Honey Chipotle Meatball Meal Prep Bowls are the tastiest way to kick start your new years resolutions! Healthy baked turkey meatballs are tossed in a smoky sweet and savory honey chipotle glaze, and served over cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
It's not 2018 yet, but I'm already thinking healthy eating and new years resolutions!
I give myself complete permission to enjoy all the delicious foods that the holidays have to offer and I don't feel guilty about it for one moment. But after Christmas passes, each year, I'm back to craving healthier food.
This week, I was craving meatballs, and wanted something a little different than these Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs 7 Ways. Sometimes you need a little glaze in your life, amiright?
So I came up with these honey chipotle meatballs, and to keep things light and lower in carbs, served them over a cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
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How to make honey chipotle meatballs
To get this recipe started, I used my favorite base turkey meatballs recipe with a few simple ingredients: lean ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and worcestershire sauce.
Then I used my favorite 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to make equal sized meatballs and baked them all up for 25 minutes.
While they are baking, whip up the sticky honey chipotle glaze. This is where the flavor bomb comes from! Broth, honey, lime, salt and adobo sauce in a pan, simmered, then thickened with a touch of cornstarch. Boom.
Want it SPICY? Add a whole chipotle pepper while simmering, then remove before tossing the meatballs.
Now I served my honey chipotle meatballs over a cilantro lime cauliflower rice, however they would be great over basmati rice or zoodles.
I recommend using fresh cauliflower rice rather than frozen pre-riced cauliflower to prevent it from getting soggy as a meal prep lunch. If you eat it right away, shouldn't be an issue though 😀
Watch the video below to see exactly how I prepped these Honey Chipotle Meatball Meal Prep Bowls. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel, or on Facebook.
Tips to get perfect meal prep bowls:
- use a cookie scoop to get equal-sized meatballs
- use fresh (not frozen) riced cauliflower to prevent it from getting soggy
- I love these meal prep containers to store my meal prep lunch bowls
- check out this round-up of 29 Easy Meal Prep Lunch Ideas for more inspiration!
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Honey Chipotle Meatball Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
Turkey Meatballs
- 1 lb/ 450 g lean ground turkey
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
Honey Chipotle Glaze
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 4 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers
- 1 whole chipotle pepper optional- spicy!
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch see note 1
Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ red onion finely chopped
- 4 cups riced cauliflower
- zest of 1 lime
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- juice from ½ a lime 1 tablespoon
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
Instructions
Turkey Meatballs
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, worcestershire sauce and salt.
- Form into 1.5 tablespoon meatballs and arrange on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
Honey Chipotle Glaze
- In a medium pan, combine the honey, stock, salt, lime juice, adobo sauce and optional chipotle pepper.
- Stir together and cook until completely combined.
- In a small bowl mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water until no lumps remain. Stir into the pan and continue stirring and simmering until slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat and toss meatballs in the glaze, until coated.
Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil.
- Add the bell pepper and onion, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until slightly softened.
- Add the cauliflower rice, lime zest and salt. Cook for 2-3 more minutes, until cauliflower rice is slightly softened (but not mushy!).
- Stir in the lime juice and cilantro leaves, then remove from the heat.
Assemble lunch bowls
- Divide the cauliflower rice between four meal prep containers.
- Divide the meatballs between four bowls.
- Drizzle with extra glaze to taste.
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Tips:
Video
Nutrition Information
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Justin says
I don’t normally comment on pages like these, but I tried this recipe and was completely disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly as described. The meatballs themselves were completely bland once you got past the layer of sauce, and the sauce itself was this sickly sweet mixture with way too much sugar in it. I made it through one meal of this, and had to throw the rest out, as no amount of hot sauce or additional seasoning was salvaging this recipe.
Denise Bustard says
Hi Justin, I'm sorry to hear you did not enjoy. Thank you for your feedback.
Jen says
I make this VERY often!! Thank-you so much for sharing!! Tryjng to find a way to share this to Instagram.
Brian Bell says
Just made this and if i make again i might just stick to the sauce from the can and not the actual pepper lol. Also my sauce came out kinda thin even knowi brought the sauce to a boil and then added in the cornstarch slurry and cooked it. it coated the back of a spoon but was kinda thin. im sure it will thicken up once reheated though.
Denise Bustard says
Hi Brian! Thank you so much for reporting back! You can add up to 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, which can help it thicken even more. I will add that note to the recipe card.
Matthee says
This sounds great but this meal is tagged as gluten free, but has breadcrumbs? Like c'mon
Denise Bustard says
Hi Matthee, that's a mistake and I thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Brenda says
I assumed it was gf breadcrumbs.
Lindsey says
I'm having this for lunch right now and it is delicious. I added more peppers to spice it up some more, and ended up not using half of the sauce. The next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I'm going to halve the sauce ingredients. Otherwise, yum! The cauliflower rice is the perfect accompaniment to the meatballs. I managed to get 20 meatballs, FYI.
Denise says
So glad you enjoyed! Thank you for the feedback, Lindsey!
micheal says
Hi, my name is Micheal, just started doing the whole meal prep, i see it says 427 kcal? what is that compared to calories? im trying to calorie count and this meal sounds amazing but im trying to make sure i hit a certain amount of calores. thanks.
when i look it up it says 427 kcal is 427,000 calories and that just cant be right/
Denise says
Hi! It's 427 calories.
Rochelle Ellaine Taguiam says
How long this meal could stay in the fridge? can i put it in the freezer? thank you ?
Denise says
Hi Rochelle! This meal is good for up to 4 days in the fridge. I'm not sure how the cauliflower rice or the sauce would freeze/thaw...if you try it, I'd love to hear how it goes for you!
Cory says
Hi, just made this recipe and it turned out great! I doubled the sauce recipe and we ended up with some extra. Have you ever froze or refrigerated the extra? Thanks!
Denise says
Hi Cory, apologies for my late reply! I bet the sauce would keep for 5 days in the fridge. It might freeze, but i haven't frozen many things once thickened with cornstarch...it might be ok or it might need to be thinned out a bit upon thawing.
Joshua says
Amazing!!! The taste was great. I didn't use all the sauce though. I also made the meal for 5 days. I used a Tsp measuring cup and made 30 meatballs. The cauliflower rice was a great addition. I get so many ideas for meal prepping from this site it is truly the best.
Denise says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Joshua! Thanks so much for reporting back 🙂
Shirleena says
Delicious!! I started meal prepping today and I had to try this and I'm glad I did! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time.
Denise says
That's great! I'm so happy you enjoyed it, Shirleena! 🙂
Lori says
I just ate these for lunch about 10 minutes ago. Loooove them! The flavors are amazing, and I love that I have 3 more in the fridge for the rest of the week. Thank you for all of your awesome meal prep recipes!
Denise says
Hi Lori, I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Kelly A. says
This turned out soo well! I LOVED the sauce/meatballs. Absolutely adding worchestire to my meatballs from now on.
The only thing that changed for me was the cook time/seasoning on the cauliflower rice. I personally thought after the times prescribed above that the peppers were not cooked through and the cauliflower was a little too crunchy. (I personally like when the cauliflower is a little softer (like rice) but it's a personal preference. I also didn't think the lime juice/zest and S&P livened it up enough so I also added minced garlic and chili powder.
Looking forward to making again!
Denise says
Worcestershire is my secret ingredient for meatballs...they just aren't the same without it! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! I did have the veggies a little 'al dente' because when they are re-heated they will cook again a bit. Hope you enjoy your lunches this week!
Tara says
Is the nutritional value for 1 serving, or the entire recipe?
Denise says
One serving! I didn't use all the sauce in mine though and the nutritional values reflect using all the sauce.
Laura B says
This recipe looks amazing, but 40 gms of sugar? That is huge for 1 meal & almost negates your efforts to make it low carb!
Denise says
Hi Laura! Thanks for your comment! I didn't say this recipe is low carb...I said I was lowering the carbs by using cauliflower rice instead of regular, which means we get to enjoy yummy chipotle honey sauce 🙂 I actually didn't use all the sauce in my meal prep bowls. I may in the future rework the recipe with half of the sauce.