more often than not, we end up throwing it away. But, once in a while, I use it in a recipe and it turns out great. For a while, I was looking for specific recipes made for pulp and it was a pretty disappointing search. “Crackers” and bread were the main two results. They were both good but I didn’t feel like making the same thing every week. So my latest theory has been to try to mix in the pulp with whatever I’m making, whenever it’s a possibility. When I made the zucchini lasagna, I mixed it in the sauce. Another favorite has been to mix it into meatballs. Instead of using breadcrumbs and other fillers, I just use the pulp. I also feel like these recipes could be adapted to use finely shredded vegetables (carrots, kale, etc.).

Chicken & Pulp Meatballs With Teriyaki Sauce:

Ingredients:

• Equal amount of vegetable pulp and ground chicken (in this case, I had one chicken breast, ground)
• 1 egg
• Handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of canola or olive oil
• This recipe of teriyaki sauce (you can use regular soy sauce to make it)

What’s Next?

1. In a bowl, mix together (using your hands) the pulp, chicken, egg, basil and soy sauce.
2. Shape the mixture into meatballs, the size of your choice (I made 7 big ones).
3. Using a large deep cooking pan, heat the oil, then add the meatballs. Cover but turn the meatballs regularly. After letting them cook for 5 minutes, add the teriyaki sauce and cook for 5 additional minutes. Obviously, larger meatballs will take more time to cook than smaller ones so you might need to adjust your cooking time. You can always break one of your meatballs to see if it is cooked all the way through.
4. Serve with steamed rice and a side vegetable of your choice (beans from our garden, in my case)

Note: I didn’t use a lot of seasoning in the meatballs because I counted on the pulp to add flavor as well as the sauce. You can definitely add more or make modifications based on your preferences.

I’ve made these with turkey as well in the past. They also are great in a burger shape, with or without buns. I bet we could even do something similar for ground meat tacos! And, obviously, the same basic meatballs would go great in a spaghetti recipe, minus the teriyaki sauce.

In other news, today would have been Julia Child’s 101st birthday! Here’s to the wonderful woman inspiring me every day in the kitchen…