Buffalo Chicken Meatballs With Barley

September was a crazy but fun month! Whatever that fall breeze was that I talked about previously…it left the building and the heat has been back here in Mississippi. Hopefully October brings cooler air!

I think barley is an underrated grain and it has protein like quinoa. I know Americans are currently in the kale and quinoa phase, so I decided to switch it up a bit. The barley is kind of plain in this recipe but that is because the hot sauce should be enough to cover the meatballs and soak down to the barley. You have to also make sure you buy QUICK barley otherwise it will take forever to get tender.

I want to give a SPICE ALERT!!! I can handle a lot of spicy foods so for me this recipe is perfect but for others I have suggestions to edit the recipe.

Suggestion #1-This is if you can tolerate heat but not a ton of it. I would replace the original cayenne franks with the buffalo franks/double the buffalo franks. I think the buffalo one is less spicy.

Suggestion #2-If you need it toned down even more you can double the buffalo franks and add 1/4 cup of brown sugar and let it melt down to add sweetness. You may need to add a tiny bit of water to help smooth it out.

1 lb ground chicken

1 cup of quick barley

1/3 cup of chopped onion

1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup of Frank’s Red Hot Wings Sauce (Buffalo)

1/2 cup of Frank’s Red Hot Original Sauce

1 tblsp olive oil

2 tblsp dry ranch seasoning

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 cups of water

First chop up your onion. You only need 1/3 cup so I would save the rest for your next meal.

Combine your ground chicken, onion, dry ranch, panko, pepper, and 1 tsp of salt in a large bowl and mix well. Pro tip: I sometimes put a plastic sandwich bag on each hand to mix it together so I don’t get ground chicken etc. all in my fingernails.

I would then stop and put your water and other 1 tsp of salt in a pot to put on the stove to boil (high heat).

Now you can go back to the chicken mixture to form your meatballs. 1 lb will make about 12 meatballs. You want them to be a decent size….take a spoon to scoop to help make a medium size.

Once the water has started boiling you can then add your cup of quick barley to it. Then turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pot and set your timer for 10-12 minutes. When it is done you will want to just remove from heat.

Now it is time to get the pan out to cook the meatballs in. You will want to put your tablespoon of olive oil in it and then put the heat to medium. Once the pan heats up (about 3-5 minutes) you can then drop those meatballs in and hear them sizzle! You will want to turn them every 2-4 minutes, making sure they are browned on all sides.

This was the first turn of the meatballs. I did not get a picture of them browned on all sides sorry!!!

Now is the THE time add both hot sauces. (Remember if you do not think you can handle the heat you can add some brown sugar here too)

You can lightly toss the meatballs in the hot sauce and let this simmer about another 5 minutes. The sauce will start to thicken a bit too.

When the meatballs are done you can then put them on top of your barley and pour some of that hot sauce on top of both! If you do not care about the health factor you can always add some ranch or blue cheese dressing on top. I am drooling over here!

My husband helped plate since I am awful at presentation….can you tell we watch too much Chopped? #sauceswipe After this picture was taken I then put more hot sauce on top because I can’t help myself! Happy eating!

 

-Allie