Herby dill and tarragon chicken meatballs are served with sautéed cabbage and egg noodles for a flavorful winter-to-spring transition dinner.
Juicy chicken meatballs are the perfect accompaniment to sautéed cabbage and egg noodles.
I’ve been on a cabbage and egg noodle kick. I often make it as a quick side for roasted chicken or pork chops. The recipe is simple: just sauté an onion, add chopped cabbage, a little chicken stock and Dijon mustard, and then finish with cooked egg noodles. I usually add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice right before serving. It’s so satisfying and easy to make!
Recently, I’ve been enjoying the cabbage and egg noodles with these juicy, herby chicken meatballs. Since I’m starting to hear little birds chirping outside, I’m finding myself drawn to all things green! I’m craving lots of fresh herbs, but strangely, I’ve had a hankering for tarragon. I’ve even told myself that this is the spring of tarragon. I don’t know why, but I want to make everything with tarragon right now!
For these meatballs, I use dill and tarragon to impart a light, herbaceous flavor that just feels like springtime. Paired with the egg noodles, cabbage, and almost-but-not-quite caramelized onions, it makes for a great midweek meal option to take us from winter to spring.
While fully caramelized onions would be delicious in this, I speed up the process by adding a teaspoon of sugar and simply go until the onions are light golden brown. If you want even deeper flavors, caramelize them all the way, but I find the sugar and a shorter sauté time gives me enough of the caramelized flavor that I don’t feel the need to babysit onions for a half hour!
How to make chicken meatballs with egg noodles
What you need
- Meatballs: I make the meatballs with dill, tarragon, minced onion, minced garlic, milk, egg, ground chicken, and panko. If you don’t feel like mincing the herbs and veggies, you can use these replacements below for dried herbs. Normally, you’d use a 3:1 ratio for dry to fresh herbs, but since the dill and tarragon are “loosely packed”, I recommend dipping below the 3:1 to ratio so the dry herbs don’t overpower the chicken.
- Dry dill: 2 tablespoons
- Dry tarragon: 2 teaspoons
- Onion powder: 1 teaspoon
- Garlic powder: ½ teaspoon
- Cabbage and egg noodles: You need just a sliced onion, chopped green cabbage, and a little sugar. To simmer everything, I use chicken stock and Dijon mustard.
- Fresh dill and lemon juice: I finish the dish with fresh dill and the juice from 1 lemon.
How to make it
- Step 1: Make the meatballs. Combine the dill, tarragon, onion, garlic, egg, and milk in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the panko and stir until thoroughly combined. Add the chicken, salt, and pepper. Use your hands or a rubber spatula to work the chicken into the panko mixture until combined.
- Step 2: Roll the meatballs. Roll the mixture into tablespoon-sized meatballs.
- Step 3: Cook the meatballs. Brown the meatballs in a skillet for for 3 minutes per side until golden brown all over. Transfer to a plate.
- Step 4: Cook the onion and cabbage. Sauté the onion in a little sugar until it softens and turns light brown. Add the cabbage and sauté until it softens.
- Step 5: Simmer the meatballs. Add chicken stock and Dijon mustard. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Step 6: Finish the chicken meatballs. Add the dill and lemon juice. Then, add the cooked egg noodles and simmer for just a minute or two.
From there, you’re ready to serve it up! Transfer the meatballs and egg noodles to a large serving bowl. Finish with a sprinkle of fresh dill if you like.
Chicken Meatballs with Egg Noodles
Ingredients
Chicken meatballs:
- ½ cup dill (loosely packed; minced)
- ¼ cup tarragon (loosely packed; minced)
- 1 small yellow onion (peeled and minced; about ¼ cup total)
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 egg
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup panko (plus more if needed)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Egg noodles and cabbage:
- 8 ounces broad egg noodles
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion (peeled, halved, and sliced into half-moons)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 pound green cabbage (cored and roughly chopped)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- ¼ cup dill (loosely packed; minced, plus more for serving)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the meatballs:
- Combine the dill, tarragon, minced onion, minced garlic, whole milk, and the egg in a large bowl. Whisk together until smooth.
- Add the panko and mix until combined.
- Add the ground chicken, salt, and pepper and mix with your hands until completely combined. If the mixture seems loose, add ¼ cup more panko. Mix until combined.
Roll the meatballs:
- Roll the mixture into tablespoon-sized meatballs and transfer to a plate.
Brown the meatballs:
- Heat 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the meatballs in an even layer and cook for 3 minutes per side until golden brown. The meatballs are ready to be flipped when they release easily from the skillet, so you may need to cook them longer on the first side. Transfer to a plate. The meatballs do not need to be cooked through!
Prepare the noodles:
- As the meatballs cook, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the egg noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
Sauté the onion and cabbage:
- Add 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil to the skillet and return the heat to medium. Add the sliced onion and sauté for 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and continue sautéing for 6 to 8 minutes until softened and lightly browned.
- Add the cabbage and a generous pinch of salt. Toss to combine and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the cabbage softens.
- Add the chicken stock and Dijon mustard to the skillet and bring to a boil.
Simmer the meatballs:
- Add the meatballs and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper.
Add the egg noodles:
- Add the chopped dill and lemon juice to the meatballs and cabbage along with the cooked egg noodles. Toss to coat and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper.
To serve:
- Transfer the meatballs and egg noodles to a large serving bowl. Finish with more fresh dill. Enjoy!
Made this last night…it was a huge hit!
This might’ve been one of the best noodles I’ve had, somehow never had chicken meatballs before and I’ll definitely be making it again! Family loved it
That makes me so happy! Thank you for the comment!