It’s no secret that I have a major sweet tooth – none at all – but I have been trying to branch out more lately into main meals and snacks that aren’t so sweet and that’s how I came across this recipe.
This recipe, which has been nicknamed ‘chicken bikini’ (I’ll explain why in a second) is incredibly juicy and tastes very fresh. It is simple to make and leaves you feeling as if you have done your body a favour by eating it – definitely one of my healthy recipes!
Now for why it is has been nicknamed ‘chicken bikini’s’ – so the original recipe name is ‘chicken poppers’ and when I was explaining on the phone to mum that I had found a new recipe that I wanted to try for dinner somehow the recipe name was misheard and the ‘poppers’ was turned into ‘bikini’ – how? I have utterly no idea. But it is just way to obscure to be made up. So now when we want to have this for dinner, the only way we remember it is as that ‘bikini meal’ – we seem like nutters if we mention it in front of anyone else! Regardless it is a great meal and one that has already made it into the family meal rotation!
Ingredients:
- 450grams ground chicken breast
- 1 large zucchini (grated)
- 1/2 carrot (grated)
- 3 – 4 tbsp coriander (minced)
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Olive oil spray
Method:
Step 1: Grate the zucchini and half a carrot and place in a bowl – lightly dab with a paper towel or tea towel to remove some moisture.
Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl and thoroughly mix. You can use a spoon but I find it is easier to use your fingers.
Step 3: Place a large frying pan (preferably non-stick) over low-medium heat and lightly spray with olive oil.
Step 4: With your hand grab a small amount of the mixture and roll into a ball (about the size of a teaspoon or tablespoon depending on what size you are after) and place into the pan. Repeat until you have your desired number of balls in the pan to cook. I usually end up having to do about three to four pans worth of chicken balls.
Step 5: Cook on the first side for about 5 – 6 minutes, before turning, spray the exposed side with olive oil. Turn the chicken balls once the side starts to turn a golden brown or the centres are cooked through. It should take about 8 – 10 minutes for a ball to cook through.
Step 6: Remove the cooked chicken balls from the pan and place to the side.
Step 7: Repeat Steps 4 + 5 until all the mixture is used up.
Step 7: Eat and enjoy!
How many does the recipe make?
It depends on the size of the balls. The recipe easily makes 25 small balls if you use the measurement of a teaspoon. They do fill you up rather quickly though so it is a good idea if you are having it as a main to have a side of veggies or salad. I have also tried it with mushroom risotto and it was delicious!
What to eat these with?
You can eat these with a variety of different dips such as guacamole, tomato sauce, tzatziki, salsa or any other of your favourite dips. If you want to get a lot more salt into your diet then tomato sauce is your best bet.
What dips did you decide to eat it with? Any that I didn’t think of?
One thing which I haven’t tried as of yet but will very soon is to make the chicken bikini balls bigger so that it will be a chicken patty to eat as a burger instead – a whole new meal :).
I hope you enjoy this healthy recipe!
x
P.S The original recipe is from blogger One Lovely Life.
P.P.S I am so excited I have reached two milestones in the past week! I now have over 100 followers and my site has been visited over 1000 times! Thank you everyone who has stopped by and taken the time to look at my blog, tried one of my recipes or decided to follow me – I really appreciate it :).
This looks easy and yummy! I’ll try this at home. Thanks! 😉
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It is incredibly easy and tasty. You won’t regret trying it :).
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Looks great!
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Thanks Rachel!
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It’s difficult to find zucchini here. If I want to make this dish, should I replace it with other vegetable (if so, what kind of vegetable?)? Is it okay to skip zucchini?
Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
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Hi Ami, I haven’t tried this without zucchini, but I reckon you could swap the zucchini for a carrot meaning you would end up using 1 1/2 carrots all up. You could also experiment with other vegetables but i’m not sure what result you would have. Mushrooms would probably be ok as I think the flavour would work well given the chicken bikinis tasted nice with mushroom risotto but you would need to chop the mushroom up quite tiny. Hope that helps – sorry I took a while to get back to you!
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It’s okay, thank you so much! 🙂
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I am definitely going to try these, maybe even today. My husband is getting a real digestive problem going on, he’s celiac, and is developing other digestive problems as well. He can’t eat so many things. I think this will be something he can eat. I’m seeking foods he can digest without them sticking in the middle of his esophagus and not going anywhere. Thanks for a great and simple recipe!
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Sorry to hear he is having such troubles. I hope he enjoys these and that he can eat them without any issue :). All I can say is he should enjoy the taste and that they are simple to make.
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Thanks!
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Heh, fantastic name, chicken bikinis. It’s on of these idiosyncracies of families, funny names for foods. I’ve been making banana oat bars for the kiddo since she was about a year old. Somehow, they’ve come to be known as oaty boats 😀
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Oaty Boats! I love it! Although I must say that is much closer than Chicken Bikini’s! Kids can come up with some great names for things can’t they!
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These look delicious! And thank you so much for dropping by to read my post!
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They are great. Not a problem :).
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Wow! I will definitely try it. I was desperately looking for something I can take easily while hiking and this one is a pleasant surprise! I like the olive oil and coriander added there and I can munch it without bread since I have glutton-lactose intolerance. Nice of you to share.
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Great! Remember these do have chicken in them though so you need to be careful about refrigeration. You can definitely munch on these and they will fill you up very quickly. They are great with avocado if you want to take that with you on your hike.
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Definitely making these next time we have friends over!
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Good idea! A great food to have with friends. You can make it be an entree, finger food or the main :).
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I made them for lunch. The carrots and zuchinni really made them moist and gave them a little different flavor. I knew that Coriander was something else but couldn’t remember what. I looked it up and it was Cilantro! haha My (picky) husband dislikes Cilantro but knows it’s very healthy so “tolerates it”. I didn’t have any fresh Cilantro but did have Coriander Seeds and ground them up in the coffee grinder. Not sure they added the same flavor that fresh Cilantro would have. I also added a little something, sorry. An egg and some Non Gluten bread crumbs. All in all, it was a very delicious recipe and I’ll be making it more often. Thanks!
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That is fantastic to hear Maggiepea. I’m glad he liked them and that they didn’t give him any trouble :). I’m amazed that you tried the recipe so soon after reading about it!
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haha…I know, usually I think I will try something but either take forever or never get to it. I’m glad I did it right away and was really happy with them!
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oh gads, not the thing to read about on an empty stomach…..must run to kitchen. Nothing there looks as good as your chicken bikinis. Oh man.
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Haha thanks – if this had blurbs I would use your comment. I hope you get the ingredients to give it a try :).
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I like name stories 🙂
(but otherwise I’m afraid I’m a non-cooking vegetarian, mostly speechless at blogs from the kitchen…).
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I’m glad my story could entertain you in all its randomness. Sometimes the unintentional can be the funniest.
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Oh my God. Have to.. make this.. immediately! ❤ Oh my tummy's rumbling now!
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Your stomach will thank you and so will your taste buds :).
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Thank you for sharing another great receipe, I make something similar called Beef Cutlets:
using ground beef, grated onion, ginger / garlic to taste, a dash of ketchup, green chillies chopped fine, a bit of red chilly powder, cumin power, a dash of cinnamon and clove powder, an egg,, a slice of bread – soaked and squeezed, fresh cilantro and lemon juice and salt to taste. Mix this all together, form into balls, coat in bread crumbs and pan fry. try it out, tell me if you like it.
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Thanks Angles12 for the suggestion – sounds like it would be quite an interesting final taste.
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I’m now so hungry….
Thanks for checking out my post in writing101
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Thanks Tjmark – glad the photography had that effect on you :).
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Chicken bikini’s, lovely name! It feels like summertime, perfect for a light dinner. Thanks!
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Thanks :). It’s great for a light dinner in summertime – hope you enjoy them!
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I nominated you for an award check it out here – https://kaboodlemum.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/the-creative-blogger-award/
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looks Yummy, just pinned it so i can try this another day!
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I hope you enjoy it when you get around to making it :).
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