Cumin-chicken meatballs with green chile sauce from Dinner: Changing the Game (page 102) by Melissa Clark

Ingredients

cumin seeds
Buy Now
dried red pepper flakes
Buy Now
- Burlap & Barrel - USA & Canada
- The Spice House - United States
Show all ingredients...
EYB Comments

Can substitute basil for cilantro.

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

Eat Your Books

Can substitute basil for cilantro.
Pandan on January 04, 2026

This turned out quite nice but I have had better chicken meatballs.
SpatulaCity on April 08, 2024

Thought this was delicious! Subbed turkey for ground chicken, and increased the ground cumin to 1/2ts. We’re heat wimps, so only used 1 jalapeño, and it was the perfect, spicy, herby, wonderful sauce. Great for an appetizer! The leftover meatballs and sauce were great served with rice - that sauce would be excellent over chicken and fish
pattyatbryce on March 29, 2022

Nice change of pace. We really loved the sauce.
dinnermints on October 09, 2020

Great flavors! I made these into 24 meatballs; probably on the smaller side. My gas broiler doesn't cook things very evenly and I wasn't able to get them browned on all sides (was also afraid of overcooking the little guys), but they were browned enough in the end. Also used parchment paper under my gas broiler. Yeah! This could have turned into an example of nature/science culling idiots from the general population, but thankfully nothing bad happened. I made my sauce with two serranos, but they weren't super spicy - you just never know what you're going to get with peppers. I also added a little yogurt to the sauce per previous recommendations. Served this over combo of black & brown rice (put zest in the rice too - would do that again), which was a nice contrast.
Lsblackburn1 on June 10, 2018

I made the sauce with roasted green chilis instead of jalapeños and Greek yougurt and it was awesome. Served this with herby garlicky rice. Super tasty!
BeckyLeJ on February 25, 2018

This was tasty, and I did use a bit less of the jalapeño based on the other notes, but I really thought the meatballs needed rice or something starchy to go alongside them. I’m thinking either a saffron rice or a cous cous of some kind. I did pair it with the Tomato Salad with Herbs, Shallots, and Lime (Melissa Clark’s Dinner, p 372).
ellencooks on June 05, 2017

The meatballs were good but the sauce was way too spicy and I only used 1 seeded jalapeno. Must have been an extra spicy one!
Delys77 on April 26, 2017

These didn't do it for us. I found myself wanting some sort of dairy for the sauce and I thought the meatballs were a touch bland and dry. Not bad, just ok for us.
clcorbi on April 15, 2017

The meatballs are super flavorful, but I don't feel qualified to judge the green sauce, because ours was WAY too spicy. Next time I'll definitely taste it as I go before adding 2 jalapenos--I suspect I purchased extra-spicy ones.