one-pan butter chicken-inspired meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken

4 ounces (½ cup) whole-milk ricotta cheese cup breadcrumbs

1½ teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon kosher salt teaspoon garlic powder

Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

1(14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce

1(13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk

1(15-ounce) can white beans, such as cannellini or great northern, drained and rinsed

1½ teaspoons sugar

2 big handfuls of fresh baby spinach

Kosher salt (optional)

For Serving

Handful of fresh cilantro

1 lime

4 pieces naan

Directions

1. Make the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, ricotta, breadcrumbs, garam masala, salt, and garlic powder. Use your hands to mix well, then scoop out and lay them on a sheet of parchment paper. (I don't even roll them to make sure they're perfectly round!) You should have about 20 meatballs.

2. Make the sauce. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garam masala, garlic powder, and onion powder and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Carefully stir in the tomato sauce (it might splatter when it hits the hot butter), coconut milk, beans, and sugar. Turn up the heat to high to bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-high and stir for 2 minutes to thicken the sauce slightly.

3. Turn down the heat to medium and add the meatballs. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. The sauce should be gently bubbling, but if it starts to bubble too much and splatter, turn down the heat a little more. Uncover to stir in the spinach and flip all the meatballs over in the sauce, then replace the lid and cook until the spinach is wilted and the meatballs are cooked through and reach 165°F internally, 5 to 7 minutes more. Taste the sauce and add salt as needed. If it's too thick, add a splash of water to thin it to your liking.

4. Meanwhile, finely chop the cilantro. Cut the lime into 4 wedges. Throw the naan on a baking sheet and slide it under the broiler until it's warm and golden brown (don't burn it!).

5. Spoon the meatballs and sauce into bowls. Sprinkle each with cilantro and serve with a lime wedge for squeezing and naan for scooping.

Notes

sWap If you don't love beans, leave them out, and serve the meatballs and sauce over quinoa or Israeli couscous instead. • Kale, Swiss chard, or escarole are great in place of the spinach, but stir them in right before you add the meatballs to the sauce, as they need a bit longer to cook.

riff You can make pretty much any meatball recipe into a meatloaf instead. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, lightly pack the meat in, and bake at 350°F for 1 hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F for beef and pork or 165°F for turkey and chicken.