Makinze is currently senior food editor at Delish, where she develops recipes, creates, and hosts recipe videos and is our current baking queen. She is our expert pie crimper, believes you should always have the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies on hand, and everyone needs to know a perfect roast chicken recipe.
While nothing could never replace the spot pasta holds in our hearts, these garlic butter meatballs and zoodles are a very close second. Low-carb and gluten-free, this is a simple weeknight dinner that will deliver on that rich pasta sauce taste, while helping you get in another helping of veggies. In our book, that’s a dinner winner.
For a leaner option, we went with chicken meatballs in this recipe, but you can swap them out for turkey feta meatballs, our classic Italian meatballs, or even vegan meatballs. Not a fan of zoodles? Feel free to use your favorite pasta in this recipe; the garlic butter sauce will coat it beautifully just the same.
Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
- Yields:
- 4 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 10 mins
- Total Time:
- 35 mins
Ingredients
- 1 lb.
ground chicken
- 5
cloves garlic, minced and divided
- 1
large egg, beaten
- 1/2 c.
freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
- 2 tbsp.
freshly chopped parsley
- 1/4 tsp.
crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp.
extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp.
butter
- 1 lb.
zoodles
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions
- Step 1In a large bowl, mix ground chicken, 2 cloves garlic (2 teaspoons minced), egg, Parmesan, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper, then form into tablespoon-size meatballs.
- Step 2In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and cook meatballs until golden on all sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and wipe out skillet with a paper towel.
- Step 3 Melt butter in skillet and add remaining minced garlic. Cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add zoodles to skillet, toss with garlic butter, and add lemon juice. Return meatballs to skillet and heat until warmed through.
- Step 4Garnish with Parmesan before serving.
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